Dragons scrap their way to win in Wollongong try-fest

It wasn't a blowout like those that plagued the weekend of NRL matches, but the 13-try scrap was pulled right out of the bizarro world.

The Dragons lost Andrew McCullough to a knee injury, Moses Mbye to a hamstring injury, Cody Ramsey to an HIA and Francis Molo to a send-off... and won by 20 points.

Oh, and Tautau Moga got a hat-trick. To call it "messy" as Dragons coach Anthony Griffin did in the aftermath, was an understatement.

There was no understating the pride in his side's ability to, not only absorb Molo's marching for a 62^nd minute high shot on Titans winger Patrick Herbert, but kick away with the result.

"The last 17 minutes was probably the highlight for me, when we went down a man and had to defend our own end," Griffin said.

"We were only four in front, but we did that well and found three tries. It's been a tough month, we really should have had a win or two out of some games we played against teams [further] up the ladder.

"It's always hard after that to keep finding an effort and we were down to two on the bench after 20 minutes with McCullough and Mbye going off and down a man with 17 minutes to go.

"I was just happy for the players, they did a really good job to finish it."

In a match with no shortage of turning points, Molo's send-off was the major game-changer on the tackle after the Titans drew within four points with a try to Jojo Fifita.

Read more: Slick Dragons open NRLW account with win over Titans

With their finals hopes dashed, and with just two men left on the bench, the Dragons could easily have dropped their bundle but instead found two tries to Moga in the five minutes that followed.

Talatau Amone and Jack Bird also finished with doubles in the Dragons second win in their past seven outings. With little to play for, Griffin felt the win was character-revealing.

"It was going to go one way or another once Frank got sent off and they chose to tough it out and scored three tries," Griffin said.

"It's getting to the end of the year and some teams, when they've been put under the pump, they haven't been able to answer that question.

"They're hard to win, any NRL game, and as we've seen this weekend, some teams have just completely fallen apart when they've got nothing to play for.

"It wasn't pretty, but we responded when we had to. For most of the year we haven't had a smooth run, but we've fought really hard to keep ourselves going and that's what I liked about the back end of today.

"We've always had a challenge or an obstacle to get over and today was one of those days. Nothing seemed to go our way except what we made go our way and I was really proud of what they did with 17 minutes to go."

The casualty ward will test their ability to back up the effort next week against a Tigers outfit left embarrassed by a 72-6 hammering at the hands of the Roosters.

Molo will attract MRP scrutiny for the shot on Herbert while McCullough's preliminary diagnosis of a medial ligament injury could well end his season.

Mbye would be the man most likely to replace him at dummy-half but he's also at long odds to face his former club due to a hamstring injury.

"We're going to have to dig really deep again, I think we've got two or three injuries in there," Griffin said.

"I was surprised [at the send-off] but I'd have to have another look. We'll see what happens but it's about beating the Tigers now, that's all that matters."

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