St George Illawarra 28 Brisbane 10

BRONCOS utility David Stagg last night insisted he had not been aware until told after full-time that he was the player who ended any hope of a fairytale comeback for Wendell Sailor in an incident that will come under scrutiny from the NRL match review committee.

While the Dragons hung on to record their fourth consecutive win and move into the top eight for the first time this season, the failure of Sailor to return after half-time due to a fractured cheekbone was a huge disappointment to the crowd of 11,432 gathered at WIN Stadium to see his first NRL appearance since 2001.

The injury, which will sideline Sailor for up to six weeks, occurred just five minutes before half-time as the 33-year-old dual international made a try-saving tackle on Stagg and appeared to be the victim of an errant elbow from the stand-in Brisbane five-eighth.

Sailor, who reeled away clutching at his face, stayed down until he received treatment from a St George Illawarra trainer but remained on the field and managed to get back in the defensive line to again help stop the Broncos scoring and ensure the home side maintained their 20-4 lead at the interval.

Referee Ben Cummins, who whistled most of the 14 penalties - 10 to Brisbane and four to the Dragons - awarded during the match in the first half, took no action against Stagg and did not refer the incident to video referee Phil Cooley but NRL officials last night confirmed the incident would be examined on Monday.

"We will be looking at it for sure," match review chief Greg McCallum said.

Last week North Queensland lock Luke O'Donnell was suspended for seven matches on two striking charges over the use of his elbow when running the ball and another of abusing touch judge Russell Turner, while Parramatta's Brendan Oake accepted a two match ban for a similar incident.

The NRL match review committee looks at all incidents in which a player is injured and the cause of Sailor's facial fracture, which is expected to require surgery, will be studied closely.

Sailor was heavily targeted by the Broncos, with former St George Illawarra forward Ashton Sims collecting him heavily after the ex-Kangaroos and Wallabies star's first touch of the ball, while second-rower Corey Parker appeared to work him over on the ground in the same tackle.

But Stagg insisted the incident in which Sailor was injured had been an accident.

"I was only informed after the game that he had done some damage to the cheekbone or something," Stagg said. "I didn't know until now what had happened. Honestly I didn't. Obviously he just jammed in on me and unfortunately he's come off second best. It's a contact sport … but I didn't even know what he hit. I didn't even feel it.

"In the heat of the moment I didn't know what happened. There was a collision there and I played on from that. All I noticed was that he was on the ground. It's never nice if something like that has happened to him, it was his first game back in first grade but we play a contact sport and unfortunately these things happen."

After the hype surrounding Sailor's comeback against the club he played nine seasons with before switching to rugby union in 2001 and then being suspended for two years following a positive test for cocaine, Sailor's injury overshadowed the Dragons' 28-10 win.

St George Illawarra coach Nathan Brown said he had been taken to hospital for scans.

"It's unfortunate, not only for Wendell but for the club and the game as well," Brown said. "There were a lot of people watching probably only to watch Wendell but that the way it goes and I'm sure he will fight back.

"I feel sorry for Dell because in the first half they obviously targeted him … but I thought he read it well in his first game back and he had some nice strong carries. I was rapt with his positional play to be honest because Denan Kemp is a real livewire and they targeted him a few times."

ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA 28 (J Nightingale 2 B Hornby B Morris D Young tries J Soward 4 goals) bt BRISBANE 10 (T Carroll G Eastwood tries M Ennis goal) at WIN Stadium. Referee: B Cummins. Crowd: 11,432.