Lomax can bring the house down with his 22nd straight. He studies the ball, puts it on the tee. The crowd goes up, nails it.
Williame gets in on the action. Hits the ball hard and beats the defender.
Foran loses it.
Garrick kicks the extras.
Consolation for the Sea Eagles. Some lovely passing and DCE goes in.
Lomax with a tough one for 21 straight. From the right side. He goes in, just goes inside.
RED LIGHTS.. NO TRY! Held up.
BUNKER TIME! Blake Lawrie looks to get his first ever. Called NO TRY.
Hunt gets into the action. Grubber is knocked on twice and Lomax mops up!
DCE tries to go short. Out on the full. Dragons can celebrate here.
Lomax adds two more.
Set play and the Dragons finish the game! Norman goes inside to Dufty who burns his defender.
Dragons have made a mess of the kick on last and forced to drop it out.
The game has settled back into the arm wrestle. Both sides have traded sets and Ben Hunt has started to favour his leg more.
Dragons go for the posts! Lomax aiming for 19 straight goals. The youngster has the tee, readies himself and makes it fourteen the difference.
PENALTY DRAGONS! Hunt was taken out after the kick. Chance for the Dragons to put this away.
Battle of the young guns! Saab rises high, grabs it but is taken ball and all by Ramsay. Sea Eagles peppered the right side in that set. Bird made two good stops.
Dragons go short.. for some reason. Lomax can't handle and the Sea Eagles are right on the line already.
Sea Eagles force a dropout from their best set of the second half. DCE's hard kick was grounded by Hunt.
Dragons have pinned the Eagles down their own end here. Forcing them to ruck it out.
RED LIGHTS.. NO TRY! Saab knocked on. He regathered it before the kick. Dragons scrum. After all that.
BUNKER TIME! What happened there! The ball came free, and Ramsay maybe mops up. Referee has called NO TRY.
We're back for the second half. The Eagles have to dig themselves out of a 12 point deficit or can the Dragons go on with this.
HALFTIME :: Dragons were on top with three straight tries but the Eagles strike late to keep themselves in the contest. 18-6 at the break.
Garrick has a chance to convert his own effort. The winger takes his time over the ball. Studies, the former Dragon walks in, steadies it over.
Sea Eagles are on the board! A short kick from Foran isn't able to picked up by Dufty and Garrick pounces.
PENALTY SEA EAGLES! Strip.
Dragons again go wide in their half. Faamausili tries to link with Norman. The pass was low and Norman lost it.
Lomax looking for his 18th, nails it.
Dragons are on fire! Hunt shifted down the short, gives Bird a fantastic ball who flicks to Ramsay to finish.
Sea Eagles show some expansive footy again but again, Parker loses it.
Lomax from in front. Kicks his 17th.
Lovely piece of work from the Saints! Tariq Sims surges into the gap, finds his flying fullback and Dufty does the rest.
Sea Eagles try to isolate Hunt but he smashes Parker and forces it loose.
PENALTY SEA EAGLES! Jack Bird and Moses Suli get involved with each other. The two struck at each other in the play-the-ball then wanted to continue on.
Sea Eagles using the width of the field. They earned another set of six through the ball being played at.
RED LIGHTS.. NO TRY! Double knock on in the inital play. Sea Eagles ball.
BUNKER TIME! Dragons have started to throw it in their own end. Alvaro lost it. DCE tries to do his best Wollongong Wolves impression to the line. Checking a knock on.
Dragons were stuck on their own line. Norman slices through, has the chance to position Dufty but the pass is too hard.
Again handling lets down the Eagles. Lovely tip on from Paseka but Trbojevic loses it.
Dragons tried to get their two centres linking up. Bird crabbed across but threw the hard pass to Lomax, who spilled it.
The game had settled into a rhythm. Both sides trading sets. Sea Eagles tried to get a roll on through Lachlan Croker but he forgot the ball.
That was the Sea Eagles best set of the contest. A break down the left opened it up and DCE with a smart grubber against the post forced the dropout.
Lomax has a chance to convert his own effort. He is on a 15 consecutive goal kicking streak. He strides in, nails it.
The high kick again, and Lomax profits this time!
Sea Eagles fail to get through another set. They have shown promise to shift it wide but handling let them down there.
Sea Eagles spread it from their own end. It sent Garrick down the right side but he stepped on the line.
Dragons go high on last. Lomax gets above the pack but can't hold onto the ball.
Errors cruelled the Sea Eagles last week and Taupau drops one in the opening set.
KICK-OFF!
Here come the Sea Eagles who get the traditional razzing from the home crowd. They are in their maroon and white strip and look to get their season finally underway. Next out is the home team. The Dragons after their win last weekend and in front of a healthy crowd. They head to the southern end to recieve the kick-off.
Welcome to wonderful Wollongong! We kick-off the Friday doubleheader in the 'gong where the Dragons search for back-to-back victories for the first time since August 2020. The Red V aim to continue fortress WIN Stadium with the Sea Eagles without a win here since 2003. The Eagles lost both of their opening games and the pressure is building on the northern beaches. Can they spring an ambush or will the Saints keep marching on! Find out in five minutes as we kick-off!
Referees & scorers:
Referee: Chris Sutton
Touch Judges: Nick Beashel, Kasey Badger
Video Referee: Chris Butler
ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS (38)
Tries: Zac Lomax (2), Matthew Dufty (2), Cody Ramsey, Brayden Wiliame
Field Goals:
Two Point Field Goals:
Conversions: Zac Lomax (6/6)
Penalty Goals: Zac Lomax (1/1)
MANLY-WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES (12)
Tries: Reuben Garrick, Daly Cherry-Evans
Field Goals:
Two Point Field Goals:
Conversions: Reuben Garrick (2/2)
Penalty Goals: