Dragons 30 Titans 12
Jamie Soward and Rangi Chase repaid besieged coach Nathan Brown for his decision to declare them his long-term scrum-base combination by spearheading the Dragons to a much-needed win in Wollongong last night.
After a performance he labelled "disgraceful" last weekend against Wests Tigers, Brown showed faith in Soward at halfback and promoted Chase from the interchange bench to play five-eighth in a move that enabled Ben Hornby to return to his more accustomed fullback position.
He also assured Soward and Chase he intended sticking with them, and the performances of the rookie halves against the Titans suggested they benefited from the vote of confidence.
"I had a couple of chats to Brownie, and he's put a lot of faith in me so it was good to be able to repay him a little bit tonight," Soward said. "I've had a bit of a chequered past where I've been in and out of first grade but he said he's going to keep sticking with me so it was great to be able to come off the field tonight and look him in the eye and say I was happy with how I played."
Between them, the pair were involved in all five Dragons tries.
"It [Brown's vote of confidence] means I can play my footy," Chase said. "It is important for me to be able to get used to five-eighth. I can play halfback, five-eighth or hooker but I've got the opportunity now to cement the No.6 and that's where I want to play."
Despite having just 53 NRL performances between them and only a handful together, Soward (37 games) and Chase (16) led the Dragons around the field to help secure the win early in the second half.
With the scores level at 6-6 when the teams went to the interval, Soward put up a towering bomb that resulted in a 43rd-minute try for winger Jason Nightingale, and just two minutes later captain Mark Gasnier scored off a grubber put deep behind the Gold Coast defensive line by Chase.
The former Gold Coast schoolboy, who came from New Zealand to attend the same school as Benji Marshall on a Wests Tigers scholarship, then put the result beyond doubt in the 52nd minute when he stepped Mat Rogers, beat Mark Minichiello, and accelerated past Preston Campbell to score a brilliant individual try.
Minichiello kept the Titans in the contest when he scored eight minutes later off a Scott Prince grubber, but it was not enough, and Dragons Test centre Matt Cooper sealed the win six minutes before full-time with his second try off another Soward kick.
It was a near-faultless performance by the home side, who this week made few handling errors and were far more disciplined, much to the delight of the 10,521 fans who braved the rain in Wollongong. Not to mention Brown, whose future in the job is to be decided within six weeks.
After an impressive season-opening win over North Queensland last weekend, the Titans were off the pace for most of the game and must improve on their away record of just two wins last season if they are going to challenge for the finals. In a further blow to Gold Coast, centre Brett Delaney was forced from the field late on with a knee injury.
With a glut of early possession, the Dragons' tactics were obvious - get into good field position and bomb Ben Jeffrey's wing.
The Titans rookie, who made his NRL debut for Wests Tigers last year, fielded no fewer than four cross-field kicks from Soward in the opening 20 minutes and never looked comfortable. But the first try of the match came on the opposite side of the field, when Cooper fended off Delaney and pushed his way through Jordan Atkins to score in the 10th minute.
Gasnier's towering sideline conversion gave the home side a 6-0 lead but a golden chance to go further ahead went begging just four minutes later when the Test centre was called back for a forward pass from Chase.
Even more disheartening for the St George Illawarra captain, he was bundled into touch by Luke O'Dwyer after deciding to take on the underrated Titans centre in a bid to post a quick response to Nathan Friend's 24th-minute try.
ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA 30 (M Cooper 2 R Chase M Gasnier J Nightingale tries J Soward 4 M Gasnier goals) bt GOLD COAST 12 (N Friend M Minichiello tries S Prince 2 goals) at WIN Stadium. Referee: G Badger. Crowd: 10,521.
