St George booed off pitch after 32-0 shutout
The pressure continues to mount on St George Illawarra coach Shane Flanagan, whose side’s winless start to the season continued with a miserable 32-0 defeat to the Cowboys at Kogarah on Saturday.
The Dragons started the season 0-5 for the first time in the joint venture club’s 27-year history, with players booed off the field at full-time.
To make matters worse for the Dragons, co-captain and fullback Clint Gutherson suffered pain in the final minute of the match and limped towards the tunnel with an undisclosed injury at full-time.
The conundrum of who will pair Daniel Atkinson in the halves continues as young playmaker Lyhkan King-Togia’s performance in the first four games has been no better than Kyle Flanagan’s, and Flanagan has responded to criticism for singling out his son on the bench week in and week out.
With Kyle ruled out this week after suffering a massive concussion in the Dragons’ defeat against the Titans last week, King-Togia has the chance to prove he is the better choice for the No.6 jersey.
However, both Atkinson and King-Togia were poor on Saturday; Their short and long kick play was below par, killing momentum whenever the Dragons threatened to score.
Defensively, St George were equally poor, with North Queensland punching Jaxon straight through the middle for the first of Purdue’s two tries, while also having the pace to beat them wide out.
Even when Reuben Cotter was booked for a professional foul, the Dragons were unable to score. It was the Cowboys who added to his tally at the time after a tricky pass from King-Togia hit the deck and was intercepted by Braidon Burns, who raced the length of the field to score.
Burns later left the field in the second half after suffering an ankle injury.
As scrutiny mounts on the Dragons coach, North Queensland’s win further eases the pressure on coach Todd Payten, who was under the spotlight at the start of the season.
Flanagan’s men will have to wait another week to break their losing streak when they face the similarly hopeless Sea Eagles in Wollongong next Friday.
Despite the scoreline, the first 29 minutes of the match were fairly evenly matched; Scott Drinkwater scored the only try after making it 40-20 just minutes earlier.
However, at half-time the Dragons were 16 points behind and the crowd at the half-full Jubilee Stadium booed the players off the field.
It was hard to tell whether the fans were booing their own players because they couldn’t put points on the board, booing the Cowboys for dashing their first half hopes, or referee Wyatt Raymond, whose penalty on the Cowboys just before halftime resulted in a second try for Purdue.
The penalty was awarded after Murray Taulagi struck Dragons winger David Fale in the throat with a boot as he extended his leg outwards in an upward Billy Slater-like movement to catch the ball.
The situation did not improve for the home team when they returned after half-time.
After North Queensland kept the Dragons out in the Cotter bin period, they gained a further 16 points.
There was no doubt about it when the siren sounded full time. Dragons fans were booing their own team after a shocking home defeat.
Billie Eder is a sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect with: X or email.
