They had the cynics eating humble pie after round one but St George Illawarra came crashing back to earth with a 34-16 defeat at the hands of Parramatta in Wollongong on Sunday night.
A hefty 16,023 fans packed WIN Stadium – the biggest crowd at the venue since round 12, 2013 – seemingly brimming with new hope following their side's 42-10 demolition of premiership fancies Penrith just seven days ago, but many of them left early.
Russell Packer spilled the ball on the very first possession, opening the door for Clint Gutherson's early four-pointer, and things only got marginally better in the ensuing 79 minutes.
Semi Radradra had a first-half double courtesy two try assists from Michael Jennings, the second an incredible through-the-legs effort, and finished with four tries for the first time at NRL level.
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His first-half brace came as the visitors piled on four tries in the opening stanza with Gutherson's off-night with the boot the only thing keeping the Dragons in the clash at half-time.
Gareth Widdop's 39th-minute try stemmed the tide heading into the break but the Dragons left themselves too much to do in the second half with the final scoreline ultimately flattering them.
It was a performance that made their hammering of Penrith look like a false dawn, though the faithful will be hoping the loss is just one of several dramatic turnarounds that occurred in round two.
The Dragons will be looking to produce a similar magic act to that against Penrith when they face defending premiers Cronulla, who hammered Canberra 42-16 on Saturday, in a local derby at Southern Cross Group Stadium this Sunday.
For Parramatta, their second straight win to start the season saw them leapfrog the Dragons into the top four as the dramas of a horror 2016 fade further and further in the rear view mirror.
The Eels led 4-0 after just 35 seconds when Gutherson crossed after Packer spilled the ball from the opening kick-off and led 8-0 when Radradra skirted the chalk on the western touchline to score in the 17th minute.
Radradra had his second off Jennings' miracle ball five minutes later, with Gutherson converting from the sideline to push the lead out to 14-0 after 24 minutes..
Brad Taikarangi got in on the act nine minutes before the break, winning the race to a deft grubber from Norman and plant the ball for the visitors' fourth four-pointer, with Gutherson's conversion attempt waved away.
Jennings bombed a certain try just four minutes before half-time, spilling an offload from Manu Ma'u with the line wide open. The Dragons made him pay at the other end with Widdop steaming onto a Leeson Ah Mau offload and stepping past Bevan French to score under the posts. His conversion cut the margin to 12 at the break.
French crossed six minutes after the resumption as the lead ballooned to 24-6. The Dragons hit back almost immediately through Josh Dugan but Radradra's third from a Norman long ball twisted the knife.
Paul Vaughan strolled across untouched to keep his side in the clash with 10 minutes to play but Radradra's fourth from a beautiful inside ball from French put the game, and the touch up, to bed.
Originally published on The Sydney Morning Herald as St George Illawarra Dragons crash back to earth as Semi Radradra runs riot for Parramatta Eels.