The St George Illawarra Dragons National Youth Competition team were victorious with a 34-16 win at WIN Stadium, Wollongong on Saturday.
The Young Dragons scored 7 tries with centre Sitiveni Moceidreke going over for four of them.
Head Coaches Dean Young and Ben Hornby made two changes to the line-up with Heheako Tuima taking to the field in lieu of Andrew McCarthy and Luke Monds replacing an injured Jack Bird on the bench.
The home side started strong with the Dragons taking the ball 60 metres to the Rabbitohs 20 metre line before being struck down in the second minute.
Our strong start didn’t last with Rabbitohs fullback Alex Johnston running from the 40 metre line to take the ball over the line and open scoring in the 5th minute.
South Sydney five-eighth Irae Simone successfully converted from 20 metres putting another two points on the board with the Dragons yet to score.
Fifteen minutes in the home side fought back in the form of centre Brent Anderson to put their first points on the board.
Hooker Hayden McRae was successful in his conversion to level the scores at 6-all.
The Rabbits were quick to fight back with winger Sam Young flying over the tryline in the 20th minute.
Simone was unsuccessful with his conversion from the eastern sideline to leave their score at 10-6.
Dragons halfback Adam Clune broke the line in the 27th minute before passing to centre Sitiveni Moceidreke who took it over the line to level the scores at 10-all.
McRae was successful in his second conversion of the match to give the home side the lead at 12-10.
The Bunnies were determined to keep the Dragons in their half with a down-field kick in the 34th minute but winger Issac Thompson was too fast for the away side running the ball out of the in goal area.
With a minute and a half to go, Dragons five-eighth Drew Hutchison tested the Rabbitohs’ defence but found it was too strong to break before the halftime siren.
Second half started slowly for the young sides with the game seesawing before a chip kick from halfback Adam Clune sent a quick footed Issac Thompson over in the 49th minute.
Moceidreke was unlucky in his attempt at conversion from the eastern sideline to keep the scoreboard at 16-10.
The 53rd minute saw Thompson take his second try for the match to take the Dragons’ lead to 20-10.
Moceidreke was unable to make the conversion from 20 metres out to keep the score unchanged.
Winger Issac Thompson went in for a hattrick in the 60th minute to put another four points on the board.
The eastern sideline proved the bane of conversion attempts for the Dragons with half-back Shannon Crook missing the kick to keep scores at 24-10.
Five minutes later Luciano Leilua took the ball over the line to take the home side’s score to 28-10.
McRae took the reins of goalkicking, successfully converting to put another 2 points on the board.
The Rabbitohs fought back with lock Cheyne Whitelaw breaking the Dragons defence to put four points on the board in the 71st minute.
Their conversion attempt was successful from five-eighth Irae Simone to take the scores to 30-16.
With four minutes to go Thompson went in for his fourth try of the match to take the Dragons score to 34.
McRae was unsuccessful for the first time in his conversion attempt to keep the scoreboard at 34-16.
St George Illawarra Dragons 34. Tries: Thompson (4), Anderson, Moceidreke, Leilua. Goals: McRae (3/4), Moceidreke (0/2), Crook (0/1)
South Sydney Rabbitohs 16. Tries: Johnston, Young, Whitelaw. Goals: Simone (2/3).
The Charity Shield began in 1982 and so too did the tradition of supporting local charities and causes.
In 2014 awareness and proceeds from the Charity Shield will support three charities from within the Dragons Community program – The St.George Foundation, St George and Wollongong Public Hospitals.
The St.George Foundation was founded in 1990 by St.George Bank, also the major partner of the St George Illawarra Dragons.
Over the past 24 years the Foundation has raised more than $20 million to support physically, socially and economically disadvantaged kids across Australia.
Results
In 30 Charity Shield fixtures contested since 1982, the Dragons have recorded 16 wins, 10 loses and drawn on four occasions.
Ticketing Information
Tickets for the 2014 Charity Shield are now on sale to the general public through Ticketek.
For further information or to purchase tickets please click here.
Jersey Auction
The Club will auction off their player-worn jerseys on the night with all proceeds going directly to both hospitals.
The auction will commence directly after the final whistle on Saturday, February 22 (7.00pm) and close on Thursday, February 27 (9.00pm). Visit dragons.com.au to place your bid!
