The St George Illawarra Dragons will come to grips with local derby rivals the Cronulla Sharks on Sunday, June 14 (6:30pm) at Campbelltown Stadium, Sydney. Here is everything you need to know.
- NRL team list: Round 5 v Sharks
- Click here to see how the Sharks will line up on Sunday
- NRLW is back! All the details we know here.
- NRL.com's match preview
- Latest from the Dragons injury list
Milestone Men
Two key cogs in the Dragons engine room will be extra fired up on Sunday when they add another impressive milestone to their resumes.
Tyson Frizell, who made his NRL debut for the Sharks way back in 2011, will run out for his 150th Dragons appearance while James Graham records a half-century of Dragons appearances.
Nothing to lose
Four losses to start the season has the Dragons under immense pressure to perform in Sunday’s local derby against the Sharks.
The only way is up and what better team to kick-start our season against then the Cronulla Sharks.
The Dragons opted to stand by head coach Paul McGregor on Tuesday, despite the club's poor start to the year.
Team chat
Tariq Sims and Brayden Wiliame suffered injuries during last week's loss, which brings both Tyrell Fuimaono and Euan Aitken into the starting side.
Adam Clune keeps his spot in the halves alongside Ben Hunt while Matt Dufty joins the bench.
Special Adam Clune debut jersey presentation
The Sharks are boosted by the return of Chad Townsend and Andrew Fifita who return to the starting side, but they will be without young winger Ronaldo Mulitalo (knee).
"Home sweet home"
Sunday’s clash with the Sharks will be our first "home" game at Campbelltown Stadium since the revised season restarted.
The Dragons share Campbelltown Stadium with the Canberra Raiders, Wests Tigers and Penrith Panthers, and have won two of their three matches contested at Campbelltown Stadium in the past.
As it's our first home game of the new season, the Dragons will wear the famous Red V for the first time since March 20th.
Rivalry burns on
Adding further fuel to the rivalry fire, Dragons assistant coach Shane Flanagan will help plot against the team he guided to a maiden premiership in 2016 for the first time.
It's been 1837 days (May 31, 2015) since veteran Trent Merrin last faced the Sharks as a Dragon, playing his role in a rivalry that dates back to the Sharks' inception in 1967.
In a day that Sharks fans would rather forget, and Merrin can hope to replicate, the Dragons thumped the Sharks 42-6 thanks to 28 unanswered points in the second half. Euan Aitken and Tyson Frizell also featured on the day.
