The St George Illawarra Dragons defeated the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 52-18 at ANZ Stadium, Olympic Park on Friday.
The Young Dragons scored ten tries in the routing including a hat-trick to Matt Dufty, and doubles to Jai Field, Izaac Thompson and Paora Kemp respectively.
Head Coach Mat Head had made two changes prior to kick-off with Izaac Thompson taking the place of Tony Pellow on the wing, while Illawarra Steelers SG Ball Grand Finalist Cooper Purcell made his National Young Competition debut from the bench.
The Young Dragons got the scoreboard ticking over early with winger Paora Kemp diving over in the left corner for a 4-0 lead after three minutes.
Dragons winger Izaac Thompson and five-eighth Jai Field both got their names on the scoresheet, each set up by centre Patrick Herbert, minutes later.
Field converted both attempts to make it 16-0.
Fullback Matt Dufty, who recently re-siigned for a further two seasons with the Club, continued the Dragons point-a-minute scoring, slicing through the Bulldogs line off the back of a scrum to go in untouched from 40 metres out.
Thompson grabbed a first half double shortly after, showing his strength to push off three defenders before slamming the ball down 10 metres in from touch.
Field converted the try to give the Dragons a 26-0 lead after 22 minutes.
It did not take long for Dufty to notch his second try of the game, courtesy of an inside ball from Field to extend the Dragons lead.
Field added the extra two points from the sideline to give his team a 32-0 lead moments before the interval.
However, the Bulldogs snuck one in just before the break, with fullback Josh Bergamin setting up winger Jack Gleeson in the corner.
Bulldogs five-eighth Adam Keighran converted the try from the sideline to send the visitors into the sheds down 32-6.
The Dragons continued their dominance after the break, with unconverted tries to both Dufty and Field pushing the lead out to 34 points with half an hour remaining.
The Bulldogs picked up their sole second half try with 15 minutes remaining through prop Bailey Simonsson.
Keighran’s conversion made it 40-12.
Tries to Kemp and Herbert in the space of four minutes see the Young Dragons increase their lead out to 40 points with five minutes remaining.
A late converted try to second rower D’Rhys Miller with under two minutes remaining pulls the Bulldogs decifit back to 34 points.
St George Illawarra Dragons: 52 Tries: Dufty (3), Field (2), Thompson (2), Kemp (2), Herbert. Goals: Kemp (6/10).
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs: 18 Tries: Gleenson, Bergamin, Miller Goals: Keighran (3/3).
