2023 NRL Preview Round 25: Dragons Vs Storm
Check out the match preview and prediction for the round 25 clash between the Dragons and Storm.
MATCHDAY NEWS
MATCHDAY SCHEDULE
St George-Illawarra Dragons Vs Melbourne Storm
Venue: WIN Stadium, Wollongong
Date: Saturday August 19, 7:35pm
MATCHDAY TEAM NEWS
Dragons: 1. Tyrell Sloan 2. Mathew Feagai 3. Moses Suli 4. Zac Lomax 5. Mikaele Ravalawa 6. Talatau Amone 7. Ben Hunt 8. Francis Molo 9. Jacob Liddle 10. Blake Lawrie 11. Billy Burns 12. Dan Russell 13. Michael Molo 14. Connor Muhleisen 15. Ryan Couchman 16. Ben Murdoch-Masila 17. Zane Musgrove 18. Toby Couchman 19. Sione Finau 20. Jaiyden Hunt 21. Paul Turner 22. Max Feagai
Storm: 1. Nick Meaney 2. Reimis Smith 3. Marion Seve 4. Young Tonumaipea 5. Xavier Coates 6. Cameron Munster 7. Jahrome Hughes 8. Tui Kamikamica 9. Harry Grant 10. Christian Welch 11. Trent Loiero 12. Eliesa Katoa 13. Josh King 14. Bronson Garlick 15. Tom Eisenhuth 16. Tepai Moeroa 17. Nelson Asofa-Solomona 18. Alec MacDonald 19. William Warbrick 20. Jonah Pezet 21. Tariq Sims 22. Tyran Wishart
Referee: Peter Gough
Embed from Getty ImagesMATCHDAY PREVIEW
On Saturday night the city of Wollongong will wait anxiously as St George-Illawarra Dragons go up against the Melbourne Storm on the road to finals football.
The Dragons have had a tough season trying to climb into a top 8 position, but they have continued to fight on. Their previous match against the Rabbitohs saw them defeated 26-14.
It was a tough effort by the 16th placed Dragons against the 8th placed Rabbitohs to hold them off defensively, but countless errors got the better of them in the end.
The Dragons will have another incredibly challenging encounter this weekend, when they take on the Melbourne Storm, currently sitting at 4th place.
The team will be looking to their captain Ben Hunt for guidance, who continues to do the challenging work in the backline.
The combination of Hunt and Tyrell Sloan could spell danger for the Storm, with the speed and composure of Sloan and Hunt’s imposing kicking game.
Hunt has racked up an average of 389.9 kicking metres,17 try assists and 15 line break assists this season.
Sloan put on an impressive performance with tricky manoeuvres and yardage after receiving the ball from Hunt and getting over the line for a try in the 64th minute against the Rabbitohs.
This season Sloan has made 14 line breaks, 68 tackle breaks and averages 115 running metres.
The Storm will also need to keep a close eye on Mikaele Ravalawa, who has proven to be dangerous on the wing, having scored eight tries in his past six games.
Other players that they will need to lookout for are forwards Francis Molo and Blake Lawrie.
Molo has made 14 tackle breaks, 11.3 average hit ups, 693.1 post contact metres and averages 108 running metres and Lawrie making 38 tackle breaks,12.6 average hit ups, 712.8 post contact metres and with an average of 126 running metres this season.
The Melbourne Storm have always been known as a force to be reckoned with and will head into this match with a winning attitude, after their absolute demolishing of the Raiders last weekend, defeating them 48-2.
They will be riding on a high and confident that they can go out there and get the job done against the Dragons.
The last time the Storm and Dragons met was in round 9 back in 2022, a match that saw the Dragons absolutely slaughtered going down 42-6.
Their line-up boasts the same winning 17 that took on the Raiders, seeing the return of Will Warbrick in the reserves, Harry Grant and Eliesa Katoa named to start.
The Storm presents a solid backline of players such as Nick Meaney, slated as one of Melbourne’s strongest performers this season by coach Craig Bellamy, Cameron Munster and Jahrome Hughes.
Hughes, who has scored a try in all five games against the Dragons could see him teaming up with Munster, who brings with him an impressive kicking game.
Munster has averaged 131 running metres, 12 try assists and 246.4 average kicking metres, and could be an intimidating force up against a struggling Dragons side.
Returning Grant leads the Storm’s counts in highest overall tackles of 846 with a 91.8 percent efficiency, most tackles per game (averaging 40.3) and most try assists (17).
This weekend’s match could be a case of better the devil you know or the upset of the season, from one team that has nothing left to lose but their pride, to another team that has their sights set on a finals berth.
LAST TEN MATCHES
Dragons 3, Storm 7
MATCHDAY PREDICTION
Storm by 14 points.
Follow Nothing But Rugby League on Facebook
