For 62 minutes against the Storm, the Dragons looked like they might be a team to be reckoned with this year.
But five tries in 18 minutes by Melbourne, and three to electrifying fullback Sualauvi Fa'alogo, showed the Dragons might be too top heavy again, like seasons past, according to Bulldogs GM Phil Gould.
And to counter the fatigue of their big men, Gould contends the Dragons impact the flow of the game and did that for more than a half of football against the Storm, before they were exposed by Melbourne's smaller players around the ruck.
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Speaking on Wide World of Sports' Six Tackles with Gus podcast, Gould said the Dragons employ "time wasting" tactics to give their big men time to recover, and did it perfectly in the Bulldogs' 15-14 victory in round one.
Yet Fa'alogo's speed in round two highlighted the frailties of the Dragons' ruck defence, despite their successful attempts to muddy the game early on.
"In Las Vegas, when the Bulldogs played (the Dragons) there were times where the Dragons do fatigue in defence, and they are vulnerable," Gould said.
"Bulldogs just couldn't take use of it. And the Dragons were wasting a lot of time and taking time off the clock in that game, because they knew that physically they do get tired, their big fellows do get a little bit vulnerable in defence.
"Part of their tactic is to waste time and take time off the clock and scrimmage, muck around in tackles, and stop the game for different things, flare ups and all that sort of thing.
"It's to keep breaking the game up and keep getting spells in what they're doing. They got away with a lot of that in Las Vegas, which was very frustrating, but the Bulldogs just couldn't take advantage of what they saw.
"I think they had seven line breaks and couldn't come up with a try. And I thought if Melbourne get possession and Melbourne can get them tired… And St. George are very competitive for a certain period of time, but once they lost possession and got tired, Storm just carved them up, and they ran in 40 of them. When the balloon bursts it bursts."
Gould paid tribute to Fa'alogo's ability to break the game open.
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"He got conditions to suit in the second half. And he can cut you shreds. He's got that ability and when the Dragons get their defence in that mindset, a person like him could really hurt them, and it played out perfectly for him," he said.
"He got it exactly the way he wanted it. Remember, too St. George did lead 20 to 18 at periods of that game.
"And the Storm, I don't think they ever really got over the top of them. They got possession at the right time, and this young fullback was the one that changed the game."
The Storm face the winless Broncos on Friday night, and could potentially end their season.
Starting the season 0-3 is a death sentence to premiership hopes in most cases, with North Queensland in 2015 the only team in the NRL era to win the title after going winless over the first three rounds.
Manly (2021), St George Illawarra (2005) and the Cowboys are the only three teams to have lost their three-season openers and reached the top four.
No side has won a competition from outside the top four since the inception of the NRL in 1998.
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