Dragons thrash Roosters in Perth trial

Coach Wayne Bennett has opened his winning account at St George Illawarra with the Dragons scoring 10 tries to one to defeat the Sydney Roosters 54-6 at Perth's Members Equity Stadium tonight.

The trial match, played over four quarters in front of 9,832 West Australians, belonged to the Dragons from the opening whistle. Tries to backs Michael Lett and then Chase Stanley saw St George Illawarra to an 8-0 lead after just four minutes of play.

The error-proned Roosters managed to stem the flow and the score remained at 8-0 at the first quarter mark.

Saints started the second quarter in similar fashion with Stanley posting his double before Beau Scott crossed for another four-pointer in quick succession. Jamie Soward converted both tries to give Saints a 20-0 lead with less than 25 minutes gone.

The Roosters troubled the score board attendants briefly when Ben Jones crossed mid way through the second quarter. Shaun Kenny-Dowall converted to make it 20-6.

The Dragons then took control of the contest with tries to Dean Young as well as a second try to Scott to post a handy 30-6 at half time.

Brett Morris scored the only try of the third section before Saints raced away with the match in the final quarter.

Former Bronco Darius Boyd scored his first try for his new club while Morris and Lett bagged a double. Stanley's two tries and three goals gave the centre three-quarter a personal tally of 14 points.

Apart from Stanley, the Dragons had a number of standouts including utility Dean Young as well as forward Ben Creagh who impressed after coming on in the third quarter. The combination of Soward at five-eighth and Mathew Head at halfback worked well while crowd favourite Wendell Sailor made some entertaining runs.

The Roosters have some work to do, a poor completion rate hampering their progress. Halfback Mitchell Pearce played well in a losing side.

There were no immediate reports of injuries for either side.

St George Illawarra Dragons 54 Tries: Chase Stanley 2, Beau Scott 2, Brett Morris 2, Michael Lett 2, Dean Young, Darius Boyd Goals: Jamie Soward 4/7; Chase Stanley 3/3 defeated Sydney Roosters 6 Tries: Ben Jones Goals: Shaun Kenny-Dowall 1/1

SQUADS:

Both sides travelled to Perth with 21-man squads.

DRAGONS 1. Brett Morris 2. Michael Lett 3. Chase Stanley 4. Matt Cooper 5. Wendell Sailor 6. Jamie Soward 7. Mathew Head 8. Justin Poore 9. Dean Young 10. Michael Weyman 11. Beau Scott 12. Jarrod Saffy 13. Matt Prior 14. Jon Green 15. Dan Hunt 16. Luke Priddis 17 Ricky Thorby 18. Ben Creagh 19. Jason Nightingale 20. Darius Boyd 22. Jeremy Smith

ROOSTERS 1. Jordan Tansey 2. Shaun Kenny-Dowall 3. Mitchell Aubusson 4. Sonny Tuigamala 5. Sam Perrett 6. Ben Jones 7. Mitchell Pearce 8. Frank Paul Nuuausala 9. Riley Brown 10. Nate Myles 11. Rohan Ahern 12. Shane Shackleton 13. Braith Anasta 14. James Aubusson 15. Marty Kennedy 16. Sisa Waqa 17. Gary Natoealofa 18. Matthew Hall 19. Jarvarn White 20. Jake Friend 21. Stanley Waqa

MORE NRL TRIALS INFORMATION: CLICK HERE