St. George Illawarra Dragons

A seven-minute first half flurry – which saw North Queensland run in three tries while Jayden Sullivan was in the sin bin – put the game beyond doubt early on with the Cowboys consigning the Dragons to their sixth straight defeat.

Having become just the 47th player to reach the 300-game mark, the night started in perfect fashion for Hunt, with the versatile veteran setting up Jack de Belin for the first points of the game after just three minutes.

The Dragons appeared to have had the game won when Ben Hunt crossed to break a 14-14 deadlock with seven minutes remaining before the Titans had three sets on the visitors' try-line for Sexton to bust through on the left edge. 

Gold Coast held on from another final raid by the Dragons until Hunt, who was again everywhere for the Red V on Sunday, spilt the ball on the siren to hand the Titans their third win of the season. 

After conceding 80 points in their losses to the Broncos and Sharks, the Red V discovered their defensive resolve to restrict the Dolphins to just two tries.

As is so often the case, skipper Ben Hunt was the driving force behind the victory with a try, seven tackle breaks and a try assist as the Dragons spoiled the party for rival captain Jesse Bromwich's 300th NRL game.

Dolphins winger Jamayne Isaako had a chance to open the scoring in the 12th minute after Jacob Liddle was penalised for a strip but the attempt sailed wide.

Having missed the finals for the past four seasons, the Dragons must get away to a good start and then find the consistency that eluded them for much of 2022 until they finished the year with three wins on the trot.

One of those victories came against the Titans at WIN Stadium in round 23 when they piled on 46 points, their highest score of the season.

The Titans were able to regroup and win their final two matches before carrying that momentum into the Pre-Season Challenge where they put 40 points on the Dolphins and then the season opener against Wests Tigers (22-10).

The opening game of round three is packed with intriguing storylines and WIN Stadum is sure to come alive as Fityz's Sharks and Anthony Griffin's Dragons both go in search of a second win for the season.

The Sharks have played in two thrillers - going down to Canberra at the death in round one and then snatching victory in the final minute against the Eels in round two.

The Dragons followed an impressive opening win over the Warriors with a gutsy performance against the premiers, copping some tough calls on their way to a 20-16 loss at Netstrata Jubilee.

The Dragons have overhauled their pack adding Jaydn Su’A, Aaron Woods, George Burgess and Francis Molo, while Moses Mbye and Moses Suli have boosted their backline.

The club made massive strides in 2021, but Griffin clearly felt they needed some fresh blood and experience to help them return to the finals this season.

“I thought for long periods last year we competed really well with the squad that we had,” Griffin told foxsports.com.au.

“But we have changed 14 roster spots since then so it is a fairly different squad.”

The Dragons had four players serving their one-game bans for a previous COVID breach and their makeshift centre pairing of Junior Amone and Corey Norman was targeted ruthlessly while Mitchell simply bullied the defence to the tune of two tries and 15 busts with Walker adding a try and four try assists of his own.

Broncos-bound halfback Adam Reynolds was also impressive with a try, two assists and seven goals while the Dragons were simply lacking in direction and experience.

Souths coach Wayne Bennett wasn't overly impressed with his team's performance.