An early James Tedesco blitz helped the Wests Tigers to a 22-4 round two NRL win over St George Illawarra at Campbelltown Stadium on Monday night.
The Tigers raced to a 20-0 lead after 28 minutes courtesy of Tedesco's incredible speed and slick hands.
The young fullback threw the final pass for Kevin Naiqama's opening sixth minute touchdown after chiming into the backline, before crossing himself eight minutes later to open up an 8-0 lead.
Tedesco was again involved in Pat Richards' try in the 18th minute, before the winger crossed again nine minutes later.
That 20-0 lead was an indication of the Tigers' complete domination of the first half as the home side enjoyed 66 per cent of possession in front of 11,837 fans.
The Dragons were forced to make 198 tackles to the Tigers' 136 in the first half with representative prop Aaron Woods leading the way for Wests alongside Tedesco with 15 runs for 131m.
The visitors breathed some life into the contest when Dane Nielsen crossed out wide after a nice sweep play two minutes before halftime for a score of 20-4.
But the second stanza didn't produce much as the Dragons attack continued to stutter, as it did last week in their round one loss to Melbourne.
The Tigers meanwhile couldn't replicate their slick offense from early on.
Their sole points in the second half came from a Richards penalty goal in the 74th minute.
George Rose, Trent Merrin and Mike Cooper were the Dragons' best in another performance that doesn't bode well for the season ahead.
Tigers prop Keith Galloway was put on report late in the clash for unnecessary contact on Dragons interchange forward Jack De Belin.
Tigers forward Martin Kapow copped a knee late from Rory O'Brien in the final minute.
He left the field with concussion and could be in doubt for the Tigers round three NRL match against South Sydney on Sunday.
O'Brien was placed on report for lifting his knee.
Tigers coach Jason Taylor was impressed with his side's complete performance in the first 40 minutes.
"It was a really good first half," Taylor said.
"I was happy with the whole first half not just the first 20 minutes.
"I thought we defended well in the first few sets and our execution in attack was really good, which is something we have been working hard on."
Taylor also heaped praise on Tedesco.
"He showed tonight why people have been talking about him," he said.
"Some of the things he did tonight not many people can do."
Dragons coach Paul McGregor said the joint venture's efforts early cost them dearly.
"It wasn't good enough that's what it was," McGregor said when asked his thoughts on the performance.
"We just didn't give ourselves any chance early on.
"We turned over the ball three times and then gave away three penalties and they scored three tries and from there we were on the back foot.
"Our start was very poor."
Woods finished the game with 246m from 22 hitups and 33 tackles.
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