St George Illawarra Dragons ended a frustrating two month losing period defeating rivals Cronulla, 30-0, in the local derby at WIN Stadium, Wollongong, tonight, Saturday.
With only one win from the past eight matches and their coach Steve Price sacked after the loss to Parramatta, the Dragons needed the confidence building win against a depleted Cronulla.
Leading 18-0 at halftime the Dragons were always in control of the hapless Sharks, who were missing a dozen regular squad players through injuries.
Josh Dugan playing at centre, for the second straight game, scored three tries and halfback Benji Marshall was back to somewhere near what he is capable of, orchestrating several tries in attack and running and passing with more confidence.
In his third game back in the league since returning from rugby union, Marshall, looked far more comfortable.
He didn’t overplay his hand. His passing was crisp and timing sharper and he played the full 80 minutes.
For the Sharks it was a difficult night that has been decimated by injuries in recent weeks.
The Sharks tried hard throughout but without so many key players among them skipper Paul Gallen, Luke Lewis, Todd Carney and Andrew Fifta, they were always up against it.
Dragons lock Trent Merrin also came back to form against the Sharks after several quiet games in recent weeks.
The Dragons now prepare to play Penrith next Saturday at Penrith while the Sharks have the bye.
St George Illawarra 30 (Josh Dugan 3, Gerard Beale 2, Peter Mata’utia, tries; Gareth Widdop 3 goals,) defeated Cronulla 0.