‘We’re throwing all our eggs in that basket’: Dragons prepare for brutal top-two test as they look to end finals drought

They’ve been hot and cold all year, but the Dragons have the perfect chance to show they are a genuine top-eight team.

The Dragons face the toughest two-week stretch of the season against the top teams in the league. Picture: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

The AFL may have announced that Katy Perry will headline this year’s pre-game grand final entertainment, but in the NRL, the Dragons have emerged as this year’s hot and cold team and are desperate to roar when they face the toughest test possible at home against the three-time defending champs.

The Dragons were written off by most people before the season started, but they enter round 21 in ninth spot and only outside the top eight on for and against.

They have looked like a genuine finals team under new coach Shane Flanagan at times this season, but there have also been some horror results mixed in there with the gap between the Red V’s best and worst much wider than their fans would like.

The Dragons’ four point win over Brisbane was their closest match this season. Picture: Albert Perez/Getty Images

Only two of their games this season have been decided by single digits, but they’ll know in the next fortnight just where they stand. The Dragons host Penrith in Wollongong this week before they travel to face the ladder-leading Storm.

“It’s a good time of year to be getting these tough games,” skipper Ben Hunt said, with the Dragons already beating the Panthers this year in a game missing all the Origin stars.

“Every game is tough, but it’s good to come up against the really good sides at the top of the ladder to see where you’re at and gauge whether you still have a bit of improvement still to do.

“It’s going to be a good measure for us the next two weeks to really see where we’re at.

“This stage of year with where we’re sitting, we definitely think it (finals) is a possibility. There are a lot of hurdles we have to go over and a lot of hard work to be done, but we’re in a position where we can fight for that eight. It’s up to us to do it.”

Ben Hunt and Zac Lomax both featured the last time the Dragons were in the finals back in 2018. Picture: AAP Image/Craig Golding

The Dragons have only played finals footy three times since they won the comp in 2010, with their last post-season appearance coming back in 2018.

Superstar winger Zac Lomax made his debut that year and played in both of those finals matches, and he would love to finish his time at the club with another deep run before he joins the Eels next year.

“We’re throwing all our eggs in that basket. We just want to empty the tank the most we can,” he said, fresh from his first Origin campaign with the Blues.

“We’re in a pretty good position at the moment to be able to look and play finals. That’s been our goal since the start of the year.

“It’s been a while since we’ve played finals here at the Dragons. That is definitely our focus, we want to frontload our energy to play finals at the back end.

“That’s why you play. You play to play finals. There have been a lot of us boys who have gone without finals for a number of years now, and that is our focus.

“We’ve got a couple of tough teams on the trot. We have to throw all our eggs in one basket and see what comes from there.”