Dragons Pathways Wrap: Rd 9

The Dragons SG Ball squad left New Zealand having pulled off a comprehensive 54-18 win over the Warriors on Sunday to cap off an outstanding regular season.

Coming into the game, Willie Talau's men required a 35-point win to leapfrog the Knights on the competition ladder and secure a top-two finish.

Two tries in the final four minutes saw them reach the magical mark and earn them a rest come the opening round of the postseason in a week's time.

A quick opening saw the hosts cross first through centre Hiraka Waitai-Haenga before skipper Shadi Hammoud found his way over to answer for the Red V.

No.1 Tyler Peckham-Harris sped his way over to give the visitors an early lead only for the contest's seesawing nature to continue with Warriors prop Francis Tuimauga powering his way over the line.

Peckham-Harris grabbed his second try of the encounter just shy of the break to put the Dragons up by a half-dozen.

Waitai-Haenga grabbed a second for the Warriors to kick-off the second half and tie proceedings at 18.

From the point on, however, it was all the Dragons with Talau's squad pouring on six tries in the final 29 minutes - including four in 12 minutes - to run away with a major victory.

Angus Clark sparked the scoring spurt for the Red V before halfback Brandon Tikinau backed up his effort minutes later.

Jacob Halangahu joined the action soon after with a try in the 49th minute before nabbing a second moments later to extend the Dragons lead to 24.

With the seconds ticking away, hooker Isaiah Fagalilo nudged his way over to keep the Red V's top-two hopes alive.

Enter Jesse Williams with his competition-leading 15th try of the season in the final minute to cap off a memorable win and send the Dragons into the postseason in style.

The Steelers SG Ball side overcame the Bears 38-12 at Collegians on Saturday to punch their ticket to the finals.

Shaun Timmins' squad were in a mood early with No.7 Kade Reed finding his way over just six minutes in before stand-in skipper Hayden Buchanan joined him on the scoresheet moments later to give the Steelers an early double-digit lead.

Fullback Lucas Borg was the next Steeler to cross 22 minutes in as the lead improved to 18-0.

Second rower Jarrah Treweek nabbed a four-pointer of his own soon after before Buchanan crossed for a first-half double to make it 28-to-nothing heading into the break.

The Bears managed to stop the bleeding with back-to-back second half tries but it proved but a blimp on an otherwise Steelers-heavy radar.

Winger Clay Baldock got over before hooker Jackson Rieck capped off the win with a late try as the Steelers notched their sixth win of the season en route to a finals berth.

TARSHA GALE CUP

The Dragons Tarsha Gale Cup unit went down to the Bulldogs 64-0 in their final game of the year at Jubilee Stadium on Saturday.

The hosts managed to limit the Bulldogs to just the one four-pointer in the opening quarter of the match before the floodgates opened.

Pauline Suli-Ruka and Abby Aros both managed doubled as the visitors notched a key victory a week out from the finals.

The Steelers took down the Sharks 38-4 to claim the Tarsha Gale Cup minor premiership at Collegians on Saturday behind four Indie Bostock tries.

Despite conceding the opening try of the contest just two minutes in, the Steelers knuckled down to storm home and secure their eighth consecutive win.

Winger Sienna Leslie opened the Steelers' account 15 minutes in before Bostock grabbed her first of the afternoon.

Leslie's wing-partner Maria Paseka claimed the Steeler's third just shy of the break to extend their lead beyond a converted try.

The hosts came out of the break strong with Rhian Yeo finding her way over the stripe before Bostock claimed tries No.2 and No.3 in quick succession to push the Steelers further ahead.

Evie McGrath - who entered the clash one try ahead of Bostock on the competition's try-scorers leaderboard - snagged on of her own 49 minutes in.

The story of the match, however, was Bostock who snagged try No.4 late to cap off a terrific regular season and claim the competition's top try-scorer gong.

HAROLD MATTHEWS CUP

Frank Pritchard's Dragons were unable to cap off their Auckland road trip with a win falling to the Warriors 46-10 on Sunday.

The hosts got off to a flyer courtesy of four tries in the opening 20 minutes.

Dragons winger Tana Iese produced a four-pointer to get the visitors on the board soon after before centre Isaac Mikhail followed his lead to eat into the lead further.

Unfortunately for the Red V, the scoring stopped there with the Warriors claiming a quartet of second-half tries to run away with the win.

The Steelers Harold Matthews Cup group finished their year on a high earning a 20-16 comeback win over the Bears at Collegians on Saturday.

The hosts took an 8-4 lead into halftime courtesy of unconverted tries to lock Mason Andrews and fullback Cooper Morrison.

Tries to the Bears' Buster Hindmarsh and Adam Drewitt gave them a 16-8 lead entering the final quarter of the match.

No.9 Axel Antony crossed with eight minutes remaining to bring the Steelers back within two before front rower Hayden Whatman charged his way over in the final stages to win the game for the hosts.

LISA FIAOLA CUP

The Dragons Lisa Fiaola Cup side ended their year with a disappointing 98-0 loss to the Bulldogs at Jubilee Stadium.

The visitors leapt out to a 40-point halftime advantage before five tries in the final 10 minutes saw them seal the win.

The Steelers Lisa Fiaola Cup outfit downed the Sharks 38-14 at Collegians on Saturday to secure a top-two finish heading into the finals.

Brooklyn Allan Kingi got over for the visitors in the opening minute of the encounter before a first-half Tori Shipton double put the Steelers up 8-4 heading into the break.

Halfback Ella Greatz crossed in the opening set of the second half to grow the Steelers edge.

Felila Fakalelu got over for the Sharks to keep them in it before Bridget Shearer found the Steelers' next four-pointer 38 minutes in.

Momentum turned firmly the way of the hosts with Greatz crossing for a second moments later before Skye Spencer and skipper Tahlia O'Brien joined her on the scoresheet to put the result beyond doubt.

Fakalelu grabbed a second late, but it proved in vain with the Steelers coming away 24-point victors to cap off a strong regular season.