Ricky Stuart’s brutal mid-game decision to bench young winger Savelio Tamale after a horror start against the Dragons paid off, with the Raiders overcoming a half-time deficit to win 24-16 and keep their slim finals hopes alive.
Tamale was peppered with high kicks in the opening 40 minutes at GIO Stadium, coming up with four errors and getting manhandled when he caught them.
Savelio Tamale walks off after being benched against the Dragons. Fox League
The 21-year-old was clearly down on confidence, and it was no surprise to see the halves combination of Kyle Flanagan and Daniel Atkinson continually target him.
“It looks like the best option to score points for the Dragons this afternoon is just kick it to Tamale and see if Setu Tu can catch it,” Cooper Cronk said on Fox League.
After making his fourth mistake, that’s precisely what the Red V did as Atkinson placed a cross-field kick for Tu, who leapt above Tamale to score.
“He’s been under all sorts of pressure – he’s in two minds every time the ball comes to him,” Steve Roach added in commentary.
As the visitors celebrated, Tamale was spotted walking off the field with a Raiders trainer and replaced by Seb Kris, who was on the six-man bench.
It continues a difficult season for Tamale, who asked to be dropped to NSW Cup earlier in the year when he was making costly errors in the top grade.
St George Illawarra took a 10-6 lead into the half-time break in the nation’s capital.
Tyrell Sloan opened the scoring with a runaway intercept try before State of Origin star Hudson Young put the hosts on the board.
In the second half, the Green Machine surged into the lead after Xavier Savage cleaned up a loose ball and ran 100 metres to score.
Savage scored another dubious intercept try, which was awarded despite a clear touch from Simi Sasagi, before hooker Tom Starling iced the result.