Horror night for Flanagan as Bulldogs run riot against injury-hit Dragons

That was Dragons coach Shane Flanagan's wry take on his side's 44-12 pasting at the hands of the Bulldogs on Thursday night, one that preceded his first Accor Stadium presser since grand final night in 2016.

It's not one he saw coming. Freshened up by a round-10 bye, Flanagan went into the match with his best 17 at his disposal for the first time this season, only to be reduced 15 men by halftime.

Prop Hame Sele left the field with a shoulder injury after just 15 minutes, but it was an ugly ankle injury to Jack Bird moments before halftime that proved the pivotal moment of the contest.

The nasty rolled ankle looked to be a continuation of the 29-year-old's horrific run on the injury front when he was left howling in pain after attempting a tackle on Bronson Xerri.

He was medi-cabbed from where he'd crawled on the sideline, with early diagnoses suggesting he'll miss 4-6 weeks.

It was far less than initially feared when he fell in a heap, but the horror that followed still proved the stuff of nightmares for the Red V faithful after their side led 12-6 at the break.

Not for the first time this season, Flanagan was forced into a reshuffle after losing a centre mid-stream, and it proved just as disastrous as it did on Anzac Day when Moses Suli was KO'd on the opening tackle.

The Dragons didn't concede 60 as they did to the Roosters that day, but there was no stemming the tide of Dogs points in a dominant second 40.

It was a forgettable outing, but Flanagan left Accor Stadium with headaches far beyond the lopsided scoreline.

"The two halves were just so different," Flanagan said.

"We were really good in the first half. I thought we ran hard, we had three missed tackles and we competed really hard.

"I thought, if we continued to do what we did in the first half we'd win the football game. Credit to them, they did exactly what we did to them in the first half.

"Some of the numbers out of the game, you haven't seen too often. We only had eight sets, they had 26 or something like that. Possession killed us.

"Then when we did finally get possession, we turned it over or gave penalties away. We were our own worst enemy."

Despite the setbacks, the Dragons took a six-point cushion into halftime after first-half tries to Suli and Jacob Liddle, but the wheels fell off from there.

The one-two punch of Matt Burton and Viliame Kikau has been the go-to for the Bulldogs this season. Flanagan seemed well aware of that when he shifted Suli onto the right edge in the second half to cover the absence of Bird.

Not for the first time this season, it left Tom Eisenhuth and Kyle Flanagan exposed on the Dragons left. The Dogs cottoned on quickly, running four tries through the rejigged defensive edge in the space of 14 minutes.

Jaeman Salmon scored first after the break, breezing through flimsy on-line defence from Eisenhuth, and had his second just six minutes later as the Bulldogs continued their assault on the same channel.

Jakob Kiraz followed up four minutes later, dragging Kyle Flanagan across for his side's third try in 10 minutes. Jacob Preston got in on the act, again through Eisenhuth, as the lead ballooned to 16 with 17 minutes left.

Things worsened from there when Lomax was sent to the sin-bin for interference on Xerri in pursuit of a kick through from Addo-Carr.

It left the 15-man Dragons down to just 12 on the park, the Bulldogs going back to that edge for Burton's second try with 13 minutes to play. Further tries to Crichton and Kiraz were merely gravy in a seven-try second stanza for the hosts.

The Dragons did themselves no favours, conceding six penalties, completing seven of just 10 second-half sets with the ball and missing 23 tackles.

It's not the first time the Dragons have produced a second-half capitulation this season, with Flanagan admittedly at a loss for immediate answers.

"If I could put my finger on exactly [what the issue is] I'd fix it," Flanagan said.

"It's a tricky one. There's a number of different things that I'm thinking about why. Maybe we're pushing the limits and I'm squeezing the lemon there on a couple of them, I'm not quite sure.

"You can't do it in one half and not do it in the other half. It's probably something that we've got to work on. I can't put my finger exactly on it. We'll just have to work harder.

"The frustrating thing was what we did in the first half, we controlled the game, played it our way, and then it was just a complete 360 in the second half.

"We have to address what happened in the second half."

The injury toll couldn't come at a worse time for the Dragons, who face being without skipper Ben Hunt through the looming Origin period.

It remains to be seen what impact the defeat has on the prospects of Jaydn Su'A and Zac Lomax, but it can't have helped, especially with the latter sent to the sin-bin with 17 minutes to play.

"Ben tried hard tonight, he was just part of the problem," Flanagan said.

"He's a quality player and I'm sure he'll get picked for Queensland. We've got bigger problems than just losing Ben, so we'll move on and wish him luck in Origin.

"He's been great for us at the start of the season, but we've got some work to do."

Bird's injury history is well-known, with two ACL tears cruelling his time in Brisbane and seemingly putting his best football behind him.

Flanagan has looked to re-ignite the 29-year-old's career in the same centre spot in which he won the 2016 premiership with the Sharks.

The Berkeley product appeared to be re-finding his groove there in recent weeks, but injury has again wrenched the handbrake on his progress; though not as drastically as first feared.

It wasn't the only headache on the injury front, with Hame Sele suffering a shoulder injury that kept him to just the opening 15 minutes.

"I'm not quite sure he's going to have x-rays on his lower leg, so we'll just have to wait and see," Flanagan said when asked about the severity of Bird's injury.

"He was playing really good too. It was a big job today out there on that edge for him in that first half on Kikau and I thought he did a really good job.

"It was unfortunate for him but, touch wood, it's not too bad. When you lose a centre it is hard and that's probably where their strike is, out on the edges.

"We struggled there a little bit and they scored some tries late in the second half in and around those areas.

"Hame was a big one as well, we were down to 15, but that's football. You've just got to be able to handle it."

Silver linings were few and far between, but Flanagan may find one in the first-half effort of veteran lock Jack de Belin.

"That's up to Jack," was Flanagan's answer when asked about de Belin's future at the Dragons ahead of Thursday's clash.

It was a not so subtle challenge to the 33-year-old to earn an extension and he appeared to be listening, producing a first-half effort that was a throwback to his days as a NSW Origin rep.

His 10 carries for 113 metres and five tackle busts went with 23 tackles in an unbroken first 40-minute stint that put his side on the front foot from the jump. He finished with 42 tackles for just the one miss through 70 minutes.

It meant little in the wash-up to Thursday's clash, but with Sele and possibly Su'A likely to be missing in the coming weeks, Flanagan will need de Belin's step up to continue.

A few others may need to as well, with Flanagan forecasting some personnel changes in the wake of the capitulation.

"There's a few kids there that played well in second grade so we'll be looking at that for sure," Flanagan said.

"If you keep getting these results, and you keep picking the same side, they'll find a new coach."