Dragons 18 Eels 12 – Cheering…the Dragons’ Jeremy Smith celebrates scoring against the Eels. Picture: Brett Costello Source: The Daily Telegraph
THE only difference was the days are getting shorter.
But if the calendar didn’t show the month of March, 18,293 enthralled people at Parramatta Stadium last night might have believed they were watching a brand of football usually reserved for September.
In one of the highest-quality season openers in memory, St George Illawarra and Parramatta turned on a sparkling contest every bit worthy of a finals thriller that later prompted victorious Dragons coach Wayne Bennett to declare: “There’s no more round ones.”
And there also shouldn’t be a 94 per cent completion rate the Dragons finished with to defy injury woes and record a deserved 18-12 victory over the premiership favourites.
Complementing a wonderful kicking game from Jamie Soward that also saw the pivot land three second-half penalty goals to keep his side in command, the visitors completed a stunning 34 of 36 sets to suffocate their opponents.
But the brave Dragons needed to draw on every once of discipline to grab just their third round-one win in the past 13 years.
Already missing topline centres Matt Cooper (hamstring) and Peni Tagive (knee), Bennett had to draft prop Matt Prior into the three-quarter line and also rely on Ben Hornby – who hadn’t downed a solid meal in 36 hours thanks to an infected wisdom tooth – to lead the troops.
After getting the jump on the hosts through two unanswered tries inside 25 minutes, St George Illawarra also lost their best player in the opening exchanges – creative hooker Nathan Fien – to a broken ankle that will put him on ice for up to three months.
“I was most happy with the flexibility of the players to handle a lot of positions,” Bennett said. “We lost Nathan Fien, Ben (Hornby) was in doubt for most of the week and we’ve got three centres injures.
“We’re pretty depleted in a few positions. It was a good standard of game. There’s no round ones – it’s like we never left the last season.”
Parramatta coach Daniel Anderson agreed with Bennett about the incredible quality on show, but was left to lament the only spot of rust on an otherwise spotless contest – his team’s kicking game.
Whereas Soward constantly found space and sidelines to blunt the potency of Eels superstar Jarryd Hayne on kick return, Parramatta’s halves fell well short of generating anywhere near the same pressure.
But Anderson was still proud of his team’s effort to keep the scoreboard close in the face of their opponent’s near-perfect handling and execution with the football.
“We’ve been extremely courageous,” Anderson said. “I don’t think the Dragons had to run the ball off their line all night and they only made one mistake.
“I’ve never seen anything like that (in round one), where there’s not been any give and take.”
Eels skipper Nathan Cayless – whose front-row partner Shane Shackleton could miss the season with a torn hamstring – added: “They applied pressure by not giving us any field position and not making any mistakes.
“It was a quality game, very fast. It’s going to be a good year of footy.”
Fien’s 35th-minute injury stunted the Dragons’ ambush, and they were unable to cross Parramatta’s line for the rest of the evening following early strikes from Hornby and forward Jeremy Smith.
Parramatta replied with a try to winger Eric Grothe before halftime, but referee Tony Archer’s whistle and Soward’s metronomic boot kept the locals restless.
The pivot kicked two straight penalties in the 51st and 59th minute to take St George Ilawarra’s lead to 16-6, before Luke Burt crossed to transform the groans into cheers.
But Soward had the final say, slotting another goal five minutes from the siren to hand the 2009 minor premiers some vengeance for last year’s finals defeat to the blue and golds.
Former Dragon Justin Poore, who traded jerseys over the summer, said his old team were simply too clinical to stop.
“I expected it, coming up against my old mates,” Poore said.
“They’re are a Wayne Bennett-coached side and they are always hard to beat. They are so well drilled and just don’t give you anything.”
Poore cost the Eels an early penalty when he gave his former front-row partner Michael Weyman a facial, but the Dragons’ prop had the last laugh.
The Eels lost centre Joel Reddy in the warm-up to a hamstring injury, with Krisnan Inu taking his place with a strong defensive game.
ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA 18 (B Hornby J Smith tries J Soward 5 goals) bt PARRAMATTA 12 (L Burt E Grothe tries L Burt 2 goals) at Parramatta Stadium. Referee: Tony Archer, Gavin Badger. Crowd: 18,293.
Tags:Dragons, Eels