The Warriors season hit a major speedbump with a big loss to the Dragons at WIN Stadium on Friday night.
It wasn't the 30-12 scoreline, but the way they were outplayed and made to look second rate across the field after having plenty of early possession.
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The fight from the first few rounds disappeared as Zac Lomax put on a dazzling display for the Dragons.
After a good start a penalty against Francis Molo for holding down gave the Warriors ideal field position and Shaun Johnson capitalised in the 12th minute when he went through a gaping hole to post the opening try which he converted for a 6-0 lead.
When Moses Suli coughed up possession four minutes later the home side were put under enormous pressure for three consecutive sets but a goal line intercept by Jacob Liddle saw the Dragons come away.
The home team hit back in the 25th minute when Ben Hunt took the ball to the line and found a rampaging Suli, who left Rocco Berry in his wake to post the first try for the home side.
The Dragons forced an error from Marcelo Montoya with a strong kick chase and they bagged a second try in the 30th minute when Tyrell Sloan chimed into the backline and put Mikaele Ravalawa over in the right corner for an 8-6 lead.
Lomax then slotted a 42-metre field goal in the 40th minute to take the Dragons out to a 16-6 lead at the break.
The second half started the way the first had finished with Lomax flying above Montoya to pull down a bomb and cross for a try in his 100th NRL game. The conversion gave the Dragons a 16-point lead.
The Dragons went further ahead in the 52nd minute when Roger Tuivasa-Sheck made contact with a dropout before it had travelled 10 metres and Lomax slotted a simple penalty goal.
The Warriors were attacking the Dragons' line when Johnson put the ball down and Hunt picked up before passing to Tyrell Sloan who raced 90 metres to make it a 30-6 scoreline.
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A trademark acrobatic try by Dallin Watene-Zelkezniak in the 70th minute didn't count for much as the Warriors fell o their heaviest loss of the season.
Warriors coach Andrew Webster was honest with his assessment.
"I thought we completely lost the ruck, they blew us away, they ran so hard. Off the back of some discipline I thought we lost our way defensively. Their momentum was fierce and we weren't calm enough to get together and slow it down tonight.
There are moments that can hurt but we want to be that team that when moments don't go our way that we find a way to get back in the fight. You can't have a poor attitude around errors and when things don't go our way," said Webster.
The Warriors face the Titans in their next game on ANZAC Day at Mt Smart.
St George Illawarra Dragons 30 (Moses Suli, Mikaele Ravalawa, Ben Hunt, Zac Lomax, Tyrell Sloan tries; Lomax 4 goals, Lomax 1 (two point) field goal) beat Warriors 12 (Shaun Johnson, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak tries; Johnson 2 goals) HT: 16-6