St George Illawarra are one step closer to ending their finals drought, having returned to the top eight by holding out a Gold Coast comeback in a 32-16 win in Wollongong.
After leading 26-6 at halftime, the Dragons were forced to hold the fort in the second half against a strong southerly wind and a resurgent Titans side fighting for their season.
Gold Coast spent almost the entire second half camped on the Dragons’ line, and had a one-man advantage for 10 minutes after Jack de Belin was sin-binned.
But they could only score twice as the Dragons held on for one of the most crucial wins of their season.
The victory puts the Red V back ahead of fellow finals hopefuls the Dolphins in eighth spot, on the verge of their first playoff series since 2018.
With Cronulla, Parramatta and Canberra to come in the final three weeks, Shane Flanagan’s men are now the clear frontrunners to claim eighth spot.
The news is not so good for the Titans, who are now 13th, six points behind the Dragons and almost certainly out of the finals race.
Things had started so well for Gold Coast, who scored on their very first touch when Keano Kini broke down field from a kick return and put Jojo Fifita over.
Kini was immense, breaking his own all-time running record in a game for the Titans with more than 350 metres.
Kieran Foran also set up a second-half try in his 300th game, with several former Manly teammates and close friend Mitchell Pearce among those in attendance at WIN Stadium.
Otherwise, the Titans lacked the strike power to beat the Dragons’ defence close to the line and make use of their territorial advantage in the second half.
In contrast, the Dragons were able to pose a threat with the wind at their back before the break.
Christian Tupulotu scored their first when Tyrell Sloan batted a ball onto him, and Luciano Leilua broke downfield from the next kick off when the ball hung in the wind.
Ben Hunt was able to score off the back of that break, and laid on the next Dragons try when he held a ball up and sent Zac Lomax over.
Ryan Couchman scored another try after a Jacob Liddle bust, while his brother Toby put on a late offload for Leilua to go over just before the break.
And after holding strong through a nervous second half, Francis Molo sealed the deal for the Dragons late on to put them on brink of a return to the finals.