The St George Illawarra Dragons will travel to face the Sydney Roosters at Allianz Stadium, Moore Park on Sunday (4.00pm).
The Red-and-Whites enter the encounter on the back of a 32-18 local derby victory over the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks to keep their Finals Series chances alive.
Head Coach Paul McGregor has been forced to make the one change, with prop Leeson Ah Mau replacing Tariq Sims on the bench following his ankle injury.
Sydney Roosters
The Roosters have started to turn their form around over the past couple of weeks, beating the highly placed Brisbane Broncos and North Queensland Cowboys in their last three games.
The Roosters attack has also started to click over the last three weeks, scoring an average 21.3 points per game, including 32 against the Broncos in Round 21.
Roosters Head Coach Trent Robinson has the benefit of naming a largely unnamed line-up to the one that beat the Cowboys last Sunday, with the only change being the addition of Aiden Guerra onto an extended five man bench.
Sydney Roosters |
Position |
St George Illawarra Dragons |
Blake Ferguson |
Fullback |
Josh Dugan |
Daniel Tupou |
Wing |
Kurt Mann |
Dale Copley |
Centre |
Euan Aitken |
Shaun Kenny-Dowall |
Centre |
Taane Milne |
Latrell Mitchell |
Wing |
Jason Nightingale |
Connor Watson |
Five-eighth |
Gareth Widdop |
Mitchell Pearce |
Halfback |
Benji Marshall |
Jared Waerea-Hargreaves |
Prop |
Russell Packer |
Jake Friend |
Hooker |
Mitch Rein |
Dylan Napa |
Prop |
Mike Cooper |
Boyd Cordner |
Second Row |
Tyson Frizell |
Mitchell Aubusson |
Second Row |
Joel Thompson |
Sio Siua Taukeiaho |
Lock |
Jack de Belin |
|
|
|
Sam Moa |
Interchange |
Leeson Ah Mau |
Isaac Liu |
|
Will Matthews |
Ryan Matterson |
|
Jacob Host |
Kane Evans |
|
Jake Marketo |
Aidan Guerra |
|
Luciano Leilua |
Head to Head (Kurt Mann vs. Latrell Mitchell)
In a battle of the each club’s leading try scorer, Kurt Mann and Latrell Mitchell are set to face off against each other on the wing.
Mann, who is four years older than Mitchell, has been one of the Dragons best this season, scoring eight tries in 10 games, while running for an average of 92.7 metres per match.
Still in his first year of first-grade, Mitchell is yet to miss a game, scoring 12 tries in 20 appearances for the tri-colors, while racking up an impressive 2171 running metres.
|
Sydney Roosters (15th) |
St George Illawarra Dragons (11th) |
||
Record |
5 wins, 16 losses |
9 wins, 12 losses |
||
Points |
375 |
13th |
289 |
14th |
Tries |
66 |
13th |
49 |
15th |
Line Breaks |
79 |
11th |
58 |
15th |
Tackle Busts |
656 |
3rd |
586 |
7th |
Offloads |
248 |
3rd |
229 |
8th |
Tackles |
7202 |
3rd |
7373 |
2nd |
Missed Tackles |
539 |
12th |
543 |
11th |
History (Since 1999)
The Dragons have had the wood over the Roosters since 1999, winning 19 of the 35 contests, including seven of eighth between 2009 and 2012.
The Red-and-Whites also got the better of the tri-colours earlier this year, taking out a narrow two point win on ANZAC Day.
The Red-and-Whites biggest win in recent years came against the Roosters with a 32-8 victory in the 2010 Grand Final.
Round |
Date |
Result |
Score |
Venue |
8 |
April 25, 2014 |
Loss |
St George Illawarra Dragons - 14 Sydney Roosters – 34 |
Allianz Stadium, Moore Park |
21 |
August 2, 2014 |
Loss |
Sydney Roosters – 30 St George Illawarra Dragons – 22 |
Allianz Stadium, Moore Park |
8 |
April 25, 2015 |
Win |
Sydney Roosters – 12 St George Illawarra Dragons - 14 |
Allianz Stadium, Moore Park |
15 |
June 22, 2015 |
Loss |
St George Illawarra Dragons – 14 Sydney Roosters – 19 |
Allianz Stadium, Moore Park |
8 |
April 25, 2016 |
Win |
St George Illawarra Dragons – 20 Sydney Roosters – 18 |
Allianz Stadium, Moore Park |
Match Day Information
Date: Sunday, August 21
Venue: Allianz Stadium, Moore Park
Gates Open: 1.30pm
NYC: 1.45pm
NRL: 4.00pm
Click Here For Round 24 v Sydney Roosters Game Day Information!
