Dragons looking good
NRL Results 
/ Andy Morris / 06 September 2010 / Leave a comment Bet Now View Market
There is still a lot of rugby league football to be played before the grand final on October 3, but it would take a brave man to suggest the Dragons won’t at least be there...
The Dragons go looking to turn their minor premiership into a grand final win as they aim to shake off their tag as under-achievers predicts Andy Morris.
Having reached the grand final in their debut season in the competition in 1999, where they lost to the Melbourne Storm, the Dragons have yet to make another grand final appearance.
But the club has threatened to return to the grand final on several occasions, and has only failed to reach the finals three times since their first season.
With their win over the Newcastle Knights in round 25, the Dragons won their second successive minor premiership, becoming the only team to win the JJ Giltinan Shield consecutively since the NRL was formed in 1998.
The Dragons remain firm favourites to be holding the trophy aloft after the grand final, but there has been plenty of money on the likes of Wests Tigers, Sydney Roosters, Penrith Panthers and the Gold Coast Titans.
Winning their first three games this season, the Dragons hit top spot on the ladder in round three, and after a blip next time out in the 17-4 defeat to the Storm in Melbourne, they beat Brisbane 34-16 at WIN Stadium in round five to return to the top and stayed there for the remainder of the season.
Besides the loss to the Storm, the Dragons' seemingly inevitable path to the grand final sustained few detours. They lost six other games, including twice to their perennial bogey team the Canberra Raiders.
Now they have to hope that they have better luck than last year, when their excellent first season under Wayne Bennett saw them win the minor premiership but crash out of the finals after losing both their finals matches - the first club since 1993 to suffer that fate.
His record with the Dragons has picked up where he left off with the Broncos. He managed a 64 per cent winning record over his 532 games in Brisbane, and amassed 20 wins in his first 29 as Dragons coach to take that winning percentage up to 69.
There is still a lot of rugby league football to be played before the grand final on October 3, but it would take a brave man to suggest the Dragons won't at least be there when it all gets decided at ANZ Stadium.
