The St. George Illawarra Dragons have emphatically defeated the Gold Coast Titans to begin their season with a 32-18 victory at Kogarah this evening.
The 14-point triumph for the predicted wooden spooners has surprised many pundits and fans as they clicked into gear after the opening 30 minutes of the game.
The travelling Titans opened with two tries to Alofiana Khan-Pereira and Sam Verrills in the first 20 minutes and looked set to continue on and win their second game of the season. However, this wasn't to be as the Dragons started to use the ball well and put their mark on the game. The turning point came when Isaac Liu illegally stripped a Dragons player in the tackle which gave the Dragons the penalty and a free march up the field. They scored their first just after and didn't take their foot of the gas.
That first try was scored by Jacob Liddle in his club debut and Mikaele Ravalawa grabbed one just before the half time break to give the Dragons the lead. It was an exciting finish to a fairly interesting half of football and it looked set to continue like that in the second half. The Dragons had other ideas.
The home side, playing in their first game of the season kicked off the second half as they left the first with a try to Tyrell Sloan early on thanks to some great halfback play from World Cup winner Ben Hunt. The momentum was all with the Dragons and the Titans' ill-discipline continued to keep them out of the game. The Dragons extended their lead with two penalty goals, keeping the scoreboard ticking over as they enjoyed the majority of the possession. In the first 20 minutes of the second half, the home side had 75 per cent of the ball compared to the 25 per cent for the Titans, and the Dragons made them pay. Blake Lawrie got on the board in the 66th and the game was effectively done.
Tino Fa'asuamaleaui grabbed a consolation try for the Titans in the 70th minute but it was too little too late as the Titans head back home to the Gold Coast suffering their first loss of the season as the Dragons celebrate a great start to their 2023 campaign.