It was billed as State Of Origin IV but in the end it only served as a reality check for St George Illawarra as the Dragons were slain 28-14 by the Brisbane Broncos in their NRL clash at WIN Stadium.

The Dragons were dubbed title favourites by incoming NSW Origin coach Ricky Stuart before the match after they earned six origin nods and racked up consecutive 50-point scorelines in the NRL.

However, the Dragons failed to measure up to their biggest season yard stick to date, going down five tries to three in miserable conditions, much to the disappointment of a 15,348 strong crowd.

The match took on an origin feel with five players backing up from the interstate series for both teams with just Dragons centre Mark Gasnier (broken collarbone) and Brisbane forward Dane Carlaw (shoulder) missing the much anticipated showdown.

It took just three minutes for Queensland skipper Darren Lockyer to shrug off his origin disappointment as he steered the Broncos to back-to-back wins.

Just two days after enduring the disappointment of Queensland's 36-14 loss to NSW in the origin decider, Lockyer showed his class by sparking Brisbane's first try in the third minute before guiding the visitors home.

To add injury to insult for the Dragons NSW halfback Trent Barrett dislocated his shoulder in the 11th minute but was not expected to miss any games.

In another potential headache for Dragons coach Nathan Brown, hooker Mark Riddell was placed on report for a 49th minute lifting tackle on Darren Mapp.

Brisbane also had its injury concerns with winger Shane Kelly taken off in the 48th minute after falling awkwardly on his neck contesting a Lockyer bomb while Mapp was also injured in the Riddell tackle one minute later.

While Lockyer had to play second fiddle to NSW counterpart Brad Fittler on Wednesday night, he didn't waste time stamping his domination for the Broncos by grubbering a kick through for halfback Casey McGuire to score in the third minute.

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP