Jul 30th, 2018

Jul 30th, 2018

Rugby league legend Peter Sterling says the Dragons' confidence shattering loss to the Roosters will send them "back to the drawing board" in the lead up to the finals, with the former halfback raising concerns over Ben Hunt's current form.

After a stunning start to his first season for St George Illawarra, the marquee recruit's form dipped just before the Origin series and he has been off his game ever since.

While he scored an important try just before half-time to keep the Dragons in touch, a second half onslaught from the Roosters sent a warning to the competition as they romped to a 36-18 victory.

And Sterling said it was a Hunt failing early in the game that set the tone, preventing the Dragons from building pressure on the back of some dominant field position.

Talking over vision of Hunt's first two attacking kicks, Sterling was critical of the No.7's decision making and execution.

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"To do well against the Roosters you've got to be able to build pressure, especially when you are behind on the scoreboard," Sterling told Wide World of Sports.

"And against such a strong defensive line the Roosters have that is insistent and keeps coming at you, I think you've got to kick.

"I think you've got to be prepared to kick early and put some doubt in their mind.

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Watch the video in the player at the top to see the vision Sterling analyses!

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"Now these are the first two kicks of the game from Ben Hunt. This is a late decision, it's a poor decision, it doesn't get through, Roosters again pretty much off the hook after peppering the defensive line it doesn't get through again.

"This not only had the effect of building no pressure, but I think it also took away the confidence for Ben Hunt to try that kick later on. It went back into the kit bag.

" ... I thought the fact that it wasn't effective early kicking from Ben Hunt kind of took that play away from them and they lost confidence in it."

Sterling said the Roosters dominance in attack would strike a blow "psychologically" on the Dragons, setting the scene for a nerve jangling playoff match, should the two sides meet in September.

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So impressive has the Roosters' recent form been Sterling has installed them as a likely grand finalist, naming reigning premiers the Storm as their probable opponents.

Sterling refused to rule the Dragons out of calculations for the premiership but said there was a big job in front of Paul McGregor's men to recapture the form that had them bolt out to an early competition lead.

"There's some work to be done for the Dragons, I don't think we're going to see them fade like we have the last couple of seasons, I still think they're a very very good football team and sometimes in these matches you learn more from the loss than what you would have from the win - I think they go back to the drawing board to some degree."