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St George Illawarra Dragons vs South Sydney Rabbitohs: Charity Shield live scores, blog

Roar Guru
22nd February, 2014
Teams:

St George Illawarra:

1. Josh Dugan, 2. Brett Morris, 3. Gerard Beale, 4. Dylan Farrell, 5. Jason Nightingale, 6. Gareth Widdop, 7. Sam Williams, 8. Jack de Belin, 9. Mitch Rein, 10. Ben Creagh (c), 11. Joel Thompson, 12. Leeson Ah Mau, 13. Trent Merrin, Bench: 14. Kyle Stanley, 15. Jack Stockwell, 16. Mike Cooper, 17. Bronson Harrison, 18. Tyson Frizell, 19. Dan Hunt

South Sydney:

Kick-Off: 5:00pm AEDT
Venue: WIN Stadium
Referee: Ashley Klein & Luke Phillips
Last Time: Dragons 22 Rabbitohs 18; Rd 19 2013
History: Played 21; Dragons 15, Rabbitohs 6
Betting: Dragons $2.10, Rabbitohs $1.75
TV: Fox Sports 3
Adam Reynolds has re-signed with the Rabbitohs. (AAP Image/Action Photographics, Robb Cox) .
Roar Guru
22nd February, 2014
76
6037 Reads

After a painful preliminary final loss to Manly last year, the South Sydney Rabbitohs road to premiership redemption begins tonight when they face the St George Illawarra Dragons in the Charity Shield.

Join us for live scores and commentary from 5.00pm AEDT.

Tonight’s contest represents a great opportunity to witness how both South Sydney and St George Illawarra will line-up when the NRL season kicks off in March.

The Rabbitohs in particular face a selection dilemma in the halves with first choice five-eighth Luke Keary already out for five months with a pectoral injury.

Keary’s absence is a big blow for the Rabbitohs, but it hasn’t stopped coach Michael McGuire from naming last season’s five-eighth John Sutton at lock for tonight’s contest.

Rising star Dylan Walker has instead been opted to partner Adam Reynolds despite playing most of his first grade football at centre.

Although Walker has played at five-eighth at U-20 level, directing an NRL side around the park will prove to be one of the biggest challenges of his young career.

Given that it is his first game at five-eighth, expect Walker to run the ball frequently tonight while Reynolds assumes the majority of the playmaking responsibilities.

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If the Walker experiment doesn’t pay off tonight, it will certainly be interesting to see if coach McGuire resists the temptation to move Sutton back into the halves.

The Dragons meanwhile are playing at home and will be keen to provide fans with some much needed optimism heading into the new season with a win tonight.

Of key interest to Dragons fans will be the performance of new recruit Gareth Widdop.

The Englishman built a solid reputation during his time at the Melbourne Storm and will be expected to add some much needed direction to the Dragons attack.

Widdop’s combination with Josh Dugan in particular will go a long way to dictating whether or not the Dragons have the firepower to beat the very best teams this season.

With a good Wollongong crowd expected, the Dragons might be primed for a big performance heading into the new season and may do just enough to cause the upset.

Prediction: Dragons by 4

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