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BELL Park remained in second place on the GFL table with a convincing win over fellow finals contender Newtown & Chilwell on Saturday.
The Dragons, who now have a two game break on the fourth-placed Eagles, cashed in with the wind in the first quarter, booting five goals, and were able to hold firm when the torrential rain hit.
"I think we knew the buffer we had at half-time was going to be handy when we saw the heavy rain coming in and they battled really well in the third quarter to keep us to a couple of goals," Bell Park co-coach Tim Sheringham said.
"We wanted to do similar (in holding them off) in the last quarter but to then also kick a couple in the last was just a bonus."
First-year recruit Lachlan Patten managed to kick two opening term goals just a few hours after he was included in the line-up alongside VFL-listed player Tyler Stack.
"Lachlan Patten was dropped on Thursday night but then got the late call up in the morning, lighting the house on fire in the opening term. He loves the wet conditions, and also wins the front and squares," Sheringham said.
The Eagles led the inside 50 count and drew level in the centre clearances in the second half, however they would only manage to kick two behinds after the fifth minute mark of the third term thanks to the efforts of defender Steven Brown.
"The build-up to the game was finals-like for us as it ensured us a spot in the top three, something every team wants at the start of the year. We hadn't started games well lately so that was another focus for us today," Brown said.
"We had to make sure we had the right match-ups while we were out there, that was definitely more important than anything else."
Though the Dragons skipper was influential down back in his sweeping role, the four-time grand finalist also sneaked up forward and came close to kicking his first goal since Round 16, 2011.
"Browny loves playing in the wet and I think he did really well peeling off his man all day and reading the ball off the slippery boot," Sheringham said.
"He would have also had plenty of marks and rebounds so we're very happy about his performance."
Sheringham also admitted after the 44-point win that his side's depth looks much more promising than this time last year, despite the fact that Nick Batchelor (ankle), Ben Kennedy (finger), Ben Johnson (heel) and Chris Lynch (sickness) were all absent from the side.
"(Stephen) Paulke is obviously the big one who has made the massive difference to us all year and even on days like today when it's wet, all he does is continue to provide for the contest and Dylan Weir who wasn't here last year either is doing the same thing."
