Zac Lomax's contract saga coming to a close has given the winger a new lease on footy, providing much needed spark to give the Dragons a 24-12 win over a disappointing Wests Tigers side before a big crowd at Campbelltown.
St George took full advantage off a penalty conceded by the Tigers coming out of their own end inside the opening minutes. Kyle Flanagan and Ben Hunt combined nicely with Tyrell Sloan to create the extra man and Zac Lomax crossed for the opening try of the contest. Lomax tried to bend it like Beckham but it cannoned inro the upright, which kept it at 4-0.
Wests hung in the contest and capitalised on the Dragons failed challenge. Api Korosiau pressed his claims for a NSW starting spot with a lovely deceptive crash ball to a rampaging Stefano Utoikamanu who crashed across to get the Tigers back on level terms. Korosiau hit the posts off the conversion, and we needed a rare Bunker intervention to confirm the goal was missed as both touch judges were split on whether the goal was successful. He made amends for the missed conversion when a Sloan high tackle on an evasive Jayden Sullivan gave him a gift two points for their first lead of the afternoon after 23 minutes.
Koroisau turned from hero to villain moments later when his kick went out on the full following the two points. St George Illawarra took full advantage when Tom Eisenhuth delivered a late offload to Hunt who got it out to Bird to score with under 15 to go in the first half. The Dragons struck another blow before half-time. A great kick from Hunt was marked on the full by Lomax against Jahream Bula. Lomax showcased his skill by breaking the tackle and finding Kyle Flanagan who crossed next to the posts for a vital try before half-time to give the Dragons a 16-6 advantage.
The Tigers offered the first scoring chance of the second half, but in attempting to grab the rebounding grubber kick, it was lost by Isaiah Papali'i leaving the scores where they were at the break. On the hour mark, David Klemmer tried to give his team momentum but it was a careless high tackle on Flanagan which saw the enforcer placed on report. Lomax took the shot at goal to take the lead out to twelve points.
Two minutes later, following another soft penalty conceded by the home side. Francis Molo got a late offload away to Flanagan who in-turn found Moses Suli who drew in defenders. Suli was able to get the arm free to Jaydn Su'A who beat some sloppy Tigers defence to cross for the try that broke the Tigers spirit as the margin got out to three converted tries. With under 10 to go, the Tigers grabbed a consolation try when Sullivan went deep into the line and found Asu Kepaoa to reduce the gap to twelve where it stayed until full-time.