Round 21
Newcastle Knights 4 l. St.George-Illawarra Dragons 20

2007 NRL Telstra Premiership Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

Location: Aus_NZ > National > First Grade Competition: NRL Telstra Premiership

Dragons Statement - Re: Hotel Allegations
Mon August 6, 2007
Source: www.dragons.com.au

Today there has been speculation by both the media and by an individual, about the Dragons and their behaviour, in their hotel, in Newcastle, after the match on Friday night.

It is not satisfactory to hear that an individual would criticise any of the Dragons players for being rude to the staff of the hotel. The Management of the hotel advise however, that the staff have not complained about the manner of any of the Dragons players.

It is also not satisfactory an individual would criticise any of the Dragons players for creating unnecessary noise in the hotel, as such a person should expect to be able to satisfactorily enjoy the environment of the hotel in which they are staying.

In saying that however, there was certainly no complaint from the Management of the Hotel about noise or damage to the any of the rooms in the hotel, as has been asserted.

The Club is advised that the General Manager of the hotel has no complaint to register against the club or players.

Certainly any damage to hotel property, namely a statue, was not caused by a Dragons player.

News sent by: www.dragons.com.au


Dragons still alive after defeating Knights
Mon August 6, 2007
Source: www.dragons.com.au

The St George Bank Dragons have tonight kept their Finals chances alive with a victory 20-4 over the Knights at Energy Australia Stadium.

The Dragons travelled up the freeway needing to win to keep their finals hopes alive and will now need to continue tonight's form next week against the Rabbitohs at WIN Stadium.

Coach Nathan Brown said he was happy with parts of his side's game but disappointed with other aspects.

"I thought our defence was good, they only crossed once but our attack was poor," he said. "We had an International centre out there Matt Cooper up against Cory Paterson who was shifted there after an injury and we gave it to him on only one occasion.

"It's good to get the win and now we have to look to back it up next week as they are all must win games from here on in," he added.

Captain Mark Gasnier backed up his coach's comments.

"We did some good things but we all saw how much possession we had that we could've scored a lot more points," he said.

"The injury came through fine and I'm now focused on looking at the Rabbitohs and wanting to get the win there," Gasnier added.

The Dragons were boosted yesterday with International centre Mark Gasnier returning from a buttock injury pushing Rangi Chase back to the bench and Tony Caine forced out of the side. They were also hit with the late withdrawal of Jason Nightingale who was replaced by Tom Hewitt on the left wing.

The match started with the Knights taking the better of the possession with it then changing the Dragons way camping themselves in enemy territory for the next five minutes.

With the early dominance it wasn't until the 18th minute that the Dragons could post the first points of the night. As the Knights were working out of their own end halfback Luke Walsh looked to put a clearing kick in only for it to be charged down by Simon Woolford. Woolford who is not known for his pace chased after the ball and got a toe to it only for it to turn at right angles. The veteran had an ally in Jamie Soward who showed his pace and got a toe to the ball and managed to get his hand to the ball and secure the first try of the night. Soward could not convert from the sideline and the score was 4-nil.

11 minutes later the Dragons were able to cross the stripe again this time through replacement forward Dan Hunt. The injection of Chase to the game saw him make a 30m bust from dummy half before earning a penalty after he was hit with a high tackle. On just the third tackle Gasnier put a grubber in and regathered of a Knights boot to earn a repeat set. This time around on the third tackle Dan Hunt took a charge forward and split Knights defenders Daniel Abraham and Reegan Tanner to score five metres to the left of the uprights. Soward had no issues converting and the lead was extended out to 10-nil.

For the remainder of the half the Dragons continued to dominate possession with the home side only setting foot in the Dragons half on two occasions. Each time the Dragons had the ball they seemed to force the Knights to drop out from their own in-goal with Ben Hornby, Soward and Gasnier each playing their role in punching into the danger zone but not being able to turn it into more points.

The Dragons kept the Knights at bay and went to the half time break leading 10-nil with the Knights suffering an injury blow prior to the break with Adam MacDougall being forced from the field with a dislocated left shoulder.

The second half started well for the Knights with a towering bomb from Soward being caught by Kurt Gidley on his own line and then they earned a penalty on the third tackle with the Dragons being inside the 10m. It was late in the tackle count where Gidley got the ball in his hands and went across field he slipped through the defence and at first glance it looked as though he had performed a double movement and referee Jared Maxwell decided to send it upstairs to the video referee. A decision came down for a "refs call" and Maxwell awarded the try. Gidley couldn't convert from the eastern touch line and the score was 10-4 in favour of the Dragons.

In the 62nd minute the Knights were again handed possession in a commanding position after Chris Houston lost control of the ball on his own 40m line. Gidley again just controlled the Knights side and threw a cut out ball to his winger Cooper Vuna who flirted with the sideline before Kiama junior Josh Morris came across in cover defence and was able to force him into touch before he planted the ball down.

The Dragons managed to wrap the match up in the 70th minute through a Chase Stanley try. After the Knights put the ball out on the full from a last tackle kick option the Dragons had possession on the Knights 40m line. On the fourth tackle prop Adam Peek took the ball to the line and got the ball out the back to Hornby. As he got the ball in his hands he stepped off his right foot outside George Carmont and when he drew the winger Vuna in he got the ball over the top to Chase Stanley to score. Soward converted from out wide to look at what seemed to be a certain victory.

The match looked to be sealed until Jason Ryles spilled the ball from the kick off giving the Knights the ball 10m out from their own line in the 73rd minute. But some courageous line defence held the Knights out until the last tackle where Gidley put a cheeky grubber in only to have it defused by Hewitt who picked it up cleanly and ran 95m untouched to bring a sigh of relief to not only the players but all Dragons fans. Soward couldn't convert and the final score was 20-4.

DRAGONS 20 (Soward, Hunt, Stanley Hewitt Tries; Soward 2 Goals) def. Knights 4 (Gidley Try)

Referee: Jared Maxwell

Report source: www.dragons.com.au

Tue July 31, 2007
• Knights Round 21 Team
  

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