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Dragon shines after shock role switch as club moves into NRL top eight

A surprise positional change has helped the Dragons romp past the Dolphins and into the NRL’s top eight in Kogarah.

Daniel Nuttall
2 min read
June 30, 2024 - 5:42PM
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On the back of a dominant second half, the Dragons have moved into the top eight with a convincing 26-6 win over the Dolphins at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium in Kogarah in Shane Flanagan’s 200th game as an NRL coach.

In a double blow for the Dolphins, star hooker Jeremy Marshall-King could be looking at a lengthy sideline stint after injuring his foot in the first half.

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He was seen in the sheds soon afterwards with his right leg in a moon boot.

It was a tale of two halves for the Dragons, who couldn’t get anything going in the first 40, only managing two points.

The Red V would turn it on in the second half though, scoring five tries to zero.

Ben Hunt recorded his league-leading 24th try assist of the season, giving a lovely short ball to the in-form Ray Faitala-Mariner, who beat a couple of defenders to score the Dragons’ first try in the 47th minute to level it up.

Jeremy Marshall-King picked up a foot injury in his side’s loss.
Jeremy Marshall-King picked up a foot injury in his side’s loss.

Soon after, Christian Tuipulotu crossed in the corner after some lovely work from Tyrell Sloan.

From a scrum, Sloan drew a couple of defenders in and passed it onto an open Tuipulotu who did the rest.

Jaydn Su’A was one of the best players on the park and he set up the Dragons’ third try.

The Maroons and Dragons back rower hunted the line but was met by a couple of defenders. Despite this, he was able to bounce out of one of the tackles and get his arms free to pass onto Sloan who was unmarked.

The Dragons added two late tries to extend the margin to 20, which was helped by Dolphins hooker Kurt Donoghue being sent to the sin bin for a swinging arm on Francis Molo which collected the prop high.

There was plenty of injury carnage in the first half, with two players ruled out for the game.

In addition to Marshall-King, Dragons flyer Matt Feagai sustained an AC joint injury in the act of attempting to score a try (which was ruled a knock on).

The Dolphins went into the sheds at halftime with a 6-2 lead after a 40th minute try to the returning Tesi Niu.

The visitors weren’t able to inspire much in attack all game, but created an overlap on the right and Niu cut back inside to beat Tyrell Sloan and score.

That would be the lone highlight for the Dolphins though, who slumped to their second straight loss.

It wasn’t what was planned, but Su’A found himself in the centres for much of the afternoon after an injury to winger Matt Feagai.

Su’A put aside the disappointment of Queensland’s loss last Wednesday night to play a starring role for the Dragons despite playing out of position.

Su’A had 183 running metres (game high), five tackle busts and the classy offload which set up a try to Sloan.

Adding merit to the performance was the fact that Su’A was playing on the opposite side of the field to where he usually does.

“He’s had a big game,” Greg Alexander said on Fox League,

“Shifting from edge forward to centre is a big move, but he’s also shifted from one side of the field to the other.”

Captain Ben Hunt, who also backed up from Origin, sung Su’A’s praises post game.

“He wasn’t meant to play a full game but he had to move to the centres and did an excellent job,” Hunt said.

“He’s playing career best football at the moment is Jaydn.”

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Originally published as Dragon shines after shock role switch as club moves into NRL top eight

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Original URL: https://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/nrl/dragon-shines-after-shock-role-switch-as-club-moves-into-nrl-top-eight/news-story/da04be2d3907c53b905cdacabe6e4264