The St George Illawarra Dragons were on the front foot early in their annual Anzac Day clash against the Sydney Roosters at the SCG on Sunday, but were unable to get past their opponents' dominant second half performance.
A last second reshuffle from Anthony Griffin, which saw Jack Bird moved in the halves, had the Dragons dominating the opening minutes of the match.
An early try to Tariq Sims looked promising for the Dragons, who were looking to bounce back from their previous weeks loss to the New Zealand Warriors.
The Roosters scored through Daniel Tupou down the left wing, but still trailed St George 6-4.
A sin bin to Jordan Pereira in the 33rd minute for a swinging arm came to be a turning point for the match, as the Roosters would go on to score five straight tries.
First, Sitili Tupouniua crashed over on a pass back inside from Brett Morris. Looking to snag one more before half time and still with an extra man, a break from Fletcher Baker put the Roosters on the Dragons try line.
Against some scrambling Dragons defence, Sam Walker was able to offload to Nat Butcher who crossed for the Roosters' third and took their lead out to 16-6.
Early in the second half the Roosters were again on the attack, but a sin bin to Benjamin Marschke breathed some hope for a Dragons comeback.
Pereira's rough evening continued as he dropped a high ball that the Roosters were able to capitalise on.
With the Dragons struggling to get back on defence, Sam Walkers broke through the line and scored.
Lindsay Collins then crashed over for a try, carrying two Dragons tacklers with him.
With the score now at 28-6, the tired Dragons defence once again found itself struggling to stop the Roosters.
Joseph Manu slipped off of three Dragons defenders to score under the post in the 66th minute, pretty much sealing a Roosters victory on Anzac Day.
The Dragons did push back and managed to cross for a final try in the 73rd minute of the match.
A blind side run from Matt Dufty set up Mikaele Ravalawa down the right wing, as he pushed his way to the corner for a final four-pointer.
The final score was 34-10 to the Roosters in the annual match.
Next week the Dragons will face the struggling Wests Tigers on Sunday, May 2 at WIN Stadium, Wollongong, looking to get their season back on track following two straight losses.
They may be down a few players as Tyrell Fuimaono, Mikaele Ravalawa and Jordan Pereira have all been charged by the NRL match review committee following the Anzac Day match.
Both Pereira and Ravalawa will face multiple-week suspensions.
The Dragons are hopeful of a return from Ben Hunt this week, who has been recovering from a broken leg.
The Dragons team to face the Tigers: 1. Matthew Dufty 2. Cody Ramsey 3. Jack Bird 4. Zac Lomax 5. Max Feagai 6. Corey Norman 7. Ben Hunt 8. Blake Lawrie 9. Andrew McCullough 10. Paul Vaughan 11. Josh Kerr 12. Tariq Sims 13. Tyrell Fuimaono 14. Adam Clune 15. Josh Mcguire 16. Daniel Alvaro 17. Billy Burns 18. Kaide Ellis 19. Jackson Ford 20. Poasa Faamausili 21. Junior Amone
Finn Coleman
I understand the importance of community news in highlighting stories that members of local communities care about - including events, businesses, sports and the people that make towns unique. Email me at finn.coleman@austcommunitymedia.com.au or call 0437 550 909
I understand the importance of community news in highlighting stories that members of local communities care about - including events, businesses, sports and the people that make towns unique. Email me at finn.coleman@austcommunitymedia.com.au or call 0437 550 909
