By Riley O’Leary for the Griffith Journal

27 April 2026

The Griffith Dragons have kicked off their 2026 season with a 14-all draw against the UQ Hounds last Wednesday night, conceding an unlucky try in the dying minutes to give up the lead.

The Dragons led for the majority of the fixture, and will consider themselves unlucky to have come away with the draw after the performance they put on.

The Dragons forward pack were dominant for the entirety of the fixture, laying the platform for the team’s performance.

Middle forward Ricardo Ibson was particularly effective, with some huge hits and impactful carries to swing the momentum when his team needed it throughout the fixture.

Izzy Fulton also had an outstanding game in the middle, taking hit-up after hit-up to generate forward momentum for his side in attack.

Halfback Lachlan Moore was the spark in attack, scoring an excellent solo try while assisting another in the first half.

The Dragons were unlucky with some decisions that went against them, especially late in the fixture prior to UQ’s equaliser, however, they know that fixing up their discipline will be crucial before next weeks fixture.

The Dragons took a 6-0 lead in the fifth minute through that Lachlan Moore try, slicing through opponents in the middle of the field  

They followed that up with a dominant subsequent set, which culminated in an Izzy Fulton try in the 10^th minute, assisted by Lachlan Moore.

The next ten minutes saw both teams for set-for-set, with Griffith maintaining their lead through dominance in the middle.

UQ were clinical in good ball after being given a couple of opportunities to score, levelling the game at 10-10 by the 28^th minute.

While Griffith had largely dominated in the first half, the teams went into half-time locked up at 10-10.

The Dragons came out of half-time full of energy, forcing a UQ error in their first set of the half before capitalising through an Iverson Kennach try to take a 14-10 lead.

The Dragons held firm for the next 25 minutes, not allowing UQ any scoring opportunities.

However, some ill-discipline and penalties conceded from Griffith allowed the Hounds to remain in the fixture.

The physicality of the match saw tempers flare in the 62^nd minute, with a player from each team being sin binned.

UQ Hounds were awarded 3 penalties in the last 7 minutes which allowed them a few sets on the Dragons line in the dying minutes of the game.

The Dragons were defiant, defending set after set including a would-be match saver from right centre Liam Sorensen with just four minutes to go.

However, the weight of possession and penalties eventually got the better of the Dragons, with UQ scoring in the corner with just two minutes to spare, tying the game up at 14-14.

After running the clock down to take the conversion attempt, UQ were unsuccessful in stealing an unlikely victory, with the match ending a 14-all draw.

Speaking after the fixture, coach Rob Lewis was pleased with how his team performed, especially through the forwards.

“Our defence, the defensive work that we’ve done paid dividends,” he said.

“Our attack looked great when we had our shape.

“We got two injuries early on, which caused us a little bit of trouble, because obviously we lose the rotation ability.

“But the lads buckled down, they did what they had to.

“The whole forward pack (played well).

“Ricardo (Ibson) for me was just awesome.

“He came in and he did his job, but everyone did.”

Whilst he was “frustrated” to have come away with the draw, Mr Lewis believes that this performance will be a great starting point as his team chases premiership glory.

“Without a doubt (this performance gives me confidence),” he said.

“You look at the pressure that we were under for a long, long time and (we) never caved in.”

“They scored with two minutes to go and then they took two minutes to take a kick… that’s how much they knew they couldn’t come back.”

“The defence was absolutely superb. The attack was good when we kept shape. When we didn’t keep shape, we struggled. But that’s what we’ll work on next.”

Winger Harrison Moore echoed the sentiments of his coach, highlighting the performance of their middle forwards.

“The middles killed it for us tonight,” he said.

“If it weren’t for the middles, you know, we would have been, we would have struggled as a team, but everyone held their own.

“The score line may have been a draw all around, but the defence won us the game.

“A few calls didn’t go our way, which we’ll clean up next week at training.

“But for the most part, proud of the team and happy with the draw.

Winger Fraser O’Neill believes the team was much improved since last season.

“It was a big improvement from last year, especially when you look at round one last year,” he said.

“We need way less penalties going to the next match, but we clicked there and there was good team chemistry.

“Our forwards really dug in deep and I felt like that really gave us a big edge this game.

“You look towards the end that we had what probably five or six penalties called in their ten.

“They still had to go through all those five or six penalties just because their forwards were just so tired from our forward pack working against them.”

While no doubt disappointed with the draw, the Dragons will head to training on Monday full of confidence.

Their next fixture is an away fixture against the QUT Trouts on Wednesday 29 April.

The match will be played at the playing fields at 140 Bulima St, Bulimba QLD 4171, kicking off at 7:30pm.