27 Aug 2012

Dragons thump poor Warriors

8:30 am on 27 August 2012

The Warriors have suffered another heavy defeat in the National Rugby League with a 38-6 loss to the St George Illawarra Dragons in Wollongong.

After trailing 12-6 at half-time, the Warriors watched the Dragons score five unanswered tries in the second half and give the retiring duo Ben Hornby and Dean Young the perfect hometown farewell.

It was hoped the change in coach - with Tony Iro taking over from the sacked Brian McClennan - would have had some sort of impact on the Warriors, but they showed little fight as the Dragons ran riot in the second half.

Elsewhere former Warriors mentor Ivan Cleary saw his Penrith Panthers sign off at Centrebet Stadium for 2012 in style with 36-22 win over the Gold Coast Titans, while the North Queensland Cowboys overcame a short turnaround and draining humidity to grind out a 22-14 win over the Newcastle Knights in Townsville.

Wests Tigers' hopes of a finals place are hanging by the slimmest of threads after a 44-20 pasting by the Sydney Roosters, while the South Sydney Rabbitohs dished out another hiding, beating the Parramatta Eels 38-6, also in Sydney.