St George Illawarra suffered just their second defeat of the season when they lost 24-10 to South Sydney yesterday - but the Dragons retained their two-point lead at the top of a compact table when their nearest rivals also lost.
Souths joined the Warriors as the only teams to havetoppled the Dragons in the 10 rounds played so far this season, just a week after St. George Illawarra beat the defending champion Melbourne Storm 34-14 to enhance their status as the early title favourites.
Souths led 14-0 with just 13 minutes remaining but had to hold off a late rally from the Dragons. Tyson Frizell scored two consolation tries, including one from a 90m sprint, but they came too late to swing the match as the Rabbitohs replied with their own late tries from teenage winger Campbell Graham and Greg Inglis.
St George Illawarra remain top of the competition standings with 16 points from eight wins. Penrith moved into second place, two points behind, with a 29-18 win over Newcastle on Friday night, edging ahead of the Warriors, also two points adrift.
●The Cronulla Sharks beat the Canberra Raiders 24-16 yesterday to record their sixth win of the season and edge into the top eight.
Nick Cotric opened the scoring for the Raiders in the seventh minute but Valentine Holmes replied for the Sharks just two minutes later to level the scores. Canberra led 16-8 at the break but were held scoreless in the second half as Cronulla finished strongly with three tries in the last 25 minutes, with Holmes scoring his second two minutes from fulltime.
