A last-gasp stroke of genius from fullback Tyrell Sloan has helped St George Illawarra usher in the post-Anthony Griffin era at the NRL club with 24-22 upset of the Sydney Roosters.
The win in Ryan Carr's first game as interim coach snaps a six-game losing streak that cost Griffin his job on Tuesday and eases the off-field pressure that has been building on the Dragons.
The Dragons gave up a 14-0 lead in the second half once James Tedesco and Luke Keary began to fire and the home side threatened to fall in a close encounter, just a they did in the first five losses of their 2023 slump.
But with numbers on the left side of the field in the final 20 seconds, Sloan put in a cross-field kick that sent Mathew Feagai over to level the scores.
It was a conversion from the maligned Zac Lomax, playing his first game back from a two-week spell in reserve grade, that stopped the rot for the Dragons and sealed a famous win at Kogarah.
The Roosters lifted their game in a tightly fought second half but have now lost their past three games by a combined total of 92-32 and have failed to score any first-half points during that time.
It has been an alarming fall from grace for the pre-season premiership fancies, who are set for more disruption with Tedesco and Lindsay Collins' impending State of Origin selections.
The Roosters will also likely lose Brandon Smith to a thumb injury and Victor Radley to suspension after he was placed on report for head-butting Dragons prop Blake Lawrie during a fracas in the first half.
Tedesco was the best in a beaten team, putting paid to recent speculation as to his State of Origin credentials by hoisting the Roosters back into the fight after an error-prone and wasteful first half.
The fullback leapt high to catch a wayward Brandon Smith pass and flop over for a try in the 50th minute.
Three minutes later he took Nathan Brown's short pass and tore through the middle, eventually offloading to a flying Luke Keary.
The Dragons' own talisman Ben Hunt put his side on top again with a short ball out of dummy-half that sent Jaydn Su'A over but Tedesco returned serve to his rival captain.
Moses Suli leapt to field Luke Keary's kick inside his own 10 metres but found himself pickpocketed by Tedesco, who crashed over.
The Roosters looked to be closing in on victory, but that was until the Dragons caught the defence out of place as Wiradjuri man Sloan sealed victory in Indigenous Round.
