The Dragons went down to Raiders 20-4 as their NRLW campaign got off to a disappointing start at St George Venues Jubilee Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
“We just didn’t take our chances today,” Nathan Cross said.
“It’s certainly tough when we weren’t probably winning the field position or possession battle.”
Match: Dragons v Raiders
Round 1 -
home Team
Dragons
away Team
Raiders
Venue: St George Venues Jubilee Stadium, Kogarah
An opening-minute Teagan Berry try saw the Red V jump out to a dream start but a combination of poor handling and lacklustre attack made for a frustrating afternoon from that point on.
The Raiders poured on four unanswered tries – the final of which belonging to 50-game Simaima Taufa – to run away with a dominant Round 1 win.
An error off the opening kick-off handed the Dragons a quick opportunity and they took full advantage with Berry unsurprisingly nabbing the side’s first points of 2026.
From that point on, the Dragons’ completion rate plummeted paving the way for the Raiders to wrestle away the ascendancy.
Former-Dragon Bobbi Law got the visitors on the board a half-hour in before Grace Kemp charged her way over under the sticks to put the Raiders up 10-4 headed into the intermission.
The Raiders pushed further ahead mid-way through the second stanza with Mackenzie Wiki diving over in the right-hand corner to finish off a short-side raid.
NRLW Press Conference: Round 1 vs. Raiders
The Dragons lost Nita Maynard-Perrin to a head knock off the back of it seeing Tori Shipton injected back into the action.
Sheridan Gallagher knocked over a penalty goal to make it a 12-point game entering the final 10 minutes before Tahlia O’Brien found herself binned for the Red V for an alleged hip drop.
Simaima Taufa powered her way over in the dying stages to put an exclamation point on the victory for Canberra.
NRLW Press Conference: Round 1 vs. Raiders
