A sellout 17,357 crowd packed into Netstrata Jubilee Stadium to watch the Dragons survive a late scare and finish atop the South Sydney Rabbitohs 36-30 in pristine Saturday afternoon conditions.
First-half tries to Ben Hunt and Mikaele Ravalawa gave the Dragons a four-point edge heading into the break before a quartet of tries within the space of 22 minutes put them in the drivers’ seat heading into the final stages.
Three late Rabbitohs tries gave the home side a scare, but the Dragons managed to hold on for their fourth win of the season in front of Kogarah’s biggest crowd since Round 9, 2018.
The Dragons were boosted by the late inclusion of Blake Lawrie who was unavailable for the side’s previous two outings due to a hand fracture whilst the visitors were dealt a blow during the week with five-eighth Cody Walker ruled out due to a quad strain and replaced by Dean Hawkins.
Richie Kennar crossed in the right corner to give the Rabbitohs an early 4-0 lead but the Dragons answered with a beauty from inside their own half 16 minutes in.
Jayden Sullivan threw a looping one-hander to put Mathew Feagai into space before the Samoan international stepped and pushed his way around several defenders to find a supporting Ben Hunt who scurried down the left touchline to dive over.
Zac Lomax’s conversion gave the hosts their first lead of the encounter.
The Dragons took full advantage of a penalty the following set and extended their lead through Ravalawa who reeled in a Tyrell Sloan flick pass and powered his way over in the right corner.
An imposing Josh Kerr carry earned the side a penalty from in front of the posts which Lomax nudged over for two points to improve the lead to 12-4 eight minutes before the break.
The Rabbitoh answered prior to the intermission through Keaon Koloamatangi who dived over in the left corner off a Hawkins chip collected and unloaded by Isaiah Tass.z
The Dragons lead improved to back beyond a converted try just over 10 minutes into the second half after Jacob Liddle jumped out of dummy half off a Michael Molo carry to poke his nose through the line and slam the ball down.
South Sydney responded moments later after a Damien Cook break left the side scrambling and opened up an avenue down the left edge for Tass to score and cut the lead to four.
An escort penalty laid the platform for Jaydn Su’A to crash through and score off some sharp Hunt ball-playing which Lomax was able to convert to make it 24-14 with 18 minutes remaining.
Off the back of Liddle going within inches of his second, Michael Molo dived over under the posts for just the second try of his NRL career on a fifth-tackle crash play with 12 minutes to go as the side hit the 30-point mark for the third time this season.
Jaiyden Hunt scored the first try of his NRL career after Sloan glided into the backfield off a well-timed inside ball from Ben Hunt and found the supporting lock for the side’s sixth try of the afternoon and third in 12 minutes.
Host found a late try for the Rabbitohs off a Siliva Havili offload before Campbell Graham broke through to send Lachlan Ilias over.
The Rabbitohs again went the length of the field to score via Graham and cut the Dragons lead to six with just under a minute to go.
The Dragons defence managed to hold on for a well-earned 36-30 win – their fifth from their past seven at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium – as they head into a Round 16 bye.
