Price thrilled with Dragons' Warriors whacking

St George Illawarra coach Steve Price has praised his side for the manner in which they put the dramas of Monday’s controversial NRL defeat to Melbourne behind them to beat the Warriors 20-10 at Kogarah Oval.

First-half tries from Jason Nightingale and Mike Cooper on Saturday night, followed by Josh Dugan’s late effort in the second period ended a run of three defeats to get the Dragons’ season back on track.

“It’s been a tough week and I am very proud of the reaction and the response from Monday night,” Price said.

“It was a short turnaround but I thought our defence was solid tonight.”

“I wasn’t overly concerned. We stopped talking about it (Melbourne) when we returned to training, but you never know until you have the job done.”

Nightingale’s diving effort to score in the 34th minute was one of four high-quality tries scored on the night, with the Kiwi international acrobatically launching himself over Dane Nielsen to land head-first on the turf as he scored.

The veteran winger, along with fellow wideman Brett Morris and fullback Dugan, produced top-class performances for the hosts, as did hooker Mitch Rein, who Price said should be in the frame for NSW selection.

“Jason’s try was outstanding and I was bit scared, especially with the way his head hit the ground,” he said.

“If we’re in the middle holding our own and in a bit of trouble, our back three do a job. I am very grateful for what they do.

“I was really proud of Mitch’s effort today. If he keeps playing like that, then he is going to be putting his hand up for a sky blue jersey.”

The Warriors were their own worst enemies at times in a game they never looked like winning, despite giving themselves a sliver of hope when Manu Vatuvei raced nearly 50m along the touchline to score in the second half to close the score to 14-10.

Andrew McFadden’s side finished with a 70 per cent completion rate and despite the best efforts of Sam Tomkins, who scored a superb solo effort early in the second half, he conceded they were lacklustre in attack.

“There was lots of effort but we lack that quality execution and didn’t put enough pressure on the opposition,” McFadden said.

“We lack a bit of confidence, and when we show some conviction we trouble teams. But we’re inconsistent with that.

“Our kicking was pretty ordinary and that is what hurt us.”

Skipper Simon Mannering said the rest of the team needed to give Tomkins more support, with the Englishman comfortably their best performer.

“It’s hard for him with the team not playing great,” Mannering said.

“But he’s doing some special things and once we start getting into a rhythm, he’ll get even better.”