Bullish Dragons find top gear to blow Tigers away in Mudgee

After being unable to construct a try in 80 minutes last week, the Dragons ran in four in a blazing opening stanza in Mudgee, looking nothing like the side that ran out for the Charity Shield - and not much like the side that's run out over the past two NRL seasons.

Skipper Ben Hunt had a first half double, while the Tigers had no answer for the freight train that ran through their right edge in the form Jaydn Su'A, Moses Suli and Mikaele Ravalwa.

It saw Flanagan's side lead 24-0 before Jahream Bula showed the first real signs of Tigers life a minute before the break to cut the margin back to 18 at halftime.

The second half finished two tries apiece, with the final 20 minutes effectively junk time as the big guns left the park.

It's set to change with the looming arrival of left edge specialist Luciano Leilua, who has the potential to form one of the most damaging edges in the competition should Suli continue to produce what he did on Saturday.

The 25-year-old had 12 carries for 136 running metres at halftime. He also busted 10 tackles and almost ended up with a first-half double only for his second four-pointer to be called back due to an obstruction in the lead-up.

He finished with `12 runs for 177 run metres, while Su'A had 13 carries for 155 run metres for eight tackle busts.

"I prefer the right," Su'A said when asked about Leilua's arrival.

"Obviously this off-season the plan was for me to play on the left, but now we've got Luch, who's a left-side player, so I'll be happy to swap straight back over onto the right.

"We wanted to come out and be really physical and get out season off to a good start. It was good fun, obviously some really positive signs, and we're just looking forward to round one."

Ravalawa's 21^st minute try came directly on the back of a damaging charge from Suli, and with the Fijian flyer now patrolling the left flank, Flanagan is ensuring son and new five-eighth Kyle will have a formidable arsenal at his disposal.

It also made for a miserable evening for erstwhile Dragon Jayden Sullivan defending on the Tigers right edge, that providing the headache for Benji Marshall as he ponders who to pair in the halves come round one.

The left edge was dominant but, across the board, the Dragons played with the physicality and intent that has been a trademark of Flanagan-coached sides.

Centre Jack Bird experienced the ultimate success as part of that regime at Cronulla and feels the premiership-winning coach is utilising the same building blocks.

"He's brought a good culture over to the club, you saw that back at the Sharks in 2015-16-17, and he's brought that here," Bird told Fox Sports.

"We're all buying into it, and it's not going to work if we don't. I think it's leading in the right direction.

"We've had a hard preseason, we've brought some new good players in that have changed the culture a little bit, Flanno's changed it.

"Last week we had a good first half, it was 6-all at halftime, and we just wanted to work off that this week and it showed with our start. We were obviously up in the first half and took our foot off the accelerator in the second half.

"[Flanagan's] obviously got us really fit. It's little steps, that turns into big steps. It's been a good preseason and we're working towards something special."

While 'it's only a trial' was as true of Saturday's performance as it was of their previous trial outing, the Red V faithful will be buoyed by the effort ahead of their side's season-opener on the Gold Coast in a fortnight's time.

Hunt's future in Wollongong has been the hottest topic around the Dragons since his initial bombshell request for a mid-year release last season.

Flanagan was quick to nip any such request in bud, and vowed that his skipper won't want to leave the club once he sees the positives a change of regime will bring.

It remains to be seen how long the peace lasts, but Hunt looked his typical tenacious self in Mudgee, grabbing a first-half double - the first from the unlikeliest of aerial battles with opposite number Aiden Sezer off a cross-field kick from Kyle Flanagan.

He produced a neat grubber-and-chase for his second try six minutes before the break for a 24-0 lead, and told Kayo as he left the park that he wasn't at all interested in a halftime early mark.

"It was very positive," Hunt said of the opening half.

"We just wanted to play a clean game of footy and once we get down their end take our opportunities. With some powerful running from our edges we got some tries.

"I don't too many doubles these days so I'll always take them."

He was eventually brought from the park after laying on a second-half try for Tyrell Sloan with a deft offload on what was his 15^th carry of the game.

New halves partner Flanagan also had an early shower after leaving the field for a HIA after a collision with Sullivan. His sheet was a tidy eight carries, zero errors with 19 tackles for just one miss.

After Flanagan bluntly labelled some his young custodian's forgettable efforts last week "soft moments" Sloan went under the radar against the Tigers despite finishing with a four-pointer.

He also had two line breaks and clocked 159 run metres with - most crucially - no errors, though the way Tigers rookie Heath Mason breezed by him for the final try of the game will feature on video review.

Having left Sloan at the back for the entire 80 minutes, Flanagan now looks set to persevere with Zac Lomax on the right wing for round one having resisted the urge to give the 24-year-old any time at the back despite suggesting he might following the loss to the Rabbitohs.