Dragons' finals hopes dashed as Eels hold on in 84-point thriller
The Dragons' hopes of playing finals footy have been all but ended, but they went down with a fight in an 84-point thriller against the Eels.
Trailing by 32 points with just 10 minutes on the clock, the Dragons fell agonisingly short of an NRL record comeback to lose 44-40.
It's the highest score ever made by a losing side in first-grade history.
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Tyrell Sloan of the Dragons looks dejected after an Eels try during the round 26 NRL match between Parramatta Eels and St George Illawarra Dragons at CommBank Stadium, on August 31, 2024, in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images) Getty
When Maika Sivo scored his third of the afternoon on the hour mark, the Eels led 44-12.
Mathew Feagai scored what looked to be a consolation try in the 71st minute, but Tyrell Sloan made it back-to-back four-pointers only two minutes later.
Sloan scored another in the 76th minute, and Feagai his second in the 77th. Meanwhile, Eels-bound Zac Lomax had kicked all four conversions.
Feagai secured his hat trick in the final minute to cut the lead to four, and the Dragons turned down the conversion chance to give themselves one play to win the match outright.
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The Eels kicked off with four seconds on the clock, but the Dragons were unable to do anything with it.
The Dragons came into the match sitting eighth on the ladder, a game clear of the Broncos, Dolphins, Knights and Raiders, but nursing a terrible for-and-against.
The Eels raced out of the blocks and scored two quick tries to start the match, but the Dragons did respond shortly after when Connor Muhleisen scored his first NRL try.
The Eels scored three more first-half tries, and the Dragons had three turned down.
As they did in the first half, the Eels scored two quick tries to open the second half - the first coming within seconds of play resuming - before Sivo scored back-to-back tries either side of the hour mark.
He'd earlier become the quickest man ever to score 100 NRL tries, doing so in 114 matches.
Sivo reached the milestone a game earlier than Nathan Blacklock, seven quicker than Josh Addo-Carr, and eight quicker than Brett Stewart.
