St George Illawarra Dragons will host the Melbourne Storm at WIN Stadium on Sunday afternoon, with a 4pm kick off.
These two teams are on top of the ladder and will battle it out at prime time, at an expected full house- WIN stadium.
Last Time Out
St George Illawarra Dragons: The Dragons are coming off their second loss of the season against the Roosters after Roosters halfback Mitchell Pearce sunk their chance of winning after kicking the field goal to win. The Dragons lost their skipper and five-eighth, Gareth Widdop just before the second half last week which did not help the side in their mission to beat the Roosters. They missed his kicking game and will be looking to improve with attack this week against a strong side like the Storm. Kurt Mann will come in for Gareth Widdop with Jai Field named as 18th man.
Melbourne Storm: The Storm came out on top last week against the Warriors in front of a home crowd, soaring to victory 20-14 against an impressive Warrors side. The New Zealand Warriors came out firing and were put the first try on the scoreboard. The Melbourne Storm managed to shut them down and Will Chambers assisted in particular especially after running 200 metres.
Cameron Smith missed three conversions and will be looking to improve his percentage rate on conversions around against the Dragons on Sunday afternoon. Nelson Asofa- Solomona also played a great game (off the bench) for the Storm and will be looking to impress again away from home.
Key Battle
The big match-up of this game is between the fullbacks, Josh Dugan (Dragons) and Billy Slater (Melbourne).
Josh Dugan stood up for his side when Gareth Widdop went off injured and kicked the memorable conversion to level the scores. His leadership made a huge difference especially in hope to take the win but unfortunately wasn’t enough for the team.
Billy Slater’s comeback this season has been crucial for Melbourne Storm as his leadership and control of the game has influenced the to seven wins. Storm remain on top of the ladder by two points and will be determined to secure the number one spot of all teams.
Prediction
It will be a challenging game for both sides, but Dragons will come out firing and will be unstoppable. After a heartbreaking loss to the Roosters last week they’ll be out to impress. They will display passion and be fired up at home (WIN Stadium) for perfect time-slot and day of footy, Dragons by 4.
Squads
St George Illawarra Dragons: 1. Josh Dugan 2. Nene Macdonald 3. Euan Aitken 4. Tim Lafai 5. Jason Nightingale 6. Kurt Mann 7. Josh McCrone 8. Russell Packer 9. Cameron McInnes 10. Paul Vaughan 11. Tyson Frizell (c) 12. Joel Thompson 13. Jack de Belin Interchange 14. Tariq Sims 15. Leeson Ah Mau 16. Hame Sele 17. Taane Milne 18. Jai Field 20. Luciano Leilua
Melbourne Storm: 1. Billy Slater 2. Suliasi Vunivalu 3. Will Chambers 4. Cheese Blair 5. Josh Addo-Carr 6. Cameron Munster 7. Cooper Cronk 8. Jesse Bromwich 9. Cameron Smith (c) 10. Jordan McLean 11. Felise Kaufusi 12. Kenny Bromwich 13. Dale Finucane Interchange 14. Christian Welch 15. Tim Glasby 16. Nelson Asofa-Solomona 18. Joe Stimson 19. Mark Nicholls 20. Young Tonumaipea 21. Curtis Scott
