The Stats
Ladder Position: 4th
Played: 12
Wins: 8
Losses: 4
Points Scored: 212
Ranking: 12th
Points Conceded: 155
Ranking: =2nd
State of Play
Injuries
Dan Hunt (knee injury, recovery progress indefinite)
Suspensions
None.
Season to Date
The lock-in of a three-year contract for coach Paul McGregor during the 2014 NRL season, mere months after the former assistant coach took the position as head, certainly raised doubts among the community of Dragons fans however “Mary” has been quick to prove any critic wrong. After losing the first two fixtures of the 2015 NRL season, outstanding defensive play led to only one loss in nine fixtures from the “RedV”. Now the Dragons stand at eight wins and four losses after losing their four Monday night fixtures to the likes of the Rabbitohs, Tigers, Storm and Bulldogs. The Dragons currently possess the lowest points conceded throughout the year, which is equalled with the Roosters,who the Dragons defeated 14-12 at Allianz Stadium in April. Some standout players for the Dragons in the opening half of the season have been the halves combination of Gareth Widdop and Benji Marshall, both have proven to be a large contributing factor to the side’s losses when not in form. Soon-to-be-Panther Trent Merrin has continued his form from last season which originally earned the forward his annual $600K deal with the Penrith side. Another forward that has stood out is Tyson Frizell who was in talks about joining this year’s NSW Origin side after an already-brilliant season, a notable performance was against the Canberra Raiders in Round 10 where Frizell ran 136 metres.
Finals Bound?
The sheer prospect of the Dragons positioning near the final eight at the end of this season seemed unlikely as Steve Price’s tenure at the club came to an end in 2014. The joint-venture club has managed a quick turnaround at the hands of Paul McGregor and haven’t shown any sign of slowing down in their more recent fixtures which include a thrashing of the Cronulla Sharks. It’s hard to tell where the Dragons could end up come finals-time their season surely won’t end there.
