‘It isn’t acceptable’: Dragons coach Anthony Griffin takes aim after huge loss to Eels

Dragons coach Anthony Griffin has taken aim at a specific aspect of his side’s loss to the Eels that he dubbed “poor” in his press conference.

The Dragons sit second last on the ladder after four rounds, having won only one game. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

Coach Anthony Griffin says it “isn’t acceptable” for the Dragons to have given up as many points as they did against the Eels but insists there are positives to take from the 48-14 thrashing.

The Dragons trailed the Eels by only four points at halftime on Sunday evening but fell further behind when the Eels took control of possession early in the second stanza.

The joint venture bled three tries within 15 minutes of the restart to all but end what had been a tightly fought contest up to that point.

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In his post-match press conference, Griffin called his side’s start to the half “poor”.

“I thought we were on top by the time we came in at halftime and we’d done an enormous job defending our own line,” Griffin said.

“We were a bit unlucky not to be in front at halftime, but the second half we started poor.

“To their credit, (the Eels) were really good. Every time they got an opportunity, they made us pay.”

St George-Illawarra managed to peg a try back once the life was out of the contest, but the loss was still the second biggest of Griffin’s tenure to date.

“The scoreline isn’t acceptable,” Griffin admitted.

The Dragons bled eight tries on Sunday night. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

However, Griffin said he wouldn’t be throwing the baby out with bathwater.

“We’ll take a little bit out of that first 40 minutes,” he said.

“Our attack, we were too impatient, but we were a lot more dangerous despite the scoreline.

“We’ve got some good depth in our squad, we just need to get a little bit of stability there, which as I say for the first 40 minutes tonight we had that in both attack and defence.

“We’ve got to learn our lesson and move on.”

The Dragons have dates with the Rabbitohs and Roosters booked in for the next fortnight, so captain Ben Hunt says his side needs to turn things around quick smart.

“(We'll) go back, look at the game, learn as best we can and move on,” he said.

“I know it was a tough night out there, (but) we just need to take some really good lessons out of that game and try and be better next week.”

Ben Hunt will be rallying his troops to bounce back. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

Meanwhile, Eels coach Brad Arthur was pleased his side could continue its winning ways.

“I thought our control of the ball was pretty good in terms of completions,” he said.

“We played plenty of football but our completions were nice and high so we got their tackle count up. I thought we’d done that really well.

“Our defence was better but there’s still some areas there that we need to improve on.

“But overall it was a pretty well-balanced performance.”

Originally published as ‘It isn’t acceptable’: Dragons coach Anthony Griffin takes aim after huge loss to Eels