Rugby sevens duo Ellia Green and Evania Pelite have starred in the Warriors’ 22-10 dead rubber NRLW win over a St George Illawarra side that failed to field a full team.
Injuries and a suspension left the Dragons with just 16 players available for their third and final regular season clash on Saturday, and they paid the price by finishing with the wooden spoon.
Green and Pelite were among a host of stars for the New Zealand-based Warriors side, who were only patched together a week before the campaign due to coronavirus restrictions.
The 2016 Rio gold-medallists combined to set up a try for each other in what was the club’s biggest win since the competition’s inception in 2018.
Bench forward Shaniah Power grabbed a second half double and winger Madison Bartlett also crossed, while Dragons debutant Teagan Berry scored her team’s only points.
The Warriors led 8-4 at halftime at ANZ Stadium before running riot with three tries in the space of eight minutes in the second period to blow the Dragons out of the contest.
Already without star pair Kezie Apps (ACL) and Isabelle Kelly (ankle), St George Illawarra were scraping the barrel when Shakiah Tungai (shoulder), Maddie Studdon (ankle), and Tiana Penitani (knee) withdrew on game day.
With just a 22-player squad to select from, Dragons coach Daniel Lacey was left with a three-person bench.
Two players made their debut against a Warriors outfit that, like their counterparts, had lost both their opening games of the campaign to drop out of finals contention.
Berry was the first to draw blood for the Dragons when she flashed her speed on her way over in the 8th minute.
But the Warriors wrestled back control through their dynamic left-edge of Pelite and Green, with the former brushing away Jessia Sergis for Green to touch down.
Green also pulled off a bellringer on Sergis soon after, before Shontelle Stowers produced a no-look offload for Bartlett to give the Warriors a four-point lead at the break.
Back-to-back premiers Brisbane and the Sydney Roosters will battle for the minor premiership later on Saturday, before meeting again in next week’s decider.
