The Dragons were always going to struggle during the State of Origin period, they have a large contingent taking part in the cross-state clash, but things got worse, as St George Illawarra were forced to blood 4 debutants against the Raiders at WIN Stadium today.

Injuries to Dan Hunt and Beau Scott before the game ruling them out of the clash in addition to Origin stars.

The Raiders, as they should have, put the knife through the rookie Saints – winning 22-14.

The way results have swung this weekend, the Eels losing, the Bunnies losing in NZ and the Raiders winning. It’s kept the table amazingly close.

Excluding the Storm, only 4 competition points separate the 15th placed Sharks and the 5th placed Bunnies.

On top of the loss today, what will concern the Dragons and coach Wayne Bennett is a possible season ending injury to classy prop Dan Hunt. The bookend went down in the warmup with an archillies injury that will see him sit out for quite some time.

For the visitors, Canberra were desperate for a win and they got it in impressive fashion. After a low scoring start, the Raiders pushed hard with a little over 20 minutes to go. Scoring 3 tries inside 10 minutes.

The triple touchdown effort was enough to blow the Dragons away – who without their stars didn’t have the firepower or experienced to go with the Green Machine.

The win keeps the Radiers in touch on the ladder with 10 competition points. But for the Dragons, while they are still atop the NRL points ladder – injuries to Hunt and Beau Scott are not ideal, giving the long Origin period ahead where they will be without many stars.

By ricky

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