NRL News
Saints Rookies Take Shield from Bunnies
The St George Illawarra Dragons have won the 2007 Charity Shield competition, defeating South Sydney 16-14 Saturday night.
In a stop start affair, the Dragons looked headed for defeat with 8 minutes to go, with Souths leading by 4.
However, a wayward pass from South Sydney half Joe Williams was intercepted by Ben Hornby who raced 70 minutes untouched to score under the posts. The conversion allowed the Dragons to take the title after 2 years without it.
The game started with a bang, Souths forced a Dragons error in the first minute and had scored in the second minute. With Souths fielding 7 internationals, it looked like the game could be a one way Red and Green freight train.
Shayne Hayne blew the pea out the whistle for most of the match, and while there was a fair amount of dropped ball. Both sides show glimpses of what we can expect in 2007. The Souths forwards were extremely strong, but mistakes and poor organising in the halves really hurt their chances. The Dragons combination of Hornby and Gasnier was solid at the scrumbase, however Gasnier picked up an injury late in the game. The young outside backs for the Dragons were impressive, defending well and will push for spots in this years line up.
Poor handling saw Souths lose the edge, and extra possession allowed the Dragons to score two tries after some slick set plays.
The Bunnies bagged an opportunistic try right on half time and snuck into the break with the score at 10-10.
After the half time break, both teams looked extremely tired. A lot of dropped ball and constant penalties saw the game slow down and quality set plays disappear. Souths were frequently lying on the tackled player and their discipline certainly needs to improve for the NRL season.
Souths managed to scramble for a try through Nigel Vagana midway through the second half, but constant poor tackle 5 options and early kicks saw them turn the ball over with poor field position.
The Dragons on the other hand hung in well, even with Nathan Brown fielding plenty of rookies in the side - they stood up to the test and can take plenty away from the match.
David Peachy played solidly for Souths, although he was a little kick happy at times, kicking on tackle 2 and failing to get results from grubbers. Dean Widders and David Kidwell didn't really standout and the same could possibly be said about Roy Asotasi.
For the Dragons, Hornby was at his scheming best and Morris twin Josh played extremely well at fullback for the Dragons.
Saints had Matt Head, Jason Ryles and Dean Young all unavailable and will look to build on this platform for Round 1 of the NRL.
Souths will be happy with the effort of the team, and their defence in general - however they desperately need a halves combination and a decent kicking half for tackle 5 options improvement.
