Norman finally lands field goal to give Dragons golden-point win

Corey Norman’s first field-goal attempt in the 84th minute sailed to the right. Then Chad Townsend’s attempt barely got off the ground. Ben Hunt’s 87th-minute shot was charged down and then knocked on.

But Norman finally held his nerve with two minutes left in golden point extra time to nail a field goal and give St George Illawarra a 19-18 victory over the New Zealand Warriors.

Corey Norman kicks the winning field goal. Credit:NRL Photos

The Warriors have now lost three games by a field goal following similar heartache against Manly and then North Queensland. Coach Nathan Brown will be seething his side threw away an easy win.

Townsend played his first game back at the club in six years, and was injured in just the second minute. Townsend, who returned to the Warriors last week for the rest of the season before moving to the Cowboys in 2022, was belted by Tariq Sims after he had kicked.

He stayed on the ground, later dusted himself off and then spent the remainder of the night with his right arm dangling by his side.

Townsend was brave, much like Nathan Cleary was when he battled his way through a similar shoulder injury for NSW six nights earlier, but a field-goal attempt in the 73rd minute to give the Warriors a nine-point lead backfired.

The ball barely got off the ground and the Dragons scored up the other end of the field from the ensuing seven-tackle set. It was a big turning point in the game.

Time will tell if he is fit to take on the club who cut him loose just last week, Cronulla, next Sunday.

The Dragons were the better side in the first half, especially barnstorming prop Paul Vaughan and Hunt.

A Bird knock-on invited the Warriors to attack late, and they made the most of it with tries to Wayde Egan and Eli Katoa.

They went further in front when big Bunty Afoa bumped past Andrew McCullough under the posts in the second half.

The Dragons will head into the bye round on the back of two wins, but could be without Jack de Belin who was placed on report twice early in the second half. Playing just his fourth NRL game this year, de Belin was pinged for a cannonball tackle on Edward Kosi and then a lifting tackle on Sean O’Sullivan.

There was one disappointing scene in golden point when Kosi stayed down to milk a penalty, only to be ordered to his feet by the referee to play the ball.

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