BENJI Marshall tore his hamstring, Will Matthews dislocated his shoulder and Jack de Belin deputised at five-eighth in a dramatic day for the St George Illawarra Dragons as they thrashed the Warriors 36-0 on Saturday at Westpac Stadium in Wellington.
It continued the impressive record over the Warriors at home and away venues. In 24 games played between the clubs, the Dragons hold a 19-4 record, with one draw.
Dragons coach Paul McGregor had to make several positional changes, with injuries reducing the squad to 15 players.
The injury woes started before the match with winger Dylan Farrell injuring his back in the warm-up. Justin Hunt, the 18th man in the squad, played and scored the team’s opening try from a Benji Marshall spiral pass.
The Dragons have now put two consecutive victories together to bolt down seventh place on 24 points, for the time being.
The Dragons squad flew directly from Wellington to Brisbane on Sunday to prepare for their big clash against competition leaders Brisbane on Friday at Suncorp Stadium at 7.45pm.
Gareth Widdop switched from No.6 to halfback when Marshall was replaced after 19 minutes and second rower de Belin shifted to five-eighth for Widdop.
Widdop kicked six goals, scored a try and ran freely and looked comfortable at first receiver.
The strong defence that de Belin provided for the Dragons was vital curbing the Warriors’ big pack.
Marshall and Matthew had scans on Monday to determine how long they will be missing. They are doubtful to play against the Wayne Bennett-coached Broncos.
Lock Trent Merrin was solid after a month’s suspension and hooker Mitch Rein was best on the ground with his non-stop display.
McGregor praised the steely defence and team resolve.
‘‘We kept turning the Warriors away when they had a lot of opportunities to put points on us,’’ he said.
‘‘They had 46 play-the-balls inside our 10 to our 17 in their 10, and we came up with 36 points and they came up with nothing. To keep a side like the Warriors to zero ... is a credit to the guys how hard they worked for one another.’’
DRAGONS 36 (Justin Hunt, Mitch Rein, Gareth Widdop, Tyson Frizell, Jake Marketo, Peter Mata’utia tries, Gareth Widdop 6 goals) d WARRIORS 0.
Crowd: 18,317; Leader man of the match, Dragons hooker Mitch Rein.
Were you happy with the Dragons game last weekend?
