An Ashton Ward double helped lead the Dragons to a 38-12 win in their Knock-On Effect NSW Cup season finale at CommBank Stadium in sunny Saturday conditions.
Despite Ben Woolf’s men finishing the year with 14 wins and 10 losses, their finals chances were dashed with the Panthers taking down the Rabbitohs yesterday evening at the foot of the mountains.
It proved an exciting display of youth for the Dragons however with four of the side’s seven tries coming via players who are still Jersey Flegg eligible next season.
Match: Eels v Dragons
Round 26 -
home Team
Eels
11th Position
away Team
Dragons
6th Position
Venue: CommBank Stadium, Sydney
The contest got off to a horror start for the Red V with their opening kick-off sailing out on the full to give the hosts a quick opportunity.
They successfully defended the error plus a second set courtesy of a forced dropout with a trio of Dragons heaving Isaac Lumelume into touch.
A midfield high tackle penalty saw the visitors storm straight onto the attack off it with Ward showing and slicing through to draw first blood and make it 4-0.
It marked two tries in as many outings for the 20-year-old half who made the leap up to Knock-On Effect NSW Cup level a week ago after a dazzling Jersey Flegg campaign.
The Dragons extended their lead not long after with Declan Purcell taking advantage of a quick Hamish Stewart play-the-ball and darting his way over under the sticks out of dummy-half.
Jonah Glover threw over his first conversion of the day to make it a double-digit Dragons lead less than 15 minutes into proceedings.
An error off the following kick-off handed the Eels another chance in favourable field position only for ball to go to ground late in the set.
The hosts took advantage of their next foray into Dragons territory with Ethyn Martin cutting through off an attacking scrum and holding off the cover to dive over in the right corner.
Lumelume went close to finding the hosts’ second soon after only for the Dragons cover to again push the former Fijian international over the sideline.
Shadi Hammoud and Finau Latu were both substituted on for their first taste of Knock-On Effect NSW Cup action around the half-hour mark with the former coming on for Purcell and stepping into the fullback role as Haele Finau pushed into dummy-half and the latter replacing Josh Coric in the middle.
They become the second and third members of the Dragons’ 2024 SG Ball Cup premiership-winning side to graduate through to The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup joining Loko Pasifiki Tonga.
Glover extended the visitors’ lead in their opening set of the second forty throwing a dummy and muscling his way out of a tackle to slam the ball down on the chalk before converting his own try to make it 16-6.
The Red V went back-to-back their next set after a Latu offload saw Finau wriggle past several defenders around the ruck and create a jagged defensive line.
Glover sent halves partner Ward into space down the short side the next play with the ball being moved onto Hayden Buchanan and eventually back inside to Dylan Egan who stepped past the cover to dive over.
Matt Doorey scooped up a Dragons error from inside his own half and shot off downfield soon after only to be pulled down inches short of the stripe by some desperate chasers.
Nick Tsougranis replaced Latu off the back off it for his first taste of Knock-On Effect NSW Cup action for the year.
The Eels again threatened to eat into the lead with Haze Dunster skying to take in a cross-field Ethan Sanders kick only for Jackson Shereb and Savelio Tamale to hold him up over the line.
The Dragons’ edge defence again held tight to defend an error with Ben Johnson throwing Lumelume into touch off a Lorenzo Mulitalo offload.
The visitors grew their lead further the following set with Tsougranis dropping under Glover and pouring into the backfield before throwing a bouncing pass the way of Ward who scooped it up to jog over for his second.
Glover snuck the conversion in from the right touchline to add to his points tally for the day and push the side’s advantage beyond three converted tries.
Sanders found a try for the hosts with 10 minutes to play before converting his own try to cut it back to 26-12 the way of the Dragons.
Their fightback proved but a flash in the pan with Shereb poking his nose through off an attacking scrum moments later and finding a supporting Hammoud with a one-handed offload who scurried over in the corner to cap off a strong debut.
Knock-On Effect NSW Cup Highlights: Round 26
The Dragons nabbed another four-pointer through Alec Tuitavake who showed off a nice combination of power and late footwork to piggyback a defender over the line to the left of the posts.
Skipper Dan Russell stepped up to nail the first goal of his Red V career and put a bow on a comprehensive win.
