NRL Final week one: Dragons embarrass Sea Eagles
The St. George Dragons showed why they were the number one ranked side heading into the post-season with an impressive win over the Manly Sea Eagles at home in WIN Jubilee Stadium.
The Dragons took it to the Sea Eagles at home in the first week of the National Rugby League Final over the weekend. The Dragons were the better of the two teams the whole way through, taking a 10-point lead into half-time. After the break the Dragons added to their lead with strong play on both sides of the ball to earn a convincing 28-0 victory.
Recap
The Dragons wasted little time getting on the board with a try from Ben Hornby in the 9th minute. Jamie Soward then notched the extra points to give the home side a quick 6-0 advantage.
Soward then started what would be a very strong day at the tee knocking down two penalties in the 32nd and 40th minutes respectively, allowing the St. Georges side to take a 10-0 lead into half-time.
After the break Soward continued to be a force from the tee, hammering home another two penalties in the 49th and 57th minutes to extend the lead to 14-0.
The Dragons then returned to scoring tries as Matt Cooper darted his way over the whitewash twice in a row. Soward managed one conversion and the home side’s lead was extended to 24-0.
Mark Gasnier would tack on a fourth try in the 72nd minute to cap off an impressive 28-0 shut-out victory for the Dragons.
Analysis
The Dragons displayed why they were first place in the ladder at the end of the season, with an impressive display in week one. The victory makes them the highest ranked squad to win so far in the finals, allowing them a second week bye. Their week three match-up will be against the winner of the week two game between the Canberra Raiders and the Wests Tigers.
With the loss the Sea Eagles are eliminated from the post-season. The loss meant that the Manly side was the lowest ranked ladder squad to lose in week one and therefore do not earn a spot in week two. The Eagles struggled to regain their form late in the season and dropped all the way to eighth spot in the ladder. They were simply out-matched by the Dragons in week one and will have to look towards next season and hope for improvement.
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