Source :- THE AGE NEWS
The Dragons have ended one of the longest losing streaks in NRL history with the most remarkable upset of 2026 – a 30-26 triumph over reigning premiers Brisbane on their own Suncorp Stadium turf.
For 295 days and in 15 straight losses stretching back to last August, St George Illawarra have had nothing. Former coach Shane Flanagan lost his job along the way.
Unwanted NRL history stalked at every turn – only 10 teams have endured longer winless runs. The Dragons’ 0-11 start to the year was trumped only by the Rabbitohs of 2006 (0-12) and Knights of 2005 (0-13).
And then the Dragons thumped the Broncos, whose 26-point tally flattered them in a contest the visitors dominated.
Co-captain Clint Gutherson shrugged off his injury battles to steer the club to the breakthrough win with the type of critical defensive plays that have been the hallmark of his dog-with-a-bone career.
Much-maligned veteran Valentine Holmes featured prominently alongside the Dragons’ emerging local juniors, led by back-rowers Hamish Stewart and Dylan Egan.
It was Holmes’ second try – in which he knocked up an errant Broncos pass before kicking and regathering – that gave the visitors genuine hope and a 26-8 advantage.
“There’s a lot of media around the future of this club through the young crop [of players] that we’ve got, but you can’t turn anything around with a young group,” Dean Young said after the first win of his second coming as Dragons coach.
“You need your senior players to stand up. And Cookie [hooker Damien Cook] has been outstanding all year… Gutho, the old bloke at the back, if you knew what he’d been going through the last few weeks just to get on the field and then to do what he’s doing is just quite remarkable. And today Val was back to being Val, and we look forward to seeing more of the Val we all know.”
The Broncos briefly traded in late hope themselves as Josiah Karapani (68th minute), Xavier Willison (73rd) and Jesse Arthars (79th) all scored to threaten a monumental comeback.
But the Dragons deserved their first win in 10 months as they withstood one last desperate Broncos play and a nerve-jangling final 16 seconds.
Brisbane have real worries after slumping to a fourth straight defeat of their own, conceding an average of 35.5 points along the way.
Coach Michael Maguire conceded his side had taken the last-placed Dragons lightly and made the rare decision to oversee proceedings from the sideline midway through the second half.
“I just felt for whatever reason we were flat, and I wanted to get down and get the feeling of what was going on there,” he said.
Pat Carrigan and Ezra Mam battled through ankle issues while Payne Haas at least returned from his knee injury in ominous form – trampling Kyle Flanagan at one point in a 50-metre bust as he finished with a game-high 281 metres.
Haas summed up Brisbane’s woes aptly at full-time, though, when he told ABC Sport: “We’re all talk at the moment. We keep saying we’re going to do all these important things on the field, but to be honest, we’re BS-ing each other.”
Haas will be front and centre for NSW in Origin II. But another ignominious outing for Reece Walsh did his chances of a Queensland recall no favours.
Rival No.1 Gutherson, meanwhile, was still barking orders in the final minute despite a late calf issue forcing him to the bench.
The veteran fullback was all heart as ever when Jesse Arthars latched onto his 50th-minute pass, raced 90 metres and threatened to kick off the comeback a 42,275-strong crowd still figured was coming.
Instead of blowing their 14-2 half-time lead though, the Dragons and Gutherson doubled down.
Five minutes after throwing a length-of-the-field intercept, the Red V captain was able to plate up a try for Holmes in similar fashion, and after 295 days without a win, the Dragons were on their way.
