“Disappointing”: Gardiner criticises winless Dragons

After continuing their winless start to the season, Ben Gardiner has given a frank assessment of St George Illawarra’s start to the season.

Against the Titans, the Dragons once again failed to get going in the second half, seeing them lose 22-14 after leading 12-6 at halftime.

This sees the Dragons join the Sea-Eagles as the only winless sides in the competition.

When asked which team he thought was worse off between the two sides, Gardiner was blunt in his assessment.

“Yeah, the Dragons,” he said on SEN’s The Front Office with Vossy.

“I watch the Dragons on the weekend, I thought they would have done a lot better against the Titans.

“Obviously, two teams that hadn’t won prior to that game and just didn’t see a lot coming out of them and didn’t see the intent I would have liked.

“It was a little bit disappointing for me.”

Now staring down the barrel of a 0-5 record, they also face the challenge of being without Kyle Flanagan.

The starting five-eighth needed to go to the hospital after a significant head clash during their loss to the Titans.

This will see Daniel Atkinson have an increased role in the halves with the Samoa coach believing the Dragons need to allow Atkinson more runs.

“He kicked really well.  I thought he kicked really well in Vegas as well, but his greatest strength is his running game,” Gardiner explained.

“I think anytime that you're coaching a player that hasn't played in a position or played much in a position, you need to play to their strengths.

“So, they need to find a way for him to run the ball.

“Like you watch the Bulldogs game on the weekend, and Lachie Galvin ran the ball over 20 times.

“They're just feeding into his strength, and I think Atkinson needs a little bit more of that as well.”

The Dragons will next feature on Saturday when they host the Cowboys at Jubliee Stadium.