Leilua suspension adds to winless Dragons’ woes
Jasper Bruce |
St George Illawarra’s hunt for a first win of the season has been dealt another blow, with Luciano Leilua receiving a one-game suspension for his late, high shot on Sam Walker.
After a woeful 62-16 loss to Sydney Roosters to begin Dean Young’s interim coaching tenure, the Dragons faced more pain on Sunday morning with Leilua’s grade-two dangerous contact charge.
The second-rower is set to miss the round-10 clash with Newcastle if he takes an early guilty plea, and risks also sitting out the Magic Round match against Penrith by challenging the charge.
Leilua’s ban means the Dragons will be without their first-choice second-rowers when they return from the round-nine bye, given Jaydn Su’A is also suspended.
Jacob Halangahu is the likeliest man to start on Leilua’s edge when the last-placed Dragons fight to snap a 12-game losing streak that dates back to last August.
Leilua’s unnecessary shot on a kicking Walker proved costly on Anzac Day as the Roosters scored two tries while he was in the sin bin and took a 22-0 lead.
“When you’re playing the Roosters, and the style of footy they play, you don’t want to be playing them with them coming downhill,” Young said after the first game of the post-Shane Flanagan era.
The sin-binning came on a tough night for Leilua, who missed a tackle on James Tedesco ahead of the Roosters’ first try and gifted the Tricolours a seven-tackle set kicking the ball dead in the second half.
The Roosters stormed upfield to score through Daniel Tupou immediately after the blunder.
Elsewhere, Dolphins forward Thomas Flegler has escaped sanction for the shot that landed him in the sin bin during the loss to the Warriors.
Flegler clashed heads with centre Ali Leiataua after rushing out of the line in the lead-up to the Taine Tuaupiki try that sealed the Warriors’ 20-18 win.
The Queensland representative sat down for 10 minutes but will be available for next week’s clash against struggling Melbourne and has not been fined.
AAP