http://gty.im/1420387081 http://gty.im/1420326474
Craig Cauchi reviews the 2022 Season of the St George-Illawarra Dragons where they finished tenth on the ladder.
Stats
Wins: 12
Losses: 12
Draws: 0
Most Tries: Mathew Feagai (10)
Most Points: Zac Lomax (167)
Club Player of the Year: Ben Hunt
Undisciplined Dragons Fail to Ignite Their Season
The old adage goes that defence wins premierships and while the Dragons ended the season in tenth, they finished as the team with the most missed tackles. It didnโt help that they also ended the year with the most sinbins and send offs.
Despite their poor discipline the Dragons finished the year two points outside the top eight. It helped that their halfback and captain Ben Hunt put out one of his best seasons in recent history, leading the team to multiple victories throughout the year. He finished the year with the most 40/20โs in the competition and 17 try assists. A lot of their attack came off the back of his creativity until the final few matches when Talatau Amone stood up.
The Dragons started the year with a lot of excitement around their young players. Amone started the season as the chosen five-eighth while Tyrell Sloan was given the first shot at fullback. They lost four on the trot and Sloan was an early round casualty with Mbye and finally Ramsey taking the fullback spot. Blake Lawrie had his strongest season while Jack Bird was finding is groove in the middle of the field towards the end of the season.
At the start of the season the Dragons were predicted to finish close to the bottom of the ladder but managed to maintain their middle table position by beating the sides below them. Their best performance was against South Sydney, but they struggled to challenge any of the top sides in the competition. Their lack of speed around the ruck and difficulty in slowing down the top sideโs momentum led to large scores being put against them.
The season could have been different if they beat the Titans in Magic Round or if they came back against the Raiders. But in the end the Dragons finish to the season reflected their standing in the competition.
NothingButLeague Dragons Player of 2022: Ben Hunt (26)
Embed from Getty ImagesMatches: 23
Tries: 6
Try Assists: 21
Kick Metres: 9,585
Other Points: 10 Talatau Amone; 7 Jack Bird; 6 Zac Lomax; 4 Jack deBelin; 3 Jaydn Su’A, Mikaele Ravalawa, Moses Suli; 2 Tautau Moga; 1 Blake Lawrie, Josh McGuire.