The Dragons Jersey Flegg side secured a pivotal win over the Melbourne Storm, however the club's Knock On Effect Cup outfit fell painfully short of upsetting the North Sydney Bears in Round 21 of the NSWRL competitions.
Knock On Effect Cup
The Dragons Knock On Effect Cup side fell agonisingly short of an upset over the ladder-leading Bears at North Sydney Oval surrendering a 16-point, second-half lead to fall 30-26 on Saturday.
It took just six minutes for Ryan Couchman to get the Dragons on the board before teammates Savelio Tamale and Haele Finau joined him on the try-scorers list soon after.
Bronx Goodwin's men took a 20-10 lead into the sheds thanks to a pair of late Alex Lobb penalty goals.
NSW Cup highlights: Round 21 v Bears
Under-19s State of Origin rep Nick Tsougranis grabbed the first try of his Knock On Effect Cup career on the other side of half-time as the Dragons built a handy 26-10 lead.
Tui Katoa kicked off the Bears' fightback with a try in the 54th minute before Lebanon international Elie El-Zakhem and Junior Pauga went back-to-back to tie it.
Katoa snagged his second with just two minutes remaining to seal the Bears' comeback.
Match: Bears v Dragons
Round 21 -
home Team
Bears
1st Position
away Team
Dragons
9th Position
Venue: North Sydney Oval, Sydney
Jersey Flegg Cup
A first half Ben Rumble double willed the Dragons Jersey Flegg squad to a 26-18 win over the Melbourne Storm in a fifth-versus-sixth clash at Corrimal’s Ziems Park on Saturday.
Melbourne got off to a dream start with a trio of tries in the space of just seven minutes – including a double to winger Siulagi Pio – earning them a 14-0 lead less than 20 minutes in.
The Dragons answered with an avalanche of their own with Harry Rudd, Rumble, and Te Umuariki Heremia-Tukere all crossing within six minutes of each other to tie it at 14-apiece on the half-hour mark.
Ashton Ward slotted over a penalty goal on the other side of the half-time break to give the hosts their first lead of the encounter before Rumble grabbed a second the following set to extend their edge beyond a converted try.
Pio notched his third 63 minutes in to cut the Dragons lead to four but a late Declan Purcell try sealed it for the Dragons as they secured their fourth win from their past five.
The win meant that the Red V equalled the Storm on competition points and put a dent in their for-and-against advantage in a big boost for their odds of finishing in the top five and qualifying for the playoffs.
Match: Dragons v Storm
Round 21 -
home Team
Dragons
away Team
Storm
Venue: Ziems Park, Sydney
