RUGBY LEAGUE
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The Dragons are still searching for their first win of 2015 after losing 22-4 at the hands of a James Tedesco-inspired Wests Tigers outfit at Campbelltown on Monday night.
Tedesco scored a try and had a hand in three others as part of a first-half blitz that saw the Dragons trail 20-4 at half-time.
For the second successive week the Dragons struggled for fluency in attack - producing just one try to Dane Nielsen - and were hampered by poor ball control, completing 11 of 18 sets in the first half handing the Tigers 60 per cent possession.
The home side made the Dragons pay with four first-half tries, two to veteran winger Pat Richards, with the result effectively sealed.
The loss continued a horror run of form in Monday night matches for the Dragons - who are now 1-13 in Monday fixtures - and leaves them just four days to address the poor showing ahead of their road match against a much improved Canberra side on Saturday. The one silver lining may be the return of star fullback Josh Dugan, who was a late withdrawal from the match but is expected to make the trip to face his former club.
The Tigers led 4-0 after six minutes when Tedesco produced a beautiful offload for Kevin Naiqama to score the opener.
The Dragons had the chance to hit straight back when Marshall forced consecutive line drop-outs with two well-weighted grubbers but they failed to capitalise, with Rory O'Brien coughing up possession. It proved costly just minutes later when Tedesco won the race to Luke Brooks' grubber to post the Tigers' second four pointer and extend the lead to 8-0 after 14 minutes.
Tedesco was in the thick of it again five minutes later laying on the Tigers' third try with a deft cut-out pass for Richards to cross on the left flank and extend the lead to 14-0 at the mid point of the first half.
The Dragons' problems were compounded when Gareth Widdop, who was again out of sorts after a quiet first-round performance, failed to find touch from a penalty, which put the Tigers back on attack.
It was Tedesco again doing the damage, providing the bat-back to keep the ball in play.
Richards crossed for his second 14 minutes before the break when some quick hands from Tim Simona caught the Dragons short out wide.
Richards' successful conversion put the margin out to an unassailable 20-0 with more than 50 minutes to play.
The Dragons finally hit back through Nielsen moments before the break to cut the margin to 20-4 at half-time but couldn't put a further dent in the lead, with a Richards penalty goal the only points in an underwhelming second stanza.
The Dragons slip to 14th on the NRL ladder, equal with North Queensland and only above the Gold Coast on for and against.
The Dragons face the Raiders - they only broke a decade-long losing run in Canberra last year - desperate to avoid a 0-3 start to the season.