The Kaiviti Silktails remain winless in the 2024 NSW Jersey Flegg Competition after losing to the Dragons 8-38 at Churchill Park on Saturday.
The visitors had a strong start in the first half, dominating all phases of the match with their powerful attacking line and defense. They scored five tries in the first 40 minutes through Jesse Williams, Ben Rumble (who scored three tries), and Tom Kirts, with Ashton Ward successfully converting two of the tries. The Silktails managed to cross the Dragons’ try line twice through Tevita Wanisi and Akuila Qoro, but Meliki Setiki failed both conversions, leaving the score at 24-8 in favor of the Dragons at halftime.
The Dragons increased their intensity in the second half, enjoying most of the possessions and scoring three more tries. Rumble scored his fourth try of the day in the 20th minute of the second half, with Williams and Nicholas Quinn each adding a try. Ward successfully converted one, sealing the match at 38-8.
Dragons head coach Aaron Hertsch was satisfied with the result as they aim for a top-five spot.
“It was a tough match, Fiji really gave it to us in the middle, we must work hard. We got back from a few of our injuries which was really good, and our push is to make it to the top five – that’s our goal,” Hertsch said.
Despite the loss, Kaiviti Silktails executive director Stephen Driscoll believes this season is a nurturing period for the young players, many of whom are playing rugby league for the first time. Several of these players are under 18, which he sees as a positive developmental platform.
“It’s important to do all the hard things right, it requires a lot of effort. We tackle well, we run hard on all the hard things, but the little things we are falling on like drop goals, five to six errors coming off from kick-offs which is an important part of the game.
“As much as we want to win, this is a good learning experience for these boys. A lot of these boys are in their first year playing rugby league this long – it’s 19 rounds now with another seven rounds to go, so it’s really a good encouraging path for us. A lot of the boys are under 18 years old and some around 19, so we’ve got a good couple of years with these boys and we want to encourage young boys to play rugby league in this country,” Driscoll said.