Matching it with NRL heavyweights Manly didn’t raise the spirits of St George Illawarra captain Ben Creagh.
Heading into Sunday’s clash with Gold Coast, Creagh still couldn’t shake the disappointment of throwing away a chance at victory against the Sea Eagles on Monday night and losing 24-18.
The Dragons bravely fought back from 18-0 down but that did little to placate their captain, who doesn’t want his teammates to accept mediocre efforts when a finals spot is their primary goal.
“It was a shame to lose and it’s still not good enough,” Creagh told AAP.
“Eighteen-all with 10 minutes to go I thought we were playing well enough to win.
“It was one we really needed to win against a quality side.
“It’s mostly disappointing how we started.
“That’s the main thing we’re not happy about. If we’d started well it could’ve been a different game.”
Creagh said he did take some confidence out of the fact they had pushed the 2011 premiers to the limit, and even had a chance to take the lead in the final 10 minutes save for a terrible missed conversion from the normally reliable Jamie Soward.
“We do get a bit of confidence out of being able to go with such a quality side like Manly,” he said.
“But we’ve got to beat quality sides, the top four sides, to be in contention when it comes to September footy.”
The Dragons sit in 12th place, just one away from sixth spot, but what disappointed Creagh the most was that it meant they’d conceded back-to-back losses.
“A win on Monday would’ve kept us in the eight. That’s where you need to be,” he said.
“The secret of the competition is to not back up with losses and we did that (against Manly).”