By Steve Jancetic
It was a new coach but the same old story for the Warriors as St George Illawarra gave retiring duo Ben Hornby and Dean Young the perfect hometown farewell with a 38-6 NRL win in Wollongong.
Dragons' fullback Jason Nightingale scored a double in a match which had the intensity of two sides no longer in finals contention - the Warriors still without a win at WIN Stadium in nine games against the 'Red V'.
With nothing but pride on the line, a disappointing crowd of 11,269 was on hand for the double farewell, Hornby missing with the sideline conversion of Matt Cooper's late try before joining Young on an emotional lap of honour.
It was hoped the change in coach - with Tony Iro taking over from the sacked Brian McClennan - would have had some sort of impact on the Warriors, but they showed little fight as the Dragons ran riot in the second half.
Clinging to a 12-6 lead at halftime, the Dragons scored five unanswered tries in the second stanza, the Warriors turning to a rabble as the absence of Shaun Johnson - forced off just before halftime with a head knock - proved telling.
Warriors' fullback Carlos Tuimavave did well to stop a rampaging Dan Hunt short of the line three minutes after the restart, but he could do nothing to deny Nightingale his first off a Jamie Soward kick.
His second in the 56th minute sparked a 10-minute burst in which the Dragons went from 16-6 leaders to 34-6 dominators, backrower Josh Miller scoring his first try for the club after a brilliant Brett Morris run down the sideline before Ben Creagh finished the onslaught.
NZN