Perth Bears assistant coach Ben Gardiner has called out the St. George Illawarra Dragons' performance against New Zealand for being below NRL standards.

The Dragons’ dismal form for 2026 continued on Saturday with the Warriors proving too good in the second half to win 30-12.   

With this loss, the Red V remains firmly anchored in 17th position on the ladder, with the club yet to record a win in 2026 after 11 matches.

While the Samoa head coach admitted the Dragons have improved, there are still elements that need serious work.

“They were better,” Gardiner acknowledged on SEN’s Front Office with Vossy.

“It was close at halftime again, like it was, the week before against the Panthers.

“But I'm watching some of their skill, and the amount of times that the ball hit the ground, some of the fundamental skills.

"I think it was commented around how good the Warriors' skill was and how poor the Dragons' skill was at times.

“That can't just be a lack of cohesion; that actually has to be a lack of practice and lack of reps.

“So they need to build up some of their fundamental skill to build their cohesion as a team, you can't just rely on the fact say (the No.) 6 and 7 need to combine better.

“They actually need to be able to pass the ball better to each other. That includes passing from lock and dummy half as well.

“It wasn't at an NRL level at stages throughout the game, I thought.”

The Dragons will look to break their winless start to 2026 when they take on the Brisbane Broncos on Sunday at Suncorp Stadium.

SEN will have live coverage of the match from 1pm across our radio network and on the SEN app.