Darwin Dragons looking to take physical battle to Palmerston Crocs in Round 7

DARWIN Dragons coach Puru Westrupp has called for disciplined decision-making from his side ahead of its encounter with Palmerston in Round 7 of the 2020-21 A-grade Darwin Rugby Union competition.

Dragons’ Drew Tobin has been leading from the front for his side this season. Picture: Glenn Campbell

DARWIN Dragons coach Puru Westrupp has called for disciplined decision-making from his side ahead of its encounter with Palmerston in Round 7 of the 2020-21 A-grade Darwin Rugby Union competition.

The Dragons are coming off consecutive defeats after losing to University Pirates and Palmerston.

But the close losses have shown plenty of promise for the side still sitting atop the table.

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“Not really the result we wanted (24-22 loss to the Pirates in Round 6) but I was pretty happy with the energy that we brought and with large segments of the game,” Westrupp told the NT News.

“It’s just the execution wasn’t quite where we needed it to be and our decision making let us down at times.

“But overall despite that match I’m pretty happy with where we are at in the season.”

Palmerston is another side with a recent win over the reigning premiers, beating them 28-24 two weeks ago, with young guns such as Nathan Dixon and Ben Drayton stepping up.

Usual club stalwarts such as Drew Tobin and Hirini Murfitt have been leading from the front for the Dragons all season, and they will do what they can to prevent a repeat.

But the likes of lock Euan Mckillop and flanker Chris Bierman have also caught the eye of their coach so far this season.

“We just have to adjust to Palmerston and be smart in the moment while trusting in our systems more than we did last week,” Westrupp said.

“Palmerston are probably the most improved side in the comp at the moment and they have a tight group playing together and can be quite a physical side.

“But for us we just need to get our game sorted and trust our systems and each other knowing that we will need to match them physically.

“It’s these tight games that we want to be playing as we need to test ourselves.

“We’re building at the moment and evolving our game to get us on track later in the season.”

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Meanwhile, University Pirates will have their own score to settle when they on South Darwin at University Oval.