Ben Hunt boldly declared that the Dragons wouldn’t end with the picket spoon this 12 months, and he may simply be proper after the Red V recovered from a horror begin to beat the Titans 32-18 due to a particular efficiency from Tyrell Sloan.
It’s a bit early for his or her followers to buy grand closing tickets, however the Dragons will head into spherical three inside the highest 4 the place they’ll face fellow fast-starters the Broncos in what immediately shapes as an excellent Saturday particular.
It regarded for the opening half-hour that the dire pre-season predictions had been justified because the Titans raced out to a 12-2 lead on the highway, however the injection of Jacob Liddle and a few moments of magic from a few stars flipped the script.
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Following a turbulent low season which noticed the Dragons flogged within the Charity Shield and a scuffle between teammates, Griffin remained calm within the post-match press convention.
“It probably helped us in a way (the Charity Shield loss). Everything happens for a reason and we got taught a lesson against Souths,” Griffin mentioned.
“We had a really good build up the last two weeks and it showed out there tonight.
“It was important for us to have a really strong, solid performance tonight and I thought we did that for 50 minutes and we can build off that now.
“We’ve got some work to do defensively, I thought our systems most of the night were pretty good but there were a couple of things we need to work on, I thought 18 points was too many.
“But it’s Round 1 and we got a really good win.”
Hunt, who recorded a strive, strive assists and three offloads in a whole efficiency, echoes his coach’s sentiment and applauded his workforce’s victory.
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“We’ve got that belief and I feel like we’re building a bit of confidence and the boys are getting to know their roles so you can start to have more confidence in yourself,” Hunt mentioned.
“We’ve still got a lot of work to do but the belief is definitely starting to grow.”
Young gun fullback Tyrell Sloan additionally shined vivid after a disappointing efficiency within the Charity Shield.
The 20-year-old broke down at full time of that sport, with Latrell Mitchell consoling him.
However the rising star bounced again and was one of many Dragons’ greatest on Sunday afternoon.
“I thought he was excellent. He did exactly what we need him to do,” Griffin mentioned.
“I thought his whole game was really solid all night.”
Source: www.foxsports.com.au