Second-half surge sees Dragons down Dolphins

Maroons teammates Jaydn Su'a and Ben Hunt bounced back from their disappointing Origin defeat to help the Dragons to a 26-6 victory over the Dolphins on Sunday.

It took the Dragons 47 minutes to come up with their first try before the home side went on a run to make it three wins from their last four matches, staking their claim as 2024 finals contenders.

Su'a was among the second half stars with the backrower coming up with an incredible 216 run metres, eight tackle breaks and a try assist after jumping in at centre while Hunt had a try assist and 487 kick metres.

After a physical opening with both sides trading sets for 27 minutes the Dragons looked to open their account when Mat Feagai went flying over the right corner however replays showed the winger put his feet into touch. 

In a double blow for the Dragons, Feagai was sent from the field after picking up a shoulder injury during the try attempt. 

Seven minutes later the Dragons finally opened the scoreboard when Tevita Pangai Junior was pinged for a dangerous tackle and Kyle Flanagan landed a two-point penalty goal.

The Dolphins hit the lead after coming up with a big play on the stroke of half time when Isaiya Katoa picked up a stray pass and sent the ball right for Tesi Niu to go over untouched and send his side into the sheds with a 6-2 lead.

The Dragons finally got on their first try in the 47th minute when Raymond Faitala-Mariner took a short ball from Hunt and powered over from close range. Flanagan couldn't add the extras and the scores were locked 6-6.

St George were gifted more field possession in the 53rd minute when Connelly Lemuelu came up with an error and the home side capitalised when Flanagan and Tyrell Sloan combined out of the scrum to send stand-in winger Christian Tuipulotu over in the left corner.

Four minutes later and the home side had a third when Hunt sent a looping ball over for Su'a who took the ball to the line and came up with a quality offload to send Sloan over for a four-pointer. Flanagan kicked for a 16-6 lead. 

Katoa wrestled back some momentum for his side with a 40/20 in the 61st minute but the Dragons defence held firm after Su'a pushed Kodi Nikorima into touch. 

The Dragons' forwards continued to lay a solid platform and in the 65th minute props Francis Molo and Jack de Belin did it all themselves with Molo putting his teammate over with another crafty offload from close range.

A lack of discipline continued to haunt the Dolphins and after losing Kurt Donoghoe to the sin bin, the Dragons took advantage when Jacob Liddle played to the whistle and saw an opportunity for a quick tap and go to put the game out of reach 26-6.

The Dolphins' night was summed up when English centre Herbie Farnworth looked to come up with a consolation try with five minutes to play but the ball was knocked out of his hand after some desperate defence from Moses Suli.