By Nathan Davis
The St George Illawarra Dragons were defeated 40-10 by the Newcastle Knights at Hunter Stadium, Newcastle on Sunday.
In the final game of the season winger Brett Morris and stand-in hooker Kyle Stanley were the only Dragons able to make it onto the scoreboard.
Dragons lock Trent Merrin made the most tackles of the match with 33, while teammate Jack de Belin made 30, alongside his Knights second-row counterpart Beau Scott.
Merrin also made the most metres of any player on his side, but his 162m gained was only just short of his Knights opposite Adam Cuthbertson who made 163m.
However Merrin did take the most hit-ups of the game, making a combined total of 126m from 13 hit-ups while Cuthbertson made 90m off 12 hit-ups.
De Belin made the most one-on-one tackles with four, and Dragons centre Peter Mata’utia made three alongside Knights centre Tamana Tahu.
Cuthbertson made the most offloads with five, Dragons winger Jason Nightingale made three, and Dragons centre Josh Dugan made two alongside Knights props Mason and Korbin Sims, and Dragons interchange Will Matthews.
Dragons Stats
Completions: 24/29 (83%)
All Runs: 144(1160m)
Line Breaks: 3
Tackles: 281
Missed Tackles: 37
Offloads: 18
Errors: 7
St George Illawarra Stat Mon of the Match: Trent Merrin
