Dragons captain Ben Hunt was unimpressed with his side’s efforts following their 16-18 loss to the Wests Tigers at Suncorp Stadium.
The tight defeat marks the Dragons’ fourth loss by two points or less in the last five rounds.
Speaking post-match, Hunt issued a brutally honest review of the performance.
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“The story of the season, isn’t it?” he told Fox League of the narrow losses.
“Honestly, we were just dumb today. Some of the things we did were just not NRL standard – silly penalties and then we got a good ball set and we dropped it or it went out on tackle two or three.
“We just can’t do that.”
After trailing in the first half, the Dragons made a late break and threatened to steal the match with two minutes left when Hunt broke through the line with a crafty grubber.
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Mikaele Ravalawa looked like a chance to go over in the right corner but the Tigers’ defence swarmed, preventing the winger from scoring the winning try.
“I thought we had it, to be honest,” Hunt said.
“Once we got it to Moses Suli, I thought he and Mikaele (Ravalawa) were going to finish it.
“But credit to the Tigers, they scrambled really hard right at the death of the game and they are playing a tough brand of footy.”
Asked about his shift in the spine from halfback to hooker, Hunt was nonchalant considering the Red V’s performance.
“I don’t know, it probably could be more permanent,” he said.
“I need more time there to get my gas as well – I was pretty tired at the end.
“But we didn’t give ourselves enough chances to see if it worked or not, to be honest. We were just dumb and incomplete.”
In his return to first grade, Jayden Sullivan scored a double.
His move to the halves allowed Hunt to switch to hooker.
Sullivan gets a double
“Well does that just rubber stamp the move for Ben Hunt?” Penrith great Greg Alexander said on Fox League.
“Is he the starting hooker next week?
“Jayden Sullivan two tries today, brilliant footwork.
“He might not like this, Ben, but he’s probably going to have to get used to it.”
The Dragons will next travel to Townsville to face the Cowboys on Saturday night.
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