The North Sydney Bears were defeated by the St George Illawarra Dragons 16-8 in their final warm up game before the start of the Intrust Super Premiership.
Fielding a team featuring a few South Sydney Rabbitohs youngsters, the Bears headed into the clash full of confidence after dispatching the Newcastle Knights the week before.
Rabbitohs signing Vincent Leuluai featured in his first hit out since arriving in Sydney, after coming back from a shoulder reconstruction.
There were more positives to take out of the game with Connor Tracey playing extra minutes and bagging himself a try for the first time after a long injury spell, while fellow Rabbitohs teammate Mawene Hiroti also scored to take his tally to two for this pre-season.
In the end, the young Bears didn’t quite have the firepower to battle past a strong Dragons outfit.
North Sydney Bears next match will be Round 1 of the Intrust Super Premiership against the New Zealand Warriors in Auckland 1pm Saturday 10 March.
