ST George Illawarra Dragons are winless after two rounds of the 2015 NRL season, defeated by an impressive Wests Tigers 22-4 on Monday night at Campbelltown Sports Stadium.
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In a performance that would have coach Paul McGregor searching for answers and fast, the Dragons looked ineffective in attack.
The Tigers led 20-4 at halftime and while the Dragons defence was much better in the second half, the damage was done in the opening 40 minutes.
The Dragons lacked cohesion and fluency and they will have to find form fast to avoid being stuck at the bottom of the table.
Coach McGregor has the task of lifting his troops for the round three clash against Canberra at 5.30pm on Saturday at GIO Stadium.
To rub salt into wounds, Dragons forward Rory O’Brien was placed on report by referee Ashley Klein for lifting his knee on Tigers forward Martin Tapau in the final stages of the game. Benji Marshall tried to rally his Dragons teammates against his former club Wests Tigers but he had his unhappy moments with several ill-directed passes.
The Dragons entered the match without skipper Ben Creagh and fullback Josh Dugan. Creagh is out for at least a month with back stress fractures and Dugan has an ankle injury which is expected to sideline him for a couple of weeks. Jason Nightingale was captain in Creagh’s absence.
Wests Tigers completely dominated the first half to lead 20-4 in a powerful display. With a glut of possession and field position, the Tigers big forwards made too much yardage through the rucks.
Dragons coach Paul McGregor would have been concerned with his team’s defence in the first half, with the Tigers forwards strolling through the rucks at ease.
The Tigers raced to a 14-0 lead after 20 minutes and stretched the lead to 20-0; it was not until the 37th minute that the Dragons scored through centre Dane Nielsen.
The Dragons improved in defence after half-time, restricting the Tigers to just two points in the second half.
Benji Marshall — back at Campbelltown for the first time in Dragons colours and the second time in his career since joining the Big Red V in 2014 — was keen to get into the action early.
‘TOO PREDICTABLE’
The Dragons have only scored eight points in two games.
League legend Andrew Johns calling the game for radio said the Red V lacked ideas and were ‘‘too predictable’’ in attack.
‘‘The Dragons just send their guys to the wall one-out — they need to totally change their attack,’’ Johns said.
He asked Gareth Widdop after the game if the side was flat after the World Cup series in England.
Widdop said the Dragons had ‘‘no excuses,’’ having had plenty of time to come back to Australia and recover and prepare for the start of the season.
‘‘Our attack hasn’t been good at the start of the season but we’ve just got to get back to training and practising our plays’’ Widdop said.
‘‘[The Tigers] kept it simple tonight but we made too many errors.’’
Wests Tigers 22 d St George Illawarra 4 (Dane Nielsen try); crowd: 11,837.
What next for the Dragons?
