Six weeks suddenly seems a very long time for St George Illawarra.
That's the projected time frame on Gareth Widdop's return to action, and it can't come quick enough after the Dragons sunk to a 34-22 defeat to league leaders Melbourne in the absence of their skipper at WIN Stadium on Sunday.
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Storm outclass Dragons
Melbourne remain at the top of the ladder after a first-half rampage pushed them past the Dragons.
It was a clash between sides one and two on the ladder, but the Storm looked streets ahead of the Dragons in a near flawless opening half, with flyers Suliasi Vunivalu and Josh Addo-Carr both bagging doubles in a first-half blitz that effectively sewed up the result by half-time.
With doubles flying thick and fast, Billy Slater ended a try-scoring drought that stretched back to round nine 2015 with a pair of tries in the second half to go with his two first-half try assists as the lead ballooned to 30 midway through the second half.
Cooper Cronk's 65th-minute sin-binning gave the hosts a second wind with the Dragons scoring three tries in the final 14 minutes to put a dent in the margin but it was small consolation in a scoreline that ultimately flattered them.
It seems unlikely that Widdop's presence would have altered the result but his injury, suffered in the club's Anzac Day loss to the Roosters, could now prove season-defining for the Dragons, who dropped consecutive games for the first time this season and face tough away games against Cronulla and the Warriors when competition resumes following this weekend's representative round.
The rep round and a round 12 bye will soak up some of Widdop's recovery time but coach Paul McGregor will no doubt be sweating on his return, though he was more concerned by his side's first-half defensive effort.
"You can't defend like that against quality opposition like Melbourne," McGregor said.
"There were stages there where the pressure was off where we played some really good footy but it was all too late. We had seven line breaks so our attack was OK considering we didn't do any work on the field because of the Anzac Day game on Tuesday.
"Obviously that took a bit out of us but we needed to start better than that. They were pretty clinical and coming at us at speed and gave us a couple of lessons on the edges. When the pressure was off, we played some attractive footy, which is nice but the game's at two ends. You've got to defend well.
"Some one-on-one misses today just weren't up to the standards we've set this year and that's the truth of it. We're a club that wants to set quality standards and we have, we were leading the competition up until Tuesday. We're a third of the way through the competition, it's just disappointing that we couldn't continue how good we've been defensively."
Vunivalu had his first try in the eighth minute when he collected a well-weighted kick from Slater and produced an acrobatic effort to score his second. Addo-Carr's two tries on the other flank saw the visitors lead 22-4 at the break after Jason Nightingale crossed three minutes before the break.
The hope was quickly snuffed out when Slater crossed for his first try soon after the resumption and the Storm led by 30 when he posted his second soon after. Cameron McInnes, Nightingale and Tariq Sims all got across in the final nine minutes but it was too late to have a bearing on the result.