Check out the match preview and prediction for the round 14 clash between the St George-Illawarra Dragons and Wests Tigers.
MATCHDAY NEWS
MATCHDAY SCHEDULE
St George-Illawarra Dragons Vs Wests Tigers
Venue: WIN Stadium, Wollongong
Date: Friday 7 June, 8:00pm
MATCHDAY TEAM NEWS
Dragons: 1. Tyrell Sloan, 2. Sione Finau, 3. Moses Suli, 4. Max Feagai, 5. Mathew Feagai, 6. Kyle Flanagan, 7. Jesse Marschke, 8. Francis Molo, 9. Jacob Liddle, 10. Jack de Belin, 11. Luciano Leilua, 12. Raymond Faitala-Mariner, 13. Tom Eisenhuth, 14. Blake Lawrie, 15. Ben Murdoch-Masila, 16. Toby Couchman, 17. Ryan Couchman, 18. Fa’amanu Brown, 19. Michael Molo, 20. Christian Tuipulotu, 21. Ben Hunt, 22. Jaydn Su’A, 23. Zac Lomax
Tigers: 1. Jahream Bula, 2. Alexander Lobb, 3. Charlie Staines, 4. Justin Olam, 5. Solomon Alaimalo, 6. Lachlan Galvin, 7. Jayden Sullivan, 8. Stefano Utoikamanu, 9. Apisai Koroisau, 10. Alex Twal, 11. Samuela Fainu, 12. Alex Seyfarth, 13. Justin Matamua, 14. Brent Naden, 15. Fonua Pole, 16. Sione Fainu, 17. Reuben Porter, 18. Tallyn Da Silva, 19. Solomona Faataape, 20. Kit Laulilii, 21. Asu Kepaoa, 22. Jordan Miller
Referee: Chris Butler
Embed from Getty ImagesMATCHDAY PREVIEW
Kicking off round 14 on Friday night is an intriguing clash between the Dragons and Tigers at WIN Stadium in Wollongong. This will be their second matchup of the year, the first coming in round 6 when the Dragons were victorious 24-12.
For the Dragons, Shane Flanagan has named an unchanged 17 to the team that beat a depleted Panthers side 22-10 last week. Origin players Ben Hunt, Jaydn Su’a and Zac Lomax have all been named in the reserves. Depending how they go on Wednesday night, there’s a chance they may be late inclusions to back-up, despite the two-day turnaround.
Last week was a bounce back performance from the Dragons, upsetting the defending premiers in front of their home fans. They were without their Origin stars and managed to come back from 10-0 down at halftime, which makes the performance all the more encouraging. It will fill them with confidence they can get the job done against a young Tigers team who they have a good recent record against. They’ve won four of the past five meetings between the two sides.
For the Tigers, Benji Marshall has made plenty of changes to the side that went down 42-28 to the Cowboys in round 12. Justin Olam returns from suspension in the centres, with Declan Casey dropping out. Charlie Staines moves from wing to the other centre in place of Josh Feledy, with Alex Lobb moving from 18th man to wing for his first NRL start. David Klemmer is out suspended, with Alex Twal replacing him in the front row. An ankle injury to Isaiah Papali’i sees Alex Seyfarth move into the second row and Justin Matamua starts at lock. Brent Naden returns from suspension on the bench and Reuben Porter has been named to make his NRL debut in jersey 17.
Lots of chopping and changing to this Tigers side over the past few weeks. Unfortunately, most of those changes have been forced, with injuries and suspension wreaking havoc. The loss of Isaiah Papali’i to a long-term ankle injury has just rubbed salt into the wounds. However, coming off the bye they should be well rested and ready to test the Dragons. This week they’ll be leaning on the exuberance of youth again with a couple debutants named, as they hunt for their first win since Round 4. It’s both exciting and unpredictable to see what they’ll come up with, but it will be a tough challenge for them to overcome the Dragons in Wollongong.
Head-to-head stats can be found at Number Crunch Stats.
MATCHDAY PREDICTION
Check out all the NRL Predictions here.
Dragons by 4 points.
Follow Nothing But Rugby League on Facebook
