IT was difficult to describe exactly what this match meant, but it definitely was a good test for this Wire team.

Being played out in front of a nearly full stadium added to the sense of occasion.

St George struck first in the opening minutes with a try that looked far too easy, but it was also an example of classic timing and decision making from a half back, as well as the value of having plenty of players in motion around the ball carrier.

Wire struck back around 10 minutes later with some half back excellence of their own, Myler doing just enough to put the defenders in the position he wanted them before passing to O’Brien who did brilliantly to dummy his way through a barely existing gap and then beat the full back with another show and go.

The contest was a close one all night with neither side ever looking significantly better than the other one, making for an an excellent game of high intensity with both teams defending well.

Having said that the second try Wire conceded was also a bit soft, a grubber kick should have created nothing more than a drop out but instead resulted in the six-point lead being re-established.

Once again though Wire came back into the game. Atkins doing brilliantly to force his way twisting over the line, giving credence to my belief that his best position might be to play him as a Ryan Hall type of winger.

That was barely a minute after the first big flash point in the game when Penny did well to bounce straight up after being caught with a clothesline that would’ve looked more appropriate in one of those wrestling montage video clips.

Trailing by two at half time then the Wire defence was tested even more in the second half due to their ball control not being as good as they would like.

It held up well enough to level the scores with around 20 minutes left after another high tackle, this time on O’Brien resulted in him kicking the penalty goal.

It always looked likely that no more than one try was going to separate the two teams and unfortunately it was the Australian side that provided the decisive moment of brilliance.

It was fitting that it was Kiwi Benji Marshall who created the winning try with a kick, because his kicking game had been exemplary all night, causing the Wire back three all kinds of problems.

After a break down the middle with the Wire defence retreating, Marshall produced a delicate chip kick back on the inside, and the full back Dugan was able to gather the ball to score the winning try.

So instead of being Wolves it turned out they were more Dragons - slain by St George.

Overall though it was an encouraging performance, especially the way the younger players in particular didn’t look at all overawed to be on the same pitch as the all too often overly-immortalised Australians.

As for the game itself it was a bit like Gelling’s charge down in the Wigan game, not entirely sure what the point of it was but is was definitely entertaining.