Dragons are all huff and puff as Hodges sparks Broncos

Justin Hodges played only 40 minutes but his class was the difference in Brisbane's gutsy defeat of St George Illawarra at WIN Stadium on Friday.

Despite dominating possession and field position against an opposition reduced to 15 players after losing Hodges and prop Josh McGuire to injury, the Dragons never really looked like winning and must seriously be considering stepping up plans to sign sacked Canberra star Josh Dugan.

Even with Hodges spending 10 minutes in the sin bin for a professional foul, St George Illawarra could only manage one try and then allowed their undermanned opponents to score three times in the second half.
It was a courageous performance by the Broncos, who were run off their feet in the first half after being forced to make 174 tackles to the Dragons 112 and lost McGuire with a calf tear in the 30th minute. At one stage in the first half, the Broncos held out the home side for 11 consecutive sets.

Worse was to come when Hodges pulled up lame after a run 10 minutes into the second half when he tore his left hamstring.

The Test centre had only just returned from the sin bin after a try-saving tackle on Brett Morris and had helped put the Broncos ahead 10-6 two minutes earlier with a grubber kick that resulted in winger Josh Hoffman scoring.

Down to one interchange 15 minutes from full-time, Brisbane extended their lead when second-rower David Stagg scored in the 65th minute and fullback Corey Norman eight minutes later.

Yet while Brisbane deserve credit for the way they repeatedly defended their line, the truth is that the home side didn't really challenge them with much.

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