NRL history made in never-before-seen moment of madness
Corey Norman has nailed his second game-winning field goal in as many weeks to give St George Illawarra a 13-12 golden point win over Newcastle.
Norman missed shots late in regular time and in the first period of extra time but then coolly slotted his third attempt in the 88th minute on Sunday.
Mitchell Pearce missed a 30-metre attempt and an audacious shot from halfway.
Norman’s clincher with two minutes to go came after an ineffective midfield bomb from Pearce, who struggled with his kicking game for most of the night.
It was the first time in the 12 years of golden point’s existence that three games have been decided in extra time in one round.
Manly and Penrith were also golden point winners, with Daly Cherry-Evans and Nathan Cleary the heroes.
Knights rue missed chances
The shattering loss took the gloss off an improved showing from Kalyn Ponga, who set up two tries at McDonald Jones Stadium.
Making his first start in the No.1 jumper following his unsuccessful five-eighth experiment, Ponga was back to his dynamic best with 169 metres.
But it mattered little as the Knights failed to capitalise on his strong display, which had given them a two-point lead at halftime.
Neither team was able to gain ascendancy after the break, with Dragons winger Mikaele Ravalawa scoring the only try of the half.
A Ponga penalty goal in the 63rd minute levelled the scores, however that would be the end of the points in regular time.
It didn’t take long for Ponga to justify Brown’s backflip on the positional switch, with Edrick Lee the beneficiary of an incredible cutout pass in the 11th minute.
The Dragons got one against the run of play when Tyson Frizell, making an early return from a lacerated testicle, stripped Pearce one-on-one.
However Ponga returned serve with another piece of magic, throwing a face-ball for centre Hymel Hunt to get the crowd of 19,105 on their feet.
Dragons forward Korbin Sims could be looking at some time on the sidelines after suffering a suspected broken arm despite playing with it for 20 minutes.
with AAP
