The Dragons have gone down 28-8 to the Roosters in the first leg of Sunday's Convoy Round double-header.
There were some bright signs in the first half with line breaks to Teagan Berry, debutante Alice Gregory and skipper Raecene McGregor - the latter of which led to the side's opening try to Kimberley Hunt - but otherwise there was little to cheer for the Red V faithful.
Gregory enjoyed a strong debut on both sides of the ball but there were also further injury concerns to a side already missing three starters with centre Bobbi Law failing a first-half HIA and suffering a facial cut after copping a stray boot while making a tackle.
Match: Dragons v Roosters
Round 4 -
home Team
Dragons
9th Position
away Team
Roosters
2nd Position
Venue: WIN Stadium, Wollongong
The Dragons were able to defend back-to-back errors to begin the game, with the Roosters unable to capitalise on some gifted field position.
Roosters lock Aliyah Nasio found herself on report for a shoulder charge in the midst of the arm wrestle, before a Raecene McGregor dummy led to a handy line break, with Kimberley Hunt scoring on the very next play through some sleek hands down the right edge.
Following a penalty and an unsuccessful captain's challenge from the Red V, Roosters prop Amber Hall barged over left of the sticks for her side’s opening try.
Jocelyn Kelleher converted the try to give the Roosters a 6-4 lead 10 minutes before half-time.
The Roosters were able to repel a handful of Dragons sets on their own line, before Bobbi Law was caught awkwardly in a tackle, copping a boot to the face and being taken from the field with the Indigenous All-Stars representative unable to return.
A backline shift 10 metres out from the try line saw Roosters centre Isabelle Kelly find space and cross over for her first try of the afternoon with Kelleher turning four points into six.
The Roosters crossed for their third try of the afternoon on the stroke of halftime with Sam Bremner making a break and finding open space before turning it back inside for winger Jaime Fressard to crash over.
Kelleher again converted the try giving the Roosters a 14-point buffer to end the first stanza.
The Roosters started the second half the same way they ended the first with Amber Hall crashing over for her second try of the afternoon.
Olivia Kernick looked to have found more points for the Roosters, but video officials overturned the on-field decision ruling Ella Koster had held the back rower up to save the try.
Raecene McGregor left the field after an ugly head knock before Teagan Berry stopped a runaway try throwing Roosters winger Mia Wood into touch.
NRLW Round 4 Highlights: Dragons vs Roosters
Berry managed to find a late try, capping off another strong performance with the star fullback making thee line breaks, 12 tackle breaks, and running for over 180 metres.
Isabelle Kelly finished the afternoon with a double scoring the final try of the clash to seal the victory for her side.
Tyla King left the field with a head knock in the dying seconds to end the afternoon.
