Tuipulotu scores 4 as Dragons earn NSW Cup victory

He managed to secure his hat-trick an hour in before powering his way over late for a memorable fourth.

Ryan Couchman was forced from the field early in the piece for a HIA – which he failed – seeing Dan Russell inserted into the action.

Alec Tuitavake crashed over for the first points of the encounter soon after with No.7 Jonah Glover adding the extras next to the sticks to make it 6-0.

Mathew Feagai went within inches of securing the Dragons’ second off a Josh Ralph grubber moments later but came up short.

It was instead Tuipulotu taking in a looping cut-out to dive over in the left corner and improve the Dragons’ lead.

Ralph linked with Tuipulotu again down the left flank in near-identical fashion to craft the hosts’ third try of the afternoon just shy of the half-hour mark.

The Ralph-Tuipulotu combination nearly came up trumps once more on the stroke of halftime only for a wayward bounce to prevent another four-pointer.

Sione Finau dived over in the right corner down the southern end to extend the hosts’ lead beyond a trio of converted tries.

Glover was the next to cross for the Red V pouring through to gather a Ralph bomb just short of the try-line mid-air and wrestle his way over.

The Sea Eagles got on the board 57 minutes in through winger Cameron Bown although Jamie Humphreys’ conversion attempt cannoned off the left upright as the scoreboard remained 26-4.

Tuipulotu claimed his third of the day on the other side of the hour-mark off a brilliant Glover ball as the Dragons surged past the 30-point mark.

Brown grabbed a second try for the Sea Eagles late to add to his try tally for the year and eat into the hosts’ advantage.

Tuipulotu notched a fourth try in the final stages to cap off a superb afternoon for the Dragons who raced away 28-point winners.