Dragons lower grades wrap: Round 17

The Dragons Knock On Effect Cup and Jersey Flegg squads both came away with tight wins in Round 17 of the NSWRL competitions over the weekend.

Knock On Effect Cup

The Dragons Knock On Effect Cup side pulled off a come-from-behind 18-16 victory over the Warriors at Auckland’s Go Media Stadium for their fifth win from their past seven on Saturday.

The Warriors opened the scoring via a breakaway effort courtesy of Jacob Laban who found Eiden Ackland on his inside before Ryan Couchman crashed over to answer for the Dragons just shy of the first quarter mark.

Both Warriors centres Moala Graham-Taufa and Viliami Vailea crossed prior to the break to give the hosts a 10-point advantage heading into the sheds.

Sione Finau snatched another intercept on the other side of half-time to race 85 metres downfield for his ninth try in nine games and breathe some life back into the Dragons’ chances.

With 24 minutes to play, Zach Herring showed the ball and poked his nose through for the Dragons’ third try with Alex Lobb’s subsequent conversion earning the side a two-point lead.

Some resolute defensive stands over the final quarter of the game willed the Dragons to a pivotal win against a strong Warriors unit.

The Couchman twins continued their impressive play; Ryan scored a try, finished with a game-high 254 metres from 25 runs, and made 56 tackles whilst Toby racked up 244 metres from 21 runs and made a game-high 60 tackles.