The St George Illawarra Dragons have started a season 0-5 for the first time in club history, going down 32-0 to the North Queensland Cowboys at St George Venues Jubilee Stadium on Saturday evening.
Hitting their Kogarah home for the first time in 2026, the Dragons' attack failed to fire in the face of a Cowboys side crafting a three-match winning streak.
Jaxon Purdue managed a double with Scott Drinkwater, Braidon Burns, Murray Taulagi and Jake Clifford also finding their way over with Clifford also adding four goals.
The Dragons had their opportunities early in the match spending a bulk of the first forty in opposition territory only to fall behind 16-0 at the break.
A brief moment of hope came early in the second stanza for the home side when Reuben Cotter was binned for a professional foul but the Cowboys held firm snagging the period's only points off a Dragons miscue against the run of play.
"It's not good enough; I completely understand the fans' frustration," Head Coach Shane Flanagan said post-game.
"We've got no excuses... I've got to find out why. That's my job the next few days but ultimately it's not good enough."
The Dragons shift their focus to a Friday evening showdown against the Sea Eagles at WIN Stadium.
NRL Match Highlights: Round 5 vs. Cowboys
"It's on us players. We're the ones out there. Tonight was just bad," co-captain Damien Cook added.
"We need to have a hard look at ourselves, make sure that we're doing our job better because we've shown at times our game plan works against top teams but what we tossed up tonight was just bad and very disappointing. I'm sorry for the fans, I mean that."
NRL Press Conference: Round 5 vs. Cowboys
