St George Illawarra hooker Jacob Liddle said a special focus on preparation for away trips has the side primed for more success on the road.
The Dragons beat the Titans at Cbus Super Stadium for the first time in five attempts and in the process, also recorded their first win on the road since Round 24, 2022 against Wests Tigers at CommBank Stadium, with Liddle then part of the opposition team.
The 28-4 result on the Gold Coast was also their first win in Queensland in their past 19 visits.
“Really happy with that, it was a good start of the season," Liddle said.
"Obviously a big pre-season from the boys and to get off to that start is great for the confidence, but there is a lot more to do.
"(There has been) a little bit of a focus for us to get our preparation right with our away trips; all the boys have their different preps.
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"So just get those things right with our away games and play better footy than what we did last year.”
New coach Shane Flanagan began his tenure with the Dragons with a bang, making a number of bold calls in the lead-up to the opening round match, but highlighted the importance of being able to notch victories in enemy territory.
“Winning away from home and winning in Queensland, I think we won one game of our last 18 in Queensland the old Dragons, but the new Dragons are one-from-one," Flanagan said.
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"We have got to come up again next week with a really tough game against the Dolphins, so we are looking forward to the next challenge.”
Liddle had an outstanding match with a number of key involvements, including producing a one-on-one steal to get possession back and big run through the middle of the Titans defence to help set up Tyrell Sloan’s second.
The hooker said much of the credit for the turnaround shown in their opening win had to go to the coach.
“Flanno has brought a lot of different views in, a lot of different systems that are working well with the boys and got a lot of boys like Birdie [Jack Bird] and Mosese Suli and [Jayden] Su’A playing their best footy," Liddle said.
"Hopefully they take that into the rest of the season and keep going.
“We were happy with our preparation coming to the Round 1, but a lot more to do.
“Our next focus is to recover and view this last game and start afresh on Monday."
