RUGBY LEAGUE
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It's not panic stations yet but Dragons five-eighth Gareth Widdop says his side will need to recapture its attacking discipline to arrest a worrying slide out of the top four.
Last Saturday's 16-12 loss to Parramatta was the Dragons' third on the trot and, with two byes in between, leaves them a month without a victory heading into Saturday's clash with the second-placed Cowboys at WIN Stadium.
The Dragons led 8-6 at the break against the Eels in the type of game they've prided themselves on winning so far this year. They had 63 per cent of the ball but completed at just 71 per cent with forced offloads and silly passes.
The performance was compounded by some baffling video referee decisions at crucial stages of the game. Coach Paul McGregor said he would seek clarification on the calls post-match but Widdop said his side wasn't willing to pay the price like they have for the bulk of the season.
"We had a good, solid start which was good but a few calls didn't go our way and we probably didn't respond well and we let a few tries in," Widdop said.
"In the first half there were a few offloads we shouldn't have been throwing and in the second half the completion rate was down from those one-handed offloads or passes that didn't hit the mark. The last few weeks we've sometimes they've stuck but [on Saturday] they just didn't.
"In the second half our completion levels were extremely low and I think they completed at 90-95 per cent. That's what it came down to.
"We've just got to back to playing basic football, completing and grinding teams away. We probably didn't do that."
The Dragons will be without Josh Dugan and Trent Merrin - who will be in camp for the Blues - for Saturday's clash, while the Cowboys will be without star captains Jonathan Thurston and Matt Scott.
Widdop said the Dragons need to rebuild momentum into the latter half of the season or risk a swift tumble out of top-four contention.
"The last few weeks it's been a bit stop-start and we haven't had much rhythm," Widdop said.
"The competition is extremely close and it's really tough.
"We're not happy with three losses but the teams we've been playing . . . they've been really close, four and five points, but we've got a long way to go to the end of the season and we can turn things around."