It was the Benji and Robbie show at Kogarah as the Wests Tigers upset St George Illawarra 20-16 at Kogarah on Sunday.
Robbie Farah laid on three tries for the Tigers while Benji Marshall showed some of his brilliant best to hand the Dragons just their second defeat in their last 11 matches at Jubilee Oval.
Almost 16,000 fans packed into Kogarah on a perfect winter’s afternoon, only for the majority of the crowd to go home disappointed as the Dragons suffered a State of Origin hangover.
All five of St George Illawarra’s Origin representatives backed up after last Wednesday’s third Origin clash as the Dragons trailed 20-6 before launching a late fight back, only to fall just short.
Kevin Naiqama blew the chance to open the scoring, dropping the ball as he attempted to ground it after a desperate late effort from Jason Nightingale.
But the Tigers were not made to wait long, with Luke Brooks crossing in the 10th minute from a short side raid led by Farah.
The Dragons needed to get a foothold in the game and did so just before the midway point of the half.
Attacking the Tigers’ line, Ben Hunt produced a superb solo effort to level the scores. The halfback stepped back on the inside twice past Tigers defenders to score almost untouched under the posts.
Gareth Widdop’s conversion gave the Dragons captain his 900th career point.
The Dragons went close to taking the lead shortly after as Paul Vaughan slalomed to the try line, only for match officials to rule James Graham’s inside pass forward.
Nene Macdonald was the next to go close for the hosts only for the giant winger to be denied his first try at Kogarah in Dragons colours. Macdonald was forced from the field with a foot sprain and would not return.
The Tigers looked to make the most of Macdonald’s absence, with Marshall immediately putting a high kick towards Macdonald’s replacement Kurt Mann. Mann’s error gifted the Tigers possession and field position and they looked to have made the most of it when Matthew Eisenhuth crashed over.
But match officials again ruled Marshall’s sublime short pass forward to keep the scores level.
The visitors would retake the lead six minutes after half-time on the back of more Farah brilliance. The hooker ran from dummy half before holding up a pass to put Moses Mbye through a hole.
The fullback exploded downfield before finding Corey Thompson with a long, looping cut out pass. The winger still had plenty to do before eventually touching down in the corner.
And Farah helped the Tigers extend their advantage with 20 minutes to play.
Farah handled three times before putting a deft grubber kick in for David Nofoaluma to score.
The Tigers were out to a 20-6 lead when Widdop put a goal line dropout out on the full before the England international made amends, getting on the end of a Hunt kick over the top to race through and score.
The Dragons ensured a grandstand finish when Matt Dufty finished off a slick short side play to reduce the deficit to 20-16 with five minutes to play.
But the red V couldn’t continue their march, as the Tigers hung on to condemn the Dragons to their second loss in the row.
St George have slipped to third on the NRL table and travel to Townsville to take on struggling North Queensland on Saturday night.
Leader Scoreboard
Wests Tigers 20 (Luke Brooks, Corey Thompson, David Nofoaluma tries. Esan Marsters four goals)
defeated
St George Illawarra Dragons 16 (Ben Hunt, Gareth Widdop, Matt Dufty tries. Gareth Widdop two goals)
at Jubilee Oval, Kogarah
Crowd: 15,992
Leader man of the match: Robbie Farah (Tigers)
Dragons’ next three: Cowboys (away), Roosters (away), Warriors (home – Wollongong)