Josh Dugan staked another strong claim for the vacant NSW No.1 jersey by leading St George Illawarra to a gritty win over an injury hit Manly at WIN Stadium.
The Dragons scored only one try in the 12-4 triumph, but they were clearly the better team and built their second consecutive win on a great defensive effort, particularly on their own goal line.
A difficult night in Wollongong was made worse for the Sea Eagles, with captain Jamie Lyon (groin), secondrower Feliti Mateo (knee) and prop Josh Starling (knee) all being forced from the field in the second half due to injury.
Star halfback Daly Cherry-Evans also did not finish the match after being replaced three minutes from fulltime for a concussion assessment that caused a frustrated Manly coach Geoff Toovey to suggest doctors were worried about being sued and that his club doctor had panicked because NRL chief medical officer Paul Bloomfield was in attendance at the match.
Cherry-Evans was also struggling with a thigh injury that he suffered at training last Wednesday but Toovey insisted there was no reason to take him from the field and Sea Eagles officials confirmed he had been cleared to return but it seemed unlikely Manly would break through the Dragons defence and snatch a late victory.
Dugan also appeared to be troubled by an ongoing ankle injury but he still managed a game-high 169 metres from 18 runs and produced the final pass for captain Jason Nightingale's try as well as four tackle breaks, a line break, a line break assist and two offloads in a performance that will only enhance his hopes of claiming the Blues fullback spot made vacant by Jarryd Hayne's move to NFL.
"He did hurt his ankle again tonight but he is managing through at the moment and he will continue to do that because he puts the team first and that is important," Dragons coach Paul McGregor said.
"He is a big name player and you need them out there every week to be succesful as a team and he has put himself on the field so he has got to perform. He came back early from an injury so when you come back early you have got to look after blokes the first couple of weeks when they do play and he is there now with some ice but he is fine to play."
The way the Dragons began the game showed the confidence they had gained from last weekend's second half comeback to down Canberra 22-20 and the home side dominated the first half.
In fact, when halfback Benji Marshall and fullback Josh Dugan combined to put captain Jason Nightingale over in the 10th minute, Manly had only received one set of tackles.
An early penalty goal by five-eighth Gareth Widdop after Daly Cherry-Evans prevented Leeson Ah Mau from getting up to play the ball gave St George Illawarra a 2-0 lead in the fifth minute and they spent the opening 15 minutes virtually camped down the Sea Eagles end.
Eventually the weight of possession from another two penalties and two goal-line drop outs resulted in Nightingale crossing out wide as the Dragons had the ball for seven of the opening eight sets of possession in the match.
But St George Illawarra showed their intent when their defence was tested and the first time Manly got near the opposite tryline in the 17th minute, centre Brayden Williame was driven into touch by four defenders.
Fellow rookie centre Euan Aitken had the chance to extend the Dragons lead to 12-0 three minutes later but he lost the ball reaching out for the tryline and then had to help save one at the opposite end as Sea Eagles winger Peta Hiku looked set to score.
But another great defensive effort from St George Illawarra prevented Hiku from getting the ball down and he was held up before being dispossed by prop Mike Cooper.
A further run of penalties against Manly, including a high shot by Dunamis Lui on Trent Merrin, got the Dragons within range of the tryline and Widdop landed his second penalty goal in the 24th minute after Tyson Frizzel was held down following a break.
However, mistakes crept into the St George Illawarra game and they failed to capitalise on opportunities to score more points while allowing Manly to intensify the pressure and only some impressive defence limited the Sea Eagles to one try by Williame from a Kieran Foran grubber kick in the 58th minute.
A further penalty goal by Widdop in the 70th minute sealed the win for the Dragons.
