Home loss for desperate St George Illawarra

In a game to commemorate the Battle of Lone Pine, Phil Gould, Channel Nine's respected commentator said in the 'old days ' Fords trip would have been a sending-off offence.

The NRL match review committee has announced Ford has been charged with a grade-three offence for his tackle, in which he upended Keary by using his leg, he can receive a two-game ban if he enters an early guilty plea.

Back-rower Tariq Sims is also facing time on the sidelines following the loss to the Sydney Roosters suffering a shoulder injury during the second half.

This is coupled with Kangaroos prop Paul Vaughan having to apologise to his teammates and coaching staff for what Dragons coach Paul McGregor labelled "selfish behaviour" after being stood down for a biosecurity breach on the eve of Thursday night's clash.

Vaughan will not be able to train or play until St George Illawarra's round 15 trip to Brisbane after being ordered to isolate for 14 days for breaching the NRL's COVID-19 restrictions by visiting a café on game day.

The frustrated Dragons coach said the team is well aware of what their responsibilities are.

"We talk about it consistently, so there is no reason for it except selfish behaviour, It's not what you need from one of your senior players and someone important to your footy team."

It wasn't all bad news with creative Dragons centre Zac Lomax scoring two tries before half-time to prompt NSW's most successful coach Phil Gould and current Blues mentor Brad Fittler to suggest he was a future Origin centre.

Lomax's first try in the 22nd minute followed quick hands by five-eighth Ben Hunt, hooker Cameron McInnes and fullback Matt Dufty before he powered his way over to score.

Tristan Sailor's involvement in the game also paid dividends, with just his second touch of the ball, Sailor grubbered behind the Roosters defence and Lomax beat Dufty to ground the ball drawing the scores level at 10-10.

This week coach McGregor was also forced to explain that a Corey Norman swap for Gareth Widdop was news to him.

English star Widdop, who joined Super League club Warrington this year after six seasons at St George Illawarra, is said to want to return to the NRL for personal reasons.

Norman, who is contracted for 2021, was dropped from the team to face the Roosters but McGregor said speculation of him being offered to Warrington in exchange for Widdop was unfair.

"Its the first time Norman hasn't been picked in 18 months at the club and we're talking about Gareth coming back already,"

"That's too unfair at this raw stage to even talk about it. And it hasn't been mentioned to me with recruitment either."

McGregor acknowledged Norman has "been below his best" and had to improve his game-management and creativity-"We want Corey to play well this year," he said.

This latest loss to the under-strength Premiers leaves St George Illawarra needing to win all six of their remaining matches to make the finals which seems a hard ask for a team that is competing but is unable to complete the changes they make.

It doesn't get any easier for the Dragons having to face third-placed Parramatta next Friday at Bankwest Stadium in round 14.