Parramatta coach Daniel Anderson believes his young charges learned a valuable lesson in their baptism of fire NRL trial defeat to St George Illawarra in Perth.

The Eels, fielding a youthful side minus stars Jarryd Hayne, Nathan Hindmarsh, Fuifui Moimoi and Justin Poore, started sluggishly and were down 16-0 late in the first half before launching a spirited comeback, scoring four of the next five tries to close the margin to two points.

But the Dragons' bigger bodies proved the difference, with late tries to Nathan Fien and Michael Lett securing the 34-20 win in front of 9450 fans.

"We had a few young players, I thought it was like a furnace blast for them," Anderson said.

"We got caught a little bit physically by the size of the Dragons but they got better as the game got on.

"We started to play with a bit more conviction and confidence. I thought we played very conservatively (in the first half).

"But in the second half they stressed the line.

"Feleti (Mateo) came on and I thought he made a big difference...and gave us some opportunities.

"Both teams blew some opportunities, too."

The Dragons, last year's minor premiers, were also missing a host of key players including Jamie Soward, Matt Cooper, Brett Morris and the suspended Beau Scott.

St George Illawarra open their season against the Eels on March 12 but Dragons assistant coach Steve Price denied the trial win would give his team a mental edge heading into that match.

"It was only a trial, they were missing a lot of players as we were," Price said.

"I wouldn't say it will be a psychological advantage. It's great for the young guys to get the opportunity here and it instills some confidence with the older guys.

"Across the board we were very pleased with the first hit-out.

"We weren't expecting to come out and put all our plays on the day, we just kept it pretty simple and will build into our process over the next two, three weeks leading into round one."

Both sides said they were keen to see an NRL side based in WA in the not-too-distant future.

"I can't speak on behalf of the NRL but personally I'd like to see it down the track," Price said.

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