Targett won't throw in towel as Dragons hunt finals footy

No-one is throwing in the towel at St George Illawarra despite the disappointment of a 16-8 loss to neighbours Cronulla – just ask hooker Renee Targett.

“Do we think we can still play finals? Absolutely,” Targett told NRL.com after her side's Round 8 defeat. 

However, the fifth loss of the season leaves the Dragons stuck in sixth position, when a win over the Sharks would have moved them ahead of the Canberra Raiders and equal on points to the Brisbane Broncos in fourth spot.

It brings the two one-point losses against the Raiders (Round 4) and Gold Coast Titans (Round 6) sharply into focus. Those four competition points would have the Dragons comfortably into the finals heading into the final round of the year.

“They were such tight games so to lose them was very hard. But you’ve got to keep showing up, that’s the thing.

“We stay focused and do our jobs.”

The Dragons delivered some of that mantra against the Sharks with a better completion rate (88 percent), more possession (52 percent), more kicking metres, receipts, and just four errors. But the missed tackle count (37 to 10) and fewer line breaks (two compared with six) meant there are still areas in defence and attack needing attention.

“With such a young side there’s still a lot I think we are still learning,” Targett said.

“We get a bit frantic when we’re close to the line and that’s myself included.

“We need to be patient and stick to the plan. That’s our biggest challenge at the moment is trusting that the plan is going to work and then executing the plan.

A sternum injury to prop Tara McGrath-West and a suspected fractured hand to winger Cortez Te Pou brings the casualty ward figure to six first-choice players unavailable for next week’s Round Nine game against the Broncos.

“We’ll go back to the drawing board, name our team and then work together to beat Brisbane,” said Targett, who is in her third NRLW season with the Dragons.

Playing that last game at home at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium in Kogarah will help.

“We just need to get out there and play the footy we know we can play,” she said.

“We’ve come a long way this season – we’ve got a young side that’s come into a NRLW season that just as physical as in the past but much, much faster.

“The fitness levels are sky high with everyone putting effort on top of effort. We have to keep turning up and I know we can.”