Return to form: Beau Scott was back to his bruising best on Friday night. Picture: Andy Zakeli
IT IS the taboo ‘‘S’’ word that St George Illawarra teams of the past have struggled to hear, let alone say.
But recalled representative backrower Beau Scott freely said the Dragons had — wait for it — been in a ‘‘slump’’, having won just one of their past six encounters.
Their 8-6 win against Gold Coast was timely, if nothing else.
‘‘We were in a bit of a slump I guess,’’ Scott said.
‘‘We had to turn it around.
‘‘We needed the two points and got them.’’
Languishing four points outside the top eight prior to Friday night’s game — a loss could have seen the Dragons fall out of striking distance of a finals finish.
Not conceding a first-half point helped lay the foundations for a typical grind-them-out win for the home side.
‘‘It was win at all costs,’’ Scott said.
‘‘It wasn’t the prettiest way to go about it.
‘‘A win’s a win.’’
For Scott, the performance was his best since returning from a dislocated elbow suffered against the Sydney Roosters on Anzac Day.
It was Scott’s fourth game back and his 80-minute performance netted 37 tackles — his highest for the season — with just one missed.
Scott said it had taken more time than he anticipated to return back to his best.
‘‘I’m getting back there slowly,’’ Scott said.
‘‘It has taken me a bit longer than expected coming back.
‘‘Mainly the confidence factor but I came out of the game pretty happy.
‘‘Definitely looking upwards.’’
Scott capped his return to form having been recalled in NSW’s 19-man squad alongside teammates Ben Creagh, Trent Merrin and Brett Morris for the deciding State of Origin III clash next Wednesday.
‘‘I kept my head down and tried to play half decent football for the Dragons,’’ Scott, 28, said.
‘‘We take a lot of confidence out of that defence going forward.
‘‘As a team, that’s our trademark and we’re back to playing the football we want to play.
‘‘I thought it was a pretty good effort by the whole team and we’ll take a lot of confidence out of that.’’