Dragons break records as they go top of the table

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Newcastle Knights v St George Illawarra Dragons

A record-breaking afternoon has seen the St George Illawarra Dragons go to the top spot on the NRLW ladder with a 40-4 victory at McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle.

The Knights put a dent in the hopes of the Dragons going to the top of the NRLW ladder early on when Newcastle were able to cross inside the first eight minutes when Autumn-Rain Stephens-Daly was able to cross out wide after the Dragons defence was caught napping.

It was only a short-lived blip on the radar for the Red ‘V' who began their scoring routine a few minutes later when the Knights edge defence was caught out for the first of many times when a beautiful pass from Taliah Fuimaono landed straight on the chest of Page McGregor that gave the centre a clear run to score.

Off the back of a penalty and a repeat set, the Dragons took advantage of the poor edge defence from the Knights again this time on the right when Teagan Berry was able to get the first of her double. The goal-kicking woes of the Dragons started early when Rachael Pearson missed her second.

The edge defence continued to cause issues for the Knights and yet again the Dragons took advantage when Madison Bartlett was able to score after another beautiful pass from Taliah Fuimaono out-wide. A second try to Bartlett came not long after the Knights edge defence was caught in all sorts yet again. Goal kicking woes really hurt the Red ‘V who only lead 16-4 at the break when it could've been more.

The second half was another demolition by the Red ‘V' although goal kicking continued to be a very big worry. The Dragons extended their lead to 14 with a rare successful goal when Holli Wheeler slotted a penalty goal from in front.

It was defensive lapses in the middle that became the concern for the Knights when Emma Tonegato went straight through the middle after the Knights had a scrum centre-field and Tonegato just sliced through straight on play
 one.
The Dragons continued their momentum when Holli Wheeler put the Dragons into a good position and then Teagan Berry on the next play was able to get over in the corner to score. The conversion attempt was missed again.

A quickfire double for Jaime Chapman were the next tries for the Dragons who again took advantage of holes in the middle of the Knights defence. The first came after Chapman swooped on an error and combined with Quincy Dodd who gave the ball back to Chapman to score. The second came when Dodd and Chapman combined again when Dodd put Chapman through a hole to score.

The final Dragons try came when Emma Tonegato chased through a Knights error to score near to the posts.

Next weekend, the Dragons will look to cement the minor premiership when they take on the Roosters, meanwhile for the Knights, they will look for their first victory up against the Titans.