Dragons defeated by rampant Raiders

The Dragons were in it early and could have been leading at half-time after debutante Cody Ramsey scored his second try from a long Dufty pass and sprinted 78 metres only to be called back after it was ruled team mate Lomax was off-side.

The Green Machine had a 14-8 lead at half-time but the rest of the game was one-way traffic with Canberra flexing their muscle staying in contention for a top four spot with the six tries to two win.

Coach Young said they are down on confidence and aren't nailing the stuff with the ball they have to.

"Defensively we try hard but with the ball our confidence is down"

The only good thing for the Dragons was the performance of rookie winger Cody Ramsey, who scored on his first touch of the ball in the NRL, crossed for a second try and had a third disallowed.

Ramsey was close to quitting the game because of the demands of fitting in work, study and training and said he wanted to go home 1000 times but his mum told him to stick it out.

"I had packed my bags but she just told me, 'remember why you are up here'. I think about it all the time".

He was the leading try scorer at February's NRL Nines in Perth but underwent shoulder surgery.

Incoming Anthony Griffin will have a challenge in front of him when he takes over the coaching reins ahead of the Dragons' 2021 campaign, having last coached in the NRL back in 2018.

The 54-year-old has coached 173 first grade games with the Brisbane Broncos (2011-14) and the Penrith Panthers (2016-18), with a 55.5 per cent win rate.

Griffin spoke of his pride in being afforded the opportunity to coach such a prestigious club.

"There is no doubt that St George Illawarra is one of the biggest and proudest clubs in the game and I am excited to commence my role as coach later in the year," Griffin said.

"My goal is a simple one, to ensure the Dragons are a club that every member, partner and fan can be proud of moving forward."

The 13th placed Dragons now take on the Knights at Newcastle and could do the Sharks a favour by denting their finals aspirations.