A Corey Norman field goal with seconds to go separated St George Illawarra Dragons and Brisbane Broncos 25-24 but it came at a cost for the Dragons and England as Gareth Widdop suffered more shoulder strife in the final ten minutes.
Coming over to clear up a kick, Widdop rolled over on his shoulder. Immediately in pain, Widdop let go of the ball allowing Jack Bird to equalise before Widdop left the field.
The Dragons did score two tries in the opening twelve minutes. First, Cameron McInnes broke from dummy half, dummied to the supporting James Graham, to cross in front of the posts. Then Jordan Pereira dived in at the left corner thanks to Ben Hunt and Tim Lafai.
Everything was going right for St George until a loose carry from Mikaele Ravalawa gifted Corey Oates his fifth try of the season to get the Broncos back in the game. Then a Widdop kick was taken by James Roberts and the centre’s speed took him 90 metres for a try.
But the Dragons started the second half as they did the first and were rewarded when Mikaele Ravalawa scored his first NRL try in the right corner.
After Widdop had slotted over a penalty to extend St George’s lead to six, Anthony Milford’s kick was perfect for Alex Glenn to, along with Jamayne Isaako’s conversion, equalise.
However, Korbin Sims, on debut for the Dragons after his move from the Broncos bulldozed his way over to re-establish St George’s lead.
But Widdop’s untimely injury led to Jack Bird scoring his first Broncos try to level the game once again giving Norman the chance to win the game against his old club for the Dragons.
Broncos: Boyd, Oates, Roberts, Bird, Isaako, Milford, Nikorima, Pangai Jnr, McCullough, Ofahengaue, Glenn, Fifita, Gillett; Interchanges: Staggs, Su’A, Flegler, Fensom
Tries: Oates, Roberts, Glenn, Bird; Goals: Isaako 4
Dragons: Widdop, Pereira, Aitken, Lafai, Ravalawa, Norman, Hunt, Graham, McInnes, Vaughan, Host, T Sims, Lawrie; Interchanges: Latimore, K Sims, Leilua, Lomax
Tries: McInnes, Pereira, Ravalawa, K Sims; Goals: Widdop 4; Field goal: Norman (80)
Full match reports of all this weekend’s NRL games will feature in Monday’s League Express.
