A despondent Luciano Leilua has taken full responsibility, extending a sincere apology to the St. George Illawarra supporters following the Dragons' disheartening defeat to the Manly Sea Eagles on Friday night.
This loss marks the worst beginning for the joint-venture in its history.
Leilua placed the blame firmly on himself, recalling a pivotal moment where a kick rolled into the in-goal with 18 minutes remaining, as Manly held on to a narrow 22-18 lead.
Instead of utilizing a clear numerical advantage with teammates positioned on the left, the Dragons' backrower chose to kick the ball.
This mistake resulted in a dead ball, granting the Sea Eagles a seven-tackle restart.
It took Manly just six minutes to capitalize, scoring a converted try that deepened the Dragons' woes.
"I had two s*** errors, I could've been better," Leilua stated on Triple M radio.
"I didn't realise we had a three on two at the end there and so I kicked it."
"It was pretty dumb from me."
Leilua echoed coach Shane Flanagan's views regarding their performance, stressing the need for improvement.
"the effort is there, we just lack execution," he added.