The Dragons NRLW side were their own worst enemy, as several handling errors gifted the Bulldogs a mountain of possession and field position, leading to a 28-8 loss at Accor Stadium.
Looking to rebound from a heavy loss to the Knights, the Dragons girls were under siege from the start after an early penalty and error.
The home side made sure not to waste the chance, with Tamika Jones scoring her first NRLW try by barging over the top of Teagan Berry on the left edge in just the fifth minute for a 4-0 lead.
Match: Bulldogs v Dragons
Round 4 -
home Team
Bulldogs
8th Position
away Team
Dragons
10th Position
Venue: Accor Stadium, Sydney
Not deterred, the Dragons started to shift the ball and play with width, but a handful of promising attacking raids fell short of points.
The Bulldogs’ scramble defence on those occasions helped build their confidence, and in the 20th minute they sent their attack down the right side, ultimately finding winger Simina Lokotui to score in the corner.
Tayla Preston slotted a sideline conversion to push the lead to 10-0.
The red and whites continued to chance their hand with attacking footy and were finally awarded when Jayme Millard was on the end of a great scrum shift closing in on halftime.
Five-eighth Taliah Fuimaono skipped to the outside and found Shenae Ciesiolka in space, and the Queensland Origin rep sucked in the defence before giving Millard a saloon passage to the tryline and a 10-4 scoreline.
Any hope of continuing the momentum in the second half was thwarted quickly after Tyra Ekepati dropped a Bulldogs clearing kick, and soon after Evelyn Roberts scampered nearly 10metres on a dummy half run to score under the posts.
Roberts took advantage of skittled marker defence before showing great strength to wrestle away from three Dragons and still get the ball down in the 37th minute, extending the lead to 16-4.
The home fans had barely stopped cheering that effort when Ma’atuleio Fotu-Moala rumbled into a huge hole and paced the cover defence to the line for another try in the 43rd minute.
Preston’s third conversion of the night made it 22-4 in favour of the Bulldogs.
Knowing her side needed a lift, prop Madison Mulhall produced a barnstorming midfield charge, throwing defenders off like she was swatting mosquitoes, but unfortunately appeared to injure her right knee when brought down.
The injury sparked something in the visitors, with Ciesiolka nabbing a second try assist from a scrum move, this time creating space for Ekepati to score.
But any chance of a comeback was snuffed out by a Bulldogs late try to Andie Robinson.
