The South Sydney forward pack and Greg Inglis have run straight over St George Illawarra in their two meetings this year.
The Rabbitohs took the Charity Shield 38-20 and won 26-6 in Round 5, and it is hard to foresee a big turnaround on Monday night.
If new Dragons coach Paul McGregor is to make an impact in this game, he needs to toughen the Dragons forwards’ minds and bodies.
They more than anything else have been responsible for the downfall of coach Steve Price.
Souths should be near full strength with no injury concerns from Origin, but their recent form has not been inspiring. It also may be difficult for the Rabbitohs to come up with much enthusiasm for this game.
McGregor has moved Ben Creagh from second row, where he has been playing well this year, to prop alongside underperforming Dan Hunt. By doing so, McGregor is presumably hoping the Dragons captain will lead by example in the vital first 20 minutes.
McGregor has overlooked the opportunity to put English import Mike Cooper into the starting team in place of the less defensively minded Leeson Ah Mau, despite the fact that Cooper has been one of the Dragons’ best forwards all year.
The extended bench is all forwards, including hooker Shane Pumipi, so it may be that McGregor is intending to rest Mitch Rein during the match.
In the backs McGregor has the luxury of a fresh Josh Dugan after he missed out on Origin selection. Dugan will well remember the injury he suffered in the Charity Shield attempting to stop a George Burgess try, so he will have motivation.
Also selected at centre is utility back Peter Mata’utia, who played well on the wing in the Dragons last game against the Eels and who scored a try against Souths in the Charity Shield. Presumably McGregor has recognised that Price’s ploy of playing second rowers in the centres was not working.
The big question for McGregor is what to do if Brett Morris is ruled out, which seems likely.
The Souths backs are likely to target centre Gerard Beale, who has yet to fully adapt to the position. The coach could be tempting to trial Charly Runciman in the centres to stiffen the defence, moving Beale to the wing.
The big question mark is on Benji Marshall.
Marshall had two disallowed try assists against the Eels and will be much improved this game after more time training with the team, and particularly five-eigth Gareth Widdop.
The Dragons have two to three tries in them against Souths, but it is hard to see that being good enough to earn victory without a massive improvement in defence.
This could be the start of a long season for McGregor. He will want to see a lot of increased commitment from the team against Souths before next week’s must-win game against the Sharks.
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