The St George Illawarra Dragons return to action when they host the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium, Olympic Park on the Queen’s Birthday Public Holiday Monday (4.00pm).
Head Coach Paul McGregor has made only the one change to the side that defeated the North Queensland Cowboys 14-10 prior to the Bye Round, with utility Siliva Havili set to come off the bench in lieu of teammate Josh McCrone who has been named at hooker for the Illawarra Cutters.
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The Dragons, who are a perfect 5-0 at home this season, will look to make it three wins from their last four starts and enter the top eight for the first time this year.
One of their major improvements over the last month has been the Dragons’ completion rate, completing at least 84% in their last three games, as well as breaking the line six times in their last two.
St George Illawarra Dragons |
Position |
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs |
Jason Nightingale |
Fullback |
Will Hopoate |
Kalifa Faifai Loa |
Wing |
Curtis Rona |
Euan Aitken |
Centre |
Josh Morris |
Tim Lafai |
Centre |
Kerrod Holland |
Kurt Mann |
Wing |
Sam Perrett |
Gareth Widdop |
Five-Eighth |
Josh Reynolds |
Benji Marshall |
Halfback |
Moses Mbye |
Leeson Ah Mau |
Prop |
Aiden Tolman |
Mitch Rein |
Hooker |
Michael Lichaa |
Russell Packer |
Prop |
James Graham |
Tyson Frizell |
Second Row |
Josh Jackson |
Joel Thompson |
Second Row |
Raymond Faitala-Mariner |
Mike Cooper |
Lock |
David Klemmer |
|
Interchange |
|
Dunamis Lui |
|
Sam Kasiano |
Will Matthews |
|
Adam Elliot |
Siliva Havili |
|
Tim Browne |
Jake Marketo |
|
Craig Garvey |
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
Head Coach Des Hasler has named an unchanged line-up to the side that went down to the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 20-18 at ANZ Stadium, Olympic Park in Round 13.
The Bulldogs have struggled to put together a complete performance in recent weeks, losing their last two games, despite starting the season with five wins from their first six games.
Despite their recent struggles, the Bulldogs are still a very dangerous attacking side, sitting in the top five of many of the major offensive stats, including points scored, tries, line breaks and offloads.
|
St George Illawarra Dragons (9th) |
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (7th) |
||
Record |
6 wins, 6 losses |
7 wins, 6 losses |
||
Points |
143 |
16th |
279 |
5th |
Tries |
24 |
16th |
51 |
5th |
Line Breaks |
27 |
16th |
57 |
4th |
Tackle Busts |
328 |
9th |
282 |
15th |
Offloads |
114 |
11th |
146 |
5th |
Tackles |
4193 |
7th |
4300 |
4th |
Missed Tackles |
308 |
11th |
343 |
6th |
Head to Head: James Graham vs. Russell Packer
Bulldogs captain James Graham has been in career best form this year, leading the competition in hit-ups, runs and running metres by some distance.
The England international is averaging a whopping 17 hit ups a game, 2.3 more than any other player who has played every game this season.
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Dragons prop Packer has gone to another level over the last six weeks too, racking up more than 116 metres in five of his last six games, including 131 against the Cowboys a fortnight ago.
History (Since 1999)
The Dragons have won only once from their previous eight encounters against the Bulldogs dating back to 2012.
The Dragons have win 11 of their previous 30 meetings since 1999.
Round |
Date |
Result |
Score |
Venue |
21 |
August 5, 2013 |
Loss
|
St George Illawarra Dragons – 20 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs – 39 |
UOW Jubilee Oval, Kogarah |
9 |
May 11, 2014 |
Loss |
St George Illawarra Dragons – 6 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs – 38 |
ANZ Stadium, Olympic Park |
6 |
April 12, 2015 |
Win |
St George Illawarra Dragons – 31 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs – 6 |
ANZ Stadium, Olympic Park |
13 |
June 8, 2015 |
Loss |
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs – 29 St George Illawarra Dragons – 16 |
ANZ Stadium, Olympic Park |
QF |
September 12, 2015 |
Loss |
St George Illawarra Dragons – 11 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs – 10 |
ANZ Stadium, Olympic Park |
Key Quotes
“I would love to get back out there and put it to their forward pack if given the all clear.” – Jack de Belin
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"They've been one of the benchmarks this year on the field and their forward pack has been pretty impressive so it's going to be a tough ask and we'll just have to match that." – Benji Marshall
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Match Day Details
Venue: ANZ Stadium, Olympic Park
Gates Open: 1:40pm
NYC: 1:45pm
NRL: 4:00pm
Click Here For Round 14 v Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Game Day Information!
