St George Illawarra Dragons v South Sydney Rabbitohs
Sydney Cricket Ground
Friday, 6pm
St George Illawarra will be pleased they didn't have to wait long between drinks considering the nature of their loss to the Newcastle Knights.
With a 60 per cent completion rate resting heavily on their shoulders from last weekend, the Dragons will hope that kicking it old school can lead to instant success.
Fox League's Retro Round is upon us and what better way to ring in the round then a throwback to yesteryear at the SCG against the Rabbitohs.
The Dragons will stick solid with their 17 although Hame Sele has been named in the reserves in place of Blake Lawrie who suffered a side strain in Illawarra's win over the weekend.
The Rabbitohs have made one change to the team that lost to the Canberra Raiders last weekend, with prop Dave Tyrell dropping out of the 17 in place of Zane Musgrove.
Dragons front-rower Leeson Ah Mau will celebrate his 150th NRL game this weekend.
Teams –
Dragons: 1. Matt Dufty, 2. Nene Macdonald, 3. Josh Dugan, 4. Tim Lafai, 5. Jason Nightingale, 6. Gareth Widdop (c), 7. Josh McCrone, 8. Leeson Ah Mau, 9. Cameron McInnes, 10. Paul Vaughan, 11. Tyson Frizell, 12. Joel Thompson, 13. Jack de Belin. Interchange: 14. Tariq Sims, 15. Jacob Host, 16. Russell Packer, 17. Kurt Mann, 18. Hame Sele, 19. Taane Milne, 20. Jake Marketo, 21. Luciano Leilua.
Rabbitohs: 1. Alex Johnston, 2. Bryson Goodwin, 3. Hymel Hunt, 4. Tyrell Fuimaono, 5. Robert Jennings, 6. Cody Walker, 7. Adam Reynolds, 8. Thomas Burgess, 9. Damien Cook, 10. Zane Musgrove, 11. John Sutton, 12. Angus Crichton, 13. Sam Burgess (c). Interchange: 14. Robbie Farah, 15. George Burgess, 16. Kyle Turner, 17. Cameron Murray, 18. Anthony Cherrington, 19. Jack Gosiewski, 20. David Tyrrell, 21. Campbell Graham.
Key Match-Up: Leeson Ah Mau v Thomas Burgess – Ah Mau has been one of the Dragons' best over the past month. Russell Packer's setback a few weeks ago due to a rib injury forced the Samoan international into more minutes, and has been on fire ever since. Statistically speaking, Thomas Burgess is almost exactly on par with Ah Mau in terms of metres and tackles made which shall lead to an intriguing battle up front.
The History: Played 27; Dragons 16, Rabbitohs 11. While the Dragons hold the overall measure over the Rabbitohs, it isn't a true reflection on recent results between the two clubs. South Sydney has won five of their past six meetings against the Red V, including the last time they met back in Round 11 last year – a 34-24 victory to the Rabbitohs.
Match Officials: Referee: Ben Cummins. Assistant Referee: Dave Munro. Sideline Officials: Chris Butler and Jarrod Cole.
Televised: Fox League – Live coverage from 5:30pm
Radio: ABC and Triple M
Social: Ensure you are across the Dragons' social media platforms on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat.
