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St George-Illawarra Dragons meet Parramatta Eels at WIN Jubilee oval tonight with the Dragons looking to avoid a fourth consecutive defeat and needing a confidence boost after last weekend’s golden-point loss to Souths. We’ll have live scores and a blog from 7.30pm AEST.
The Eels need a confidence boost, full stop. A session on the psychologist’s couch wouldn’t do any harm either.
The already high expectations of Dragons supporters will be raised a few notches for this one.
They are in the pack of teams on 10 competition points, so a loss to the bottom-placed Eels would be a serious dent to their finals aspirations.
The Eels are conceding over 30 points per game this season, including 40 points or more in their last two starts.
In their last two visits to WIN Jubilee, the Eels have suffered 30-0 shut-out defeats. These are not promising signs.
In team news, St George Illawarra coach Steve Price has named a provisional eight-man interchange, presumably to cater for any Origin-related injuries.
Ben Creagh has been named in the second row and his NSW teammate Trent Merrin is one of the bench forwards.
Beau Scott is listed to partner Creagh in the second row after returning from a dislocated elbow, sustained on ANZAC Day against the Roosters.
Origin discard Jamie Soward will be looking for a strong performance to press his claims for the NSW number six jersey after Todd Carney’s patchy performance midweek in Origin I.
Parramatta has added Reni Maitua to the 17 players that lost to Canberra in their last start. He returns from a one-game suspension and has been named to start at lock, moving Junior Paulo to the five-man interchange bench.
Justin Poore earns his first run-on start for the season replacing Fui Fui Moi Moi, who returns to the bench.
Jarryd Hayne came through unscathed from Origin and is expected to take his place at fullback.
Star off-season recruit Chris Sandow will again be partnered with Casey McGuire in the halves as the enigmatic Ben Roberts, another off-season purchase, struts his stuff for Wentworthville in the NSW Cup.
Coach Stephen Kearney and the vocal blue-and-gold army will once again be hoping that this scrum-base combination can spark something for their team.
Prediction: Dragons by 14
Can the Eels post an unlikely second win of the season or will we see a return of the Bennett-era Dragons to grind out a victory to get their season back on track?
Find out from 7.30pm AEST as we cover the action with live scores and commentary. If you’re watching or following along, feel free to leave a comment in the space below.
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