Northern Send Sandy South, But Dragons Drawing On Positives

The Dragons have started the season zero and two after a 37-point loss to the Northern Knights on Sunday.

A competitive first quarter was followed by a strong second term, which saw the Dragons trail by just six points at half time.

But the second half saw no chinks in the Knights’ armour.

Northern kicked three goals in both the third and fourth quarters, while the Dragons could only manage one for the half.

Despite the disappointing finish, head coach Jackson Kornberg is drawing on the positives ahead of this weekend’s bye.

“Our second quarter was really positive, we played the way that we've been training,” he said.

“We had some focuses coming out of the Calder game in round one on some things we wanted to fix up, and we saw that in the second quarter.

“It started at the contest. We were outnumbering at ground ball and then giving our forwards the best opportunity by getting it in quick and not over possessing the ball, which was an area we needed to focus on coming out of round one.”

Players took ownership for the inconsistent performance post-match, and Kornberg says the group are eager to hit the training track in a bid to reverse the team’s fortunes.

“A frustrating thing from a coaching point of view, and the players admitted after the game as well, was just the inconsistency of our performance,” he said.

“We’re getting closer to stringing a bit more of a complete game together, and that’ll be the key focus going forward. We’ve shown that we can get the game on our terms if we play our way.”

Bottom-ager Sofia Hurley, who played on the wing in round one and was presented with the challenge of an inside midfield role on Sunday, impressed the coaching staff with 11 disposals, seven tackles, and five inside 50 entries.

“She’s got good speed, and a good change of angle,” Kornberg explained.

“Her ability to win the ball and then get the ball forward was fantastic.”

The Dragons travel to Gippsland on Sunday, March 7 to take on the Power.

Goals: E. Angelopoulos 2, S. Pribil, C. Murphy
Best: S. Hurley, C. Anderson, C. Ryan, S. Pribil, E. Stuber, E. Angelopoulos