Dolphins shutout dire Dragons

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Dolphins v St George Illawarra Dragons

A clinical Wayne Bennett 'bounce-back' has seen the Dolphins nil the Dragons in a 38-point rout at Redcliffe tonight.

The writing was on the wall fairly early, with the 'Phins opening the scoring just seven minutes into the contest thanks to Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow.

While the 'Hammer' would go on to score his first career hat-trick later in the game, the second of the night went to Jamayne Isaako just five minutes later, with a great leap and put down to surge the hosts to 10-0 in less than 15 minutes.

Just short of the quarter-mark of the game, Dragons half Ben Hunt nailed a 40/20 for the visitors but sloppy attack eventually led to them surrendering possession.

An arm wrestle ensured for the remainder of the half, neither side penetrating the scoreboard as halftime edged closer, and the home team retained a 10-0 advantage at the break.

The second half generated somewhat of a party atmosphere for the home fans once the points started flowing. At 49 minutes Mark Nicholls became the Dolphins' third tryscorer, then at the hour mark Canterbury import Jake Averillo scored his first try for his new team.

Almost immediately after the Averillo four-pointer, the 'Hammer' was back on the scoresheet after a Jack Bostock break and kick set him up. At 28-0 the hosts were home and hosed... but they weren't done yet!

With the clock moving nicely to 69 minutes, Jeremy Marshall-King caught the Red V defence napping for a 34-0 lead, then three minutes after that, Tabuai-Fidow sealed his hat-trick with a quality inside step and straighten to the line for 38-0.

After a week of praise for Shane Flanagan's charges, it's a harsh reality check for a team whose fans have been through plenty in the last decade and thought they may have turned a corner. They host the top-of-the-table Cowboys at Kogarah next week in their first home game. The new boys meanwhile, enjoy a bye in Round 3 before heading down to Robina for a clash with the Titans.