A packed house at the renamed Hunter Stadium was a fitting stage for the opening game of the season. The game was a great spectacle, but left a lot of questions hanging in the air.
St George Illawarra’s lethal left edge was expected to take a hit with the loss of Darius Boyd.
However, it was Boyd who was unable to successfully reproduce his signature move – slotting into the backline as a second five-eighth – at his new club. Too often, he was wrapped up or put under pressure before he could do anything meaningful.
The Dragons didn’t miss Boyd on the left, using the now familiar attacking play to great effect, albeit to a Newcastle defensive line that was slow to move up and slide and too quick to retreat. How effective this will be in future games is yet to be seen.
Steve Price made good on his promise to shake up the Dragons attack, with Jamie Soward and Ben Hornby switching sides to give some more unpredictability to an attack that formerly focussed on the fullback close to the line. Soward produced a good pass down the left side – a move which Hornby has held a mortgage on for some time.
The Dragons forward pack easily outplayed their opponents. All too often the Knights started a set-of-six with half-hearted, one out plays that set them up badly for the rest of the set.
The Knights lacked any real bite in defence for large chunks of the game and seemed to be in cruise control.
It wasn’t until the Dragons started putting on the points that the Knights started pulling out the big defensive plays and showed the sort of commitment that they will need if they are to be genuine title contenders.
The Dragons goal-line defence was a particular highlight of their game, and at times they were simply impenetrable. The Red-V have lost none of their structure, or desire to defend their own line at all costs. If they can cover the loss of Boyd in attack, they are a genuine shot at a top-four berth.
The return of Danny Buderus was for the most part a success, but he was hampered by the lack of teammate support whenever he caught the markers out. When substituted around the 50 minute mark, Matt Hilder provided some enterprising play from dummy half that will probably be a feature for the rest of the season.
One saving grace for Newcastle was the performance of Jarrod Mullen, who scored a blistering solo try down the blindside.
Mullen is key to the Knights chances this year, and he showed glimpses last night of producing the goods.
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