‘It’s quite remarkable’: Upset of the season as winless Dragons stun premiers Broncos at Suncorp

The drought has broken—and against the reigning NRL premiers no less.

St. George Illawarra has produced the upset of the NRL season, beating the Brisbane Broncos 30-26 at Suncorp Stadium in a performance that left the home crowd in disbelief.

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Few gave the winless Dragons a chance having lost 15 consecutive NRL matches dating back to 2025, however the history books gave reason for hope with St. George Illawarra winning eight of their last ten matches against Brisbane.

Two early tries had the Dragons leading 12-0 inside the first 12 minutes, with Brisbane’s woeful 50 per cent completion rate and sloppy defence handing the visitors a stream of easy field position. 

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The lacklustre Broncos consistently failed to contain the Dragons’ offloads and a penalty extended the lead to 14-0 before the half hour mark.

“It’s been a pretty ordinary start from the Broncos,” Greg Alexander observed for Fox League.

The Dragons led 14-2 at the break—just the second time they had led at halftime all season with Brisbane missing 17 tackles and looking a shadow of a premiership side.

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“Brisbane are in trouble here,” Michael Ennis said at half time. 

“The style of footy they’re playing will have Michael Maguire really concerned.”

Indeed he would have been, for despite an intercept try to Jesse Arthars early in the second half closing the margin to 14-8, the Dragons then hit back with three more tries to Mathew Feagai, Valentine Holmes and Setu Tu and the upset of the season was sealed with the Dragons leading 30-8.

Late tries to Josiah Karapani, Xavier Willison and Jesse Arthars narrowed the margin for Brisbane, but the damage was done. 

“It’s quite remarkable,” Greg Alexander said of the final 30-26 scoreline.

To make matters worse for the 2025 NRL Premiers—who are now languishing in 11th with a 5-7 record—Origin forward Pat Carrigan suffered a left ankle injury while Adam Reynolds and Brendan Piakura were both placed on report for dangerous tackles.

Incredibly, the 30-26 winning margin to the Dragons is now the exact same scoreline for the past three matches between the two sides.

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