If taking on the Warriors forward pack wasn't enough for Dragons skipper Gareth Widdop, the trip to the ground proved to be far more dangerous after the 28-year-old was involved in a nasty car accident with an elderly woman.
The English international was alone in the vehicle when he was T-boned from behind and had to be helped from his vehicle after both front air bags were triggered, with coach Paul McGregor arriving at the scene to assist Widdop with a tow truck before arriving at the game.
Thankfully, both parties walked away relatively unscathed from the incident, however teammate Tariq Sims revealed to NRL.com that Widdop was in some discomfort from the accident before taking to the field.
"The big fella was in a Lara Bingle before he pulled into the ground," Sims said after the game.
"He was actually meant to come to the ground with me before he brushed me and I still don't know why, so I rocked up here expecting him here and then found out he was in a pretty bad crash.
"He actually did really well… he was telling me that his leg was hurting from it [before the game] so to turn around and put a performance in like that and to focus on what he needed to do and steer the team around was pretty special."
McGregor broke the news in the press conference post-game about the mishap and credited the way Widdop overcome the disruptive game-day preparation to star in the side's 14-point victory.
"He had a car accident on the way so he's done a really good job… outstanding," McGregor said.
"The car's written off… to put that [accident] aside and perform like that is a credit to the skipper.
"A real credit."
The man himself admitted he was on the lookout for a new car and may have to rely on more teammates over the next couple of weeks, after the car was deemed to have been a write-off.
"I won’t be seeing it again, put it that way," Widdop joked.
"I will be riding my push bike to training for the next few weeks I think.
"Anyway, that is what happens, that is life."
Meanwhile, Widdop's 10-point haul against the Warriors saw the former Storm five-eighth notch up his 500th point for the Dragons since joining the club in 2014.
He also passed Matt Cooper in third on the all-time point scorers list for the merged club with former hooker Mark Riddell's 517 points next in line.
"I didn’t know about that [milestone]," Widdop said.
"It is obviously a big club and to do that here at Kogarah is pretty special.
"But I think the most important thing is getting the win."
McGregor was impressed with the side's resolve in defence after a strong start to the game with three tries inside 22 minutes, but admits there is always room for improvement this early on in the season.
"The combinations are still building, our execution is still letting us down but we're scoring a lot of points which is nice," he said.
"It's really important when you've got energy and enthusiasm to do good things that you celebrate that and the boys are really doing that at the moment.
"When you get that attitude and get it right week-to-week in footy, it's just you against the opposition so the more we keep it simple and play tough footy with a real good attitude, we'll be fine."
