The St George Bank Dragons 2008 season has started off with a 40-30 victory over the Bulldogs in the Mercury Challenge at WIN Stadium tonight.
The Dragons scored seven tries to the Bulldogs five in front of 8,172 fans.
Coach Nathan Brown was happy with how the team went.
“We structured the match so all the players had the opportunity to play the amount of minutes we wanted them to,” Brown said. “All the guys did well I thought but it is definitely a step in the right direction and next week will be tougher again.”
In a negative for the Dragons new recruit Alex Ranieri tore his cruciate ligament in his right knee and at the stage looks as though he will miss the entire season.
“It’s devastating for a young guy like that to suffer an injury that will keep him out of the game for an extended period.” commented Brown.
The match started with plenty of excitement amongst both players and fans who were just happy for rugby league and the Dragons to be back at WIN Stadium. There was just the one chance in the seventh minute where a Rangi Chase grubber proved to be just one metre too long and out of reach of Corrimal junior Ben Hornby.
The visitors also had an opportunity in the first quarter in the 18th minute and were able to convert it into points. After a nice play down the right hand side it opened up the field and they moved it through the hands to the left and it ended in the hands of Matt Utai who scored in the opposite corner. Hazem El-Masri made no mistake out wide and they lead 6-nil.
Just on the 20 minute mark the home side earned a penalty on half way and took the kick for touch. From the tap Simon Woolford got the ball to Hornby who put in a cross kick which was fielded by Josh Morris who smartly stepped inside Utai to score. Hornby converted from out wide and the scores were locked at 6-all.
The second quarter saw the Dragons unleash their big names with Captain Mark Gasnier, Jason Ryles, Ben Creagh and Matt Cooper all coming into the game. With their injection sparked some fire with the red and whites scoring in just the fourth minute of the quarter through Josh Morris. Second try came after a Ben Roberts kick went out on the full and Beau Scott earned a penalty after being held down for too long by Bulldogs prop Jarrad Hickey. After working through the set it was on the last where Jamie Soward put a cross kick over toward the right wing and Utai could not control the ball and Josh pounced to score 15 in from the western touch line. Gasnier then converted to take the lead 12-6.
Seven minutes later Josh Morris capped off a good first night at the office bagging a hat-trick. Gasnier showed a fair bit of magic that the Dragons missed last year and as he stepped past two players he got the ball to Josh to again score in the right hand corner. Gasnier on this occasion couldn’t convert and the score was 16-6.
In the 36th minute it was defence that turned into points for the Dragons. A big hit from Ben Creagh on El-Masri forced him back and whilst doing so he lost control and Creagh snapped up the loose ball to score. Gasnier’s attempt at goal hit the upright and went over the black dot and the lead was extended out to 22-6.
Then in the dying seconds of the second quarter Gasnier again showed off that famous step and stood up another two defenders before reaching out to score. He converted his own try and the Dragons went to the break leading 28-6.
As the players started the second half there were again a number of changes to the Dragons side. But it only took six minutes for the Dragons to score through Renown United junior Jason Nightingale. It was a Lagi Setu charge that put on the try as he managed to get a hand free and get the ball to Dean Whare. The 18-year-old took a few steps and handed it to Nightingale who ran around to score five metres to the left of the uprights. Jamie Soward took over the kicking duties and successfully converted the try to take the lead out to 34-6.
It was in the 53rd minute when the Bulldogs could get some more points on the board through El-Masri. He converted his own try to close the gap to 34-12.
The visitors then crossed again just two minutes later after former Dragon Luke Patten put a grubber through and Gary Warburton in jersey number 20 scored the try next to the uprights. El - Masri again converted and the score was 34-18 which the score remained up until three quarter time.
When the game resumed the Bulldogs continued their run home through a Cameron Phelps try in the 63rd minute. A simple scoot out of dummy-half down the short side caught the Dragons napping and Phelps managed to charge over out wide on the left. Former Dragon Daniel Holdsworth converted the try to again close the gap to 34-24.
With just three minutes remaining the Bulldogs again put pressure on the home side and scored through Kane Cleal. Holdsworth again converted and the score was 34-30.
On the full-time siren the Dragons managed to cross for their seventh try of the night through Michael Lett. A movement out wide ended in the hands of Lett and he stepped inside his man to score. New recruit Mark Hendy converted the try and the Dragons claimed victory in their opening match for 2008 40-30.
DRAGONS 40 (J Morris 3, Creagh, Gasnier, Nightingale, Lett tries; Gasnier 3, Soward, Hornby, Hendy goals) BULLDOGS 30 (Utai, El-Masri, Warburton, Phelps, Kleal tries; El Masri 3, Holdsworth 2 goals)
Source: dragons.com.au
