NRL: Dragons late-season collapse continues

Phil Graham of the Roosters scores a try. Photo / Getty Images

Roosters 20
Dragons 12

St George Illawarra's premiership hopes took a massive hit as the Sydney Roosters ended a week to forget in positive fashion with a 20-12 NRL upset at WIN Stadium.

Reeling off the back of a week in which star trio Todd Carney, Nate Myles and Frank-Paul Nuuausala were suspended by the club following a late night drinking session, the Roosters proved they still had pride in the jumper as they ended a three-game losing streak.

But on the back of four straight losses, the Dragons are headed the other way, and what had once seemed a certain top four finish now looks anything but heading into a crunch game against ladder leaders Melbourne on Friday night.

While Matt Cooper was held up over the line after just four minutes, there were early indications there was something still amiss with the Dragons as they conceded two soft tries to go behind 10-0.

It was deplorable goalline defence as Jason Ryles strolled over from two metres out, while Brad Takairangi offloaded despite the attention of three defenders as Phil Graham stunned the home crowd by crossing in the corner.

Ben Creagh dropped the ball a metre out from the Roosters tryline as the Dragons sought a reply, but the premiers were lucky to escape going further behind when their porous defence provided an opening for Braith Anasta to gallop through.

With the Roosters on the last, Anasta kicked ahead only for Graham to spill the ball just short of the dead ball line.

The game turned as Anthony Minichiello earned a stint in the sin-bin, the Roosters fullback unlucky to be judged to have committed a professional foul when he stripped the ball after cutting down a runaway Darius Boyd.

Dragons prop Trent Merrin strolled over three minutes later, and while Minichiello had returned by the time Matt Cooper leapt highest to reel in a Nathan Fien bomb, the home side had a scarcely deserved 12-10 lead.

It could have been even better had Sam Perrett not brought down a runaway Cooper, but their advantage didn't last too long after halftime.

With Beau Scott penalised and put on report for a grapple tackle on Anasta, the Dragons were asleep as a quick tap resulted in Mose Masoe crashing through four defenders as the Roosters went ahead 16-12.

Despite the four-point deficit, the Dragons' confidence was shot as they let bombs bounce and passes missed the mark.

A comeback never looked likely and the home fans headed for the exits early when BJ Leilua scored ten minutes from time.

The Roosters were far more enthusiastic as the Dragons were unable to stop two Mitchell Pearce kicks, the second of which found Leilua in open space as he went over out wide.

SYDNEY ROOSTERS 20 (P Graham J Leilua M Masoe J Ryles tries B Anasta 2 goals) bt ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA 12 (M Cooper T Merrin tries K Stanley 2 goals) at WIN Stadium. Referee: Gerard Sutton, Ben Cummins. Crowd: 14,141.

- AAP