Date: Monday June 22, 2015
Venue: Allianz Stadium
Kick-Off: 7pm
Dragons: 1 Josh Dugan 2 Eto Nabuli 3 Euan Aitken 4 Peter Mata’utia 5 Jason Nightingale 6 Gareth Widdop 7 Benji Marshall 8 Leeson Ah Mau 9 Mitch Rein 10 Mike Cooper 11 Tyson Frizell 12 Will Matthews 13 Trent Merrin. Interchange: 14 Jake Marketo 15 Ben Creagh 16 Jack de Belin 17 Heath L’Estrange 20 Rory O’Brien.
Roosters: 1 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck 2 Daniel Tupou 3 Michael Jennings 4 Blake Ferguson 5 Shaun Kenny-Dowall 6 James Maloney 7 Mitchell Pearce 8 Dylan Napa 9 Jake Friend (c) 10 Sam Moa 11 Boyd Cordner 12 Aiden Guerra 13 Isaac Liu. Interchange: 14 Jackson Hastings 15 Mitchell Aubusson 16 Kane Evans 17 Sio Siua Taukeiaho 19 Suaia Matagi.
Preview
Michael Jennings has been stood down by the Sydney Roosters after being arrested after a night out with his brother and will miss their clash with St George-Illawarra Dragons at Allianz Stadium on Monday.
Jennings was awarded Man of the Match honours in New South Wales win over Queensland on Wednesday night. This is the first time that the centre has been in trouble with the Roosters after his tenure at Penrith came to a sudden end following a few off-field incidents.
Mitchell Pearce and Boyd Cordner will back up from Origin duty when they take their place in the Roosters side. Sam Moa was unsuccessful with the NRL Judiciary and will miss the game. For the Dragons Josh Dugan and Trent Merrin should play with a hint that Joel Thompson might be a late inclusion.
When these two teams battled out on ANZAC Day it was the Dragons who adapted to the tricky conditions better and came away 14-12 winners. A game where the Dragons got out to a ten point lead before hail prevented play for around half an hour.
This time around the conditions should be more suitable to running rugby league, something that will benefit the Roosters. Last week’s come from behind win against the Warriors was led by Origin discard James Maloney. With Mitchell Pearce back in the side this week, expect these two to feed the ball wide to Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Shaun Kenny-Dowall as they try to expose the Dragons out wide.
The Dragons were outplayed in the final twenty at ANZ against the Bulldogs in their last outing. Josh Dugan will be out to continue his great 2015 with another big effort in this game. Jason Nightingale’s contract extension earlier in the week is a boost for the twenty-eight year old playing his 190th game for the club this week. Expect the Kiwi International to have an influence over the Dragons chances.
Ultimately the game will be won by who wins the battle of the halves. Can Benji Marshall and Gareth Widdop dominate Pearce and Maloney?
Prediction
The Roosters for me. Great win last time out and despite Jennings being dropped should hold on for a big win. Roosters by 14.
