St George Illawarra crash to second-straight defeat on Anzac Day

The Dragons were dismantled by the Roosters, 34-10, in Sunday's traditional Anzac Day clash in front of 37,620 spectators at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

The defeat comes on the back of last week's disappointing 20-14 loss to the Warriors.

St George Illawarra were left to lament six minutes of madness before the half-time break, Sydney turning a two-point deficit into a 10-point lead while Jordan Pereira was in the sin bin.

Dragons coach Anthony Griffin said this was the period his side let the game slip away, the coach lamenting his player's inability to remain in the contest.

"The first 25 minutes, I thought we did have the best of the game," Griffin said. "We did a lot of good things to put us in that position.

"For whatever reason, when the sin bin came, we just couldn't handle it. We should've been able to, but they got two tries down that side, we didn't get our numbers right. Emotionally we started to lose contact with the contest."

The Dragons had opportunities to hit back in the second half, Roosters hooker Benjamin Marschke also sent to the sin bin for a professional foul in the 42^nd minute.

Instead it was the Roosters who extended their advantage throughout that period, Sam Walker capitalising on a St George Illawarra error.

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The Dragons scored late, but the damage had already been done in the convincing defeat.

Griffin conceded his players lost touch with the contest in the second half, the coach at a loss to explain why.

"It wasn't us. We've been really good for six weeks, even the two losses we've had, I thought we've really competed.

"For whatever reason tonight, when the pressure came on, we lost contact with each other as well, just become individuals, that was the disappointing thing.

"They've been very good for six weeks, it's disappointing the performance came today in such a big game."

Griffin made a host of late changes prior to the contest, Jack Bird shifting to five-eighth as part of a wider reshuffle.

Billy Burns was promoted to the starting side, the ex-Panther making his Dragons debut. Pereira was also handed his first action of the year, the match quickly turning into a nightmare for the winger.

Playing half-back, Corey Norman struggled to take control of the game in his role as primary playmaker.

That came in contrast to Roosters youngster Walker, who yet again showed why he has been billed a future superstar in a man-of-the-match performance.

The nerves from both sides were present from the opening kickoff, St George Illawarra spilling the ball on their first set of six.

The Roosters quickly returned the favour with an error of their own, before Pereira turned it over with his first touch of the game.

Walker appeared set to open the scoring, before spraying his penalty goal attempt wide.

Soon it was St George Illawarra's chance to have points denied, the bunker ruling against Jack Bird who thought he had scored under the posts.

Still on the attack, the Dragons made the most of their field position moments later, Tariq Sims charging over from close range.

From there the two teams settled into a grind until the complexion of the match changed in the 34^th minute.

Pereira was sent to the sin bin for a high shot on Tedesco, the Roosters fullback to play no further part in the game after failing his head injury assessment. He was replaced by 18^th man Matt Ikuvalu.

The Dragons winger will likely face time on the sidelines, so too Mikaele Ravalawa and Tyrell Fuimaono who were also placed on report for.

The Roosters promptly made the most of the extra man, Sitili Tupouniua crossing to put his side up 10-6.

Sensing blood in the water, the Roosters went for the kill, Nat Butcher latching on to an offload to cross in the final play of the half and ensure a 10 point lead at the break.

In a reinforcement of their premiership credentials, Sydney put the game to bed with a dominant second half.