Fired up Dragons lay platform for season

One only has to look at the St George Illawarra Dragons opening set of the match against the Parramatta Eels to determine how the Red V will play against the majority of their NRL opponents in season 2010.

Forwards Dan Hunt and Michael Weyman were instrumental in carving up the Eels defence barely minutes into the new season, and it undoubtedly set the platform for another dominant showing upfront from the Dragons.

Playing against an Eels pack that now contains former Dragons prop Justin Poore, Wayne Bennett’s men muscled their way to an 18-12 victory against last year’s Grand Finalists.

The Dragons dominated for the vast majority of the first half, wrecking havoc in the middle of the ruck thanks to the sublime service provided by Kiwi hooker Nathan Fien.

Fien was involved in everything early on, setting up a try for captain Ben Hornby with a delicate grubber in the goal area.

The Dragons no.9 also produced a nice short ball for forward Jeremy Smith to run on to and score near the posts to set up a commanding 12 nil lead for the Red V.

Indeed it was very unfortunate to see Fien suffer a broken ankle while being tackled close to the Eels line, thus ending a good night on a very sour note.

Despite the setback, the Dragons already had a ready made replacement, with Dean Young taking over at hooker with ease.

Whilst the Eels showed glimpses of the attacking form that wowed NRL audiences alike in their run to the 2009 Grand Final, the home side never found themselves dominating the Dragons forward pack, often starting a set of six barely outside their own in goal area.

Eels big men Fui Fui Moi Moi, Nathan Cayless and Justin Poore found themselves in a constant struggle to make any valuable metres against a disciplined and hard hitting Dragons defence.

Dragons forward Jarred Saffy was responsible for some big hits, in particular one on Nathan Cayless in the second half which halted the momentum the Eels had gained after winger Luke Burt scored a great try for the home side.

Saffy was just one of many forwards that played their part in the Dragons solid opening to the season.

Prop Dan Hunt proved that there is indeed life after Justin Poore, making 22 tackles to go along with his 16 hit-ups for 137 metres.

Jeremy Smith was also instrumental upfront, scoring a try and making 124 metres.

However, it was NSW Origin forward Michael Weyman who really set the tone upfront for the Dragons, making 15 hitups for 147 metres in a dominant display against his former partner in crime Justin Poore.

There is no question that the Dragons strengths lie in their hardworking forward pack, and it proved to be the key difference once again.

For all their muscle upfront however, the Dragons continue to show complacency in attack, in particular in the second half when things got tight.

Five-eighth Jamie Soward kicked three penalty goals in the second half instead of opting to go for more in critical stages of the game.

Whilst the decisions did not cost him the away side two competition points, one feels such complacency in attack will come back to bite the Dragons later in the season.

The Dragons only have to look at what happened last year to know why going for goal can prove to be more beneficial to the opposition rather than the team gaining the two points.

With a dominant forward pack at their disposal, the Dragons should be looking to spread their wings more in attack and make the most of the foundations set by their big men.

It could prove the difference between the Dragons winning a premiership or falling short once again.

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