Bulldogs 30 Dragons 18

WAYNE Bennett needed a new challenge. We figure that's the reason the master coach decided to pack up and head south after 21 glorious years at Brisbane.

But the size of that challenge became evident when St George Illawarra meekly surrendered to the Bulldogs last night.

Based on that performance, Bennett will inherit a side bereft of ideas and discipline after conceding six tries to a team which appeared similarly out of sorts before the game.

It will be some effort to add to his six premiership wins while in charge of the men wearing the red V.

The Dragons struggle without their best player, Mark Gasnier.

To say they missed the champion centre, sidelined with a calf injury, was an understatement.

On the other side of the ledger, the Bulldogs' Kiwi international forward Sonny Bill Williams was outstanding.

Not content with running through gaps and off-loading at every opportunity, the Kiwi superstar totally took the mickey out of the Dragons defence when he grubber kicked to give Danny Williams a four-pointer just after half-time.

Sonny Bill was ably assisted by good performances from halves Ben Roberts and Daniel Holdsworth as well as some shoddy Dragons defence.

The game was all but over by then anyway, after the home side skipped out to a 20-6 half-time lead. If there was one passage of play that summed up the Dragons' night - and season - it came right on the stroke of half-time.

With his side on the attack, Dragons five-eighth Rangi Chase chipped ahead for himself only for Willie Tonga to intercept the kick and run 75 metres to plant the ball next to the uprights.

Nathan Brown must be wondering where his next win will come from.

After their only win of the season, against the Gold Coast, the Dragons coach had some words of wisdom from Laurie Daley ringing in his ears- "don't keep messing with your halves combination".

It prompted Brown to publicly endorse Jamie Soward and Chase as his long-time halves pairing.

Soward watched from the grandstand last night.

In the end, the final score flattered the joint venture outfit as Matt Cooper and Simon Woolford scored brilliant late tries after the Bulldogs clocked off early.

The home side did most of the damage either side of the break, scoring three tries in the 11 minutes before the siren and then a further two shortly after the resumption. Winger Matt Utai finished with two tries, as did Bulldogs centre Tim Winitana.

Utai's work under the high ball might be questionable, but he has no such problems when the ball is on the ground. When Ben Roberts kicked in behind the Dragons defence in just the fifth minute, Utai was the first one there to ground the ball and claim the opening try.

His second try was almost a carbon copy of his first four-pointer.

Utai's Achilles heel, however, was exposed nine minutes later when Chase put up a towering cross kick.

Tonga attempted to shield the Kiwi winger as the chasers poured through, but all he effectively did was turn his back on the horror that would unfold.

Utai didn't even get a hand on the ball as Dragons winger Michael Lett batted it back into the waiting arms of Chase Stanley, who scored.

Hornby's conversion was unsuccessful, although he briefly gave the Dragons the lead soon afterwards with a penalty goal from in front.

But that was as close as the Dragons got.

Bennett can't get to the Dragons quickly enough.

BULLDOGS 30 (M Utai 2 T Winitana 2 W Tonga S Williams tries D Holdsworth 3 goals) bt ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA 18 (M Cooper C Stanley S Woolford tries B Hornby 3 goals) at ANZ Stadium. Referee: B Sutton. Crowd: 14,764.

>GUS'S VERDICT

I'll set the scene for you - it was a wet night, heavy ground, small crowd, little atmosphere, both teams missing key players and down on confidence. What a great opportunity for the Bulldogs and the Dragons players to turn up and show some self-motivation to make a statement to their fans about their intentions for the rest of the season. Well, at least the Bulldogs took the challenge. I was very impressed with their commitment in both attack and defence.

PHIL GOULD