The only thing St George Illawarra were tipped to win this season was the wooden spoon, but seven weeks into the season they are shock joint competition leaders following another win built on gritty defence against Brisbane.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
While no one is suggesting just yet the Dragons are serious premiership contenders, Paul McGregor's men continue to confound their critics with five consecutive wins to record the joint venture's best start to a season outside of the Wayne Bennett era.
Bennett's Broncos did it tough after losing captain Justin Hodges with a hamstring injury at half-time and second-rower Alex Glenn in the second half after a high shot from Dylan Farrell that left him with a suspected fractured eye socket and a broken nose.
But Dragons fans were entitled to proudly belt out When the Saints go Marching In after a gutsy performance by a team that last year finished 13th in defence but has now conceded just 74 points in seven matches to rank No.1 in that area.
St George Illawarra are also top of the NRL after English prop Mike Cooper crossed late in the second half and countryman Gareth Widdop converted to give the home side a 12-10 lead they then had to defend for the final 12 minutes of the match.
Going into the match, the Dragons had conceded just two tries in their previous 301 minutes of football against Canberra, Manly, Newcastle and Canterbury, but they couldn't hold out Daniel Vidot in the 16th minute after a cut-out pass from Hodges created room for him to cross in the corner.
Vidot's try followed a second consecutive St George Illawarra goal line dropout as the Broncos piled on the pressure, although Dugan's first restart from under the posts bounced just before the touchline before going out to win his side a scrum feed on their 40-metre line.
After earning so much praise in the opening six rounds, the Dragons showed they weren't willing to relinquish the reputation they had developed and immediately responded to Vidot's try with a bone-jarring tackle that shook the ball from Sam Thaiday's grasp as he returned the ball from the kick-off.
Fijian winger Eto Nabuli levelled the scores just three minutes later when he pounced on a grubber kick from Widdop that Vidot failed to cover in the Brisbane in-goal.
Even if the Nabuli hadn't scored, referee Bernard Sutton indicated St George Illawarra could have been awarded a penalty try after Widdop was held back by Broncos skipper Hodges as he attempted to chase his kick.
A high tackle by Glenn on Dugan enabled Widdop to put the Dragons ahead 6-4 with a penalty goal in the 27th minute and the Broncos looked even more frustrated after Will Matthews' rib rattler shook the ball loose from Anthony Milford.
The star five-eighth then had a try denied just before half-time because of an infringement in which centre Corey Oates tackled Dragons winger Peter Mata'utia in the air as he fielded a high kick near his own line.
With Hodges failing to return after the break and Glenn lasting just 10 minutes of the second half, the odds appeared stacked against the Broncos until Thaiday forced his way over the line in the 55th minute.
The Dragons lost Jake Marketo after he was concussed trying to tackle Adam Blair from the restart and the game appeared to be slipping from their grasp until Cooper charged through four defenders to score in the 68th minute and Widdop converted.
