Party over Dragons finals hopes go up in smoke with Roosters flurry

St George Illawarra’s finals hopes are over, conceding four tries in just 14 second-half minutes as the decimated Roosters kept alive their own hopes of a top-four finish with a thumping 40-22 win in Toowoomba on Sunday.

Needing a win to move into a share of eighth spot with two rounds to go, the Dragons spectacularly unravelled after hitting the lead midway through the second half. They remain winless since the infamous COVID-breaching barbecue at Paul Vaughan’s house.

It will mean Anthony Griffin’s first season in charge of the Red V will end without finals football after a promising start to the year, which included four wins from their first five games.

Trent Robinson’s Roosters edged back into fourth spot, two points ahead of Manly before a do-or-die showdown against arch-rivals South Sydney on Friday night. The Sea Eagles will leapfrog them back into fourth given their superior points differential if the Roosters lose and Des Hasler’s side account for wooden-spooners Canterbury.

And again they will have to do it with fresh adversity after Nat Butcher (knee) and Adam Keighran (concussion) failed to finish Sunday’s match, while Jared Waerea-Hargreaves remarkably played on after his body spectacularly contorted in a tackle on St George Illawarra No.1 Matt Dufty.

The Dragons were on course for a season-saving upset when they burst to the lead with back-to back tries in the second half, eyeing their first non-Anzac Day win over the Tricolours in 11 years.

Lachlan Lam makes a break for the Roosters.Credit:Getty

But Daniel Tupou scored twice within four minutes before Sam Walker, who started on the bench, and halves partner Drew Hutchison touched down as the Roosters piled on 22 points in a frenetic 14-minute period.

The Roosters were forced to use three different goalkickers in the taxing conditions - and that didn’t even include first-choice Keighran, who was taken off for a head injury assessment after just 11 minutes.

The Dragons hadn’t won a game since relocating to Queensland, which is probably a surprise given the coach and half their squad seem to come from north of the Tweed these days.

And it didn’t look like that was about to change when the Roosters blasted to a 14-0 lead in the first half, thanks largely to a James Tedesco masterclass, which included the final pass for tries to Dale Copley and Sitili Tupouniua.

It could have been very different as the Dragons butchered what would have been the opening try, Mikaele Ravalawa inexplicably throwing a forward pass to the looming Dufty with the line gaping. The Fijian has the rare gift of making the difficult look easy, and the easy look difficult.

The Dragons had a lifeline in the last minute of the first half when Josh McGuire scooped up a loose ball after Tedesco ripped it out of Dufty’s grasp as he tried to stretch out and score.

And by the time Ravalawa and fellow winger Mat Feagai had put the Dragons ahead after both were set up by Zac Lomax, St George Illawarra had the unlikeliest of leads.

But it was brief, and the Roosters’ response brutal.

SYDNEY ROOSTERS 40 (Daniel Tupou 3, Egan Butcher, Dale Copley, Sitili Tupouniua, Sam Walker, Drew Hutchison tries; Siosuia Taukeiaho 3 goals) defeated ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS 22 (Josh McGuire, Mikaele Ravalawa, Mat Feagai, Jayden Sullivan tries; Zac Lomax 3 goals) at Clive Berghofer Stadium. Referee: Chris Sutton. Crowd: 7822.

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Adam Pengilly is a sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.

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