Netstrata Jubilee Stadium: They cheered when Toby Couchman and Jaydn Su’a shoved Xavier Coates back into the in-goal area. They cheered when Moses Suli shaped up to Cameron Munster. They cheered their latest debutant Dylan Egan.
They even cheered their team’s first penalty, which did not arrive until half an hour into the game.
St George Illawarra caused an old-fashioned boilover against the Melbourne Storm in what could only be described as an old-fashioned bash-up.
But the 6211 Dragons fans who braved the wet on Saturday, including former Prime Minister John Howard, sure made the afternoon fun.
The Dragons deserved credit for the way they kept turning away the Storm on their own line. They made 46 tackles inside their own 20m, and were on the wrong end of a 9-4 penalty count.
Coach Shane Flanagan vowed to put his players through hell during the bye round after they dropped their first two games. He watched the second half from the sidelines, and while happy for the first two points for the season, described the 80 minutes as “very, very stressful”.
The Dragons shocked the Storm on Saturday.Credit: Getty Images
“We did a lot of good stuff, the last 10 minutes we still had a few errors in us … we had a bit of resolve about us today, so it was great,” Flanagan said.
“Good sides like Melbourne and Penrith don’t put themselves under pressure. I think we’re a good footy side, but we can’t put ourselves under pressure like we did today. We can’t make 46 tackles on our own tryline week in week out. We need to be smart.”
The Dragons do not have the strongest roster, but they have plenty of blokes prepared to have a dig, which Flanagan loves – and which was on full display at Kogarah. Egan, a 20-year-old back-rower from Gerringong who grew up loving the Dragons, was solid in his first outing, with one barnstorming run leading to a vital penalty.
The scores were level just after the hour when Val Holmes slotted a penalty goal.
Val Holmes in action against the Storm.Credit: Getty Images
Melbourne, whose attack truly looked clunky without the injured Jahrome Hughes, thought they hit the lead with a try to Eli Katoa. Katoa leapt for a Munster kick, but the bunker ruled he had knocked the ball forward into the arm of Kyle Flanagan.
Coach Craig Bellamy, who was joined in the box by NSW Origin coach Laurie Daley, only had the one look at the try, but said, “I had a bit of a different opinion”.
The Storm were well down on their own lofty standards, with Bellamy suggesting they struggled on the road the first time this season, especially after enjoying the bye in round one, then the comfort of hosting two games at home.
Harry Grant appeared to pick up an ankle injury midway through the second half, but soldiered on.
David Klemmer in his club debut for the Dragons.Credit: Getty Images
The Dragons head to Parramatta next Saturday afternoon where former favourite son Zac Lomax awaits. Lomax made a low-key cameo at Kogarah for the early game to cheer good friends Cody Ramsey and Blake Lawrie in the NSW Cup.
The Storm travel to Brookvale next Sunday for what should be an epic against one of the competition’s few September certainties, provided they improve drastically on what they produced against the Red V.
Clint Gutherson blew a captain’s challenge in the second minute, and the Storm spent what felt like an eternity parked down the southern end of the ground.
Val Holmes scored the opening try, only for the Storm to hit back immediately via Ryan Papenhuyzen who ran on to a lovely ball from Katoa who had been put into space by Tyran Wishart.
Michael Chammas and Andrew “Joey” Johns dissect the upcoming NRL round, plus the latest footy news, results and analysis. Sign up for the Sin Bin newsletter.
