Pressure is continuing to mount on under-fire St George Illawarra coach Anthony Griffin after the Dragons’ 20-14 NRL loss to Canberra.
Days before a crucial board meeting that will shape Griffin’s future at the club, the Dragons took a 4-0 lead to halftime but were unable to stop the Raiders in the second half.
It was far from pretty by Canberra but a crucial victory nonetheless, with the club winning consecutive games for the first time this season and moving to 3-4 to keep touch with the pack in the race for the top eight.
A tackle-busting effort from Canberra centre Matt Timoko gave the Raiders the lead on 64 minutes, before Hudson Young sealed the deal with a remarkable length-of-the-field try after a one-on-one strip.
The Dragons’ fourth loss in five outings couldn’t have come at a worse time for Griffin, who needs results given his future will likely be decided in the next month.
Griffin said he wasn’t bothered when asked if the loss would impact his future, adding his players’ desire to fight for the jumper had never been an issue.
“I don’t really have anything to talk to you about that; I don’t create that, I’m just more worried about our players, getting them over this and getting into the next game,” he said, adding he couldn’t question his players’ desire.
“It’s a really tough couple of weeks when we put ourselves in a position to win two games,” he said.
“That’s never been an issue, we’ve just got to play better at vital times, both sides of the ball.
“They’ll turn it around, they’re a good team.”
Dragons captain Ben Hunt, who’s been vocal in his support of Griffin, declared commitment to the cause hadn’t wavered.
“For the majority of occasions, we are playing pretty good footy … we’re just costing ourselves,” he said.
“We’ve been pretty committed for the last few weeks … we’ve been scrambling hard for each other but again, just silly errors.”
After a dour first half, the Raiders came to life early in the second with Seb Kris crossing via a slick pass from halfback Jamal Fogarty, while powerful centre Matt Timoko stormed over for 14-10 after Dragon Mat Feagai scored.
Young’s herculean effort proved vital, since winger Tautau Moga scored two minutes from time as the Dragons fired one last bullet in pursuit of the win.
Canberra coach Ricky Stuart said his side’s performance wasn’t the display he wanted after their victory over Brisbane, declaring the only thing they’d backed up was collecting two points.
“We weren’t good today in a lot of areas of our game, but the positive is we get the two points,” he said.
“There’s been a lot of games where we’ve been very good and we missed out in the end.
“So many errors on tackle one … but to their credit, they have a very healthy desire to win. These guys are competitive bunch.”
It was a forgettable return to action for winger Nick Cotric, re-aggravating a hamstring injury he suffered in the lead-up to round three and which had sidelined him since, and spending 10 minutes in the sin bin for a cynical tackle.
Fogarty continued some of his best form in green, pin-point kicking including two forced dropouts adding to his slick assist, while makeshift fullback Kris ran for a team-high 165m.
