Having emerged as one of the surprise packets of the NRL season so far, the St George Illawarra Dragons will be out to continue their impressive run of form when they face off against reigning premiers South Sydney this Monday night.
Unfortunately they will have to do without fullback Josh Dugan, who suffered a knee injury during the Anzac Test.
Not only is it a massive blow for the club ahead of the clash against the Rabbitohs, it is also likewise for NSW State of Origin coach Laurie Daley, who is still deciding the make-up of his Blues team as they look to successfully retain the shield.
For the Dragons it will be a big test to see how far they have come this season.
While the Dragons have fired, winning their last six matches to shoot to second on the ladder, the Rabbitohs have struggled, going winless since their controversial Good Friday win over the Bulldogs in Round 5.
It was in that match in which their halfback Adam Reynolds suffered what appeared to be a serious long-term knee injury, and since then the reigning premiers have gone down to the Cowboys, Sharks and Raiders to fall to sixth on the ladder.
In the matches against the Cowboys and Raiders in particular, the Rabbitohs held early leads in the first half but the absence of Reynolds proved costly in second-half fadeouts.
It goes to show that the reigning premiers simply cannot over-rely on their halfback and that others must share the load as well.
Prior to the commencement of the season, Rabbitohs fans would have seen this match as a winnable one given the state of affairs at both clubs last season. While the Bunnies won their first premiership in 43 years, the Dragons under-performed, had their coach Steve Price sacked after a series of inconsistent results, and missed the finals for a third straight season.
Much of the same was expected in 2015, whereby the Rabbitohs are attempting to become the first team since the Brisbane Broncos in 1992-93 to successfully defend the premiership in a unified season, and not much is expected of the Dragons given they haven’t made the finals since 2011.
But it’s Paul McGregor’s men who have emerged as the early season surprise packet, and after starting the season with two straight losses and facing a huge deficit against the Raiders in Round 3, it appeared as if the club would be headed for another long and unsuccessful season.
However, a huge second half turnaround in that match, which resulted in a 22-20 victory, would kick-start a six-match winning streak which the Dragons will look to extend to seven with victory over the Rabbitohs.
After initially struggling on his return from an ill-fated stint in rugby union, Benji Marshall appears to be back to top form and he was named man of the match in the Dragons’ Anzac Day win over the Roosters last start.
Thus, if the Dragons are to extend their winning streak and potentially end the round on top of the ladder (pending the result of the Broncos-Panthers match on Friday night), they will need him and Gareth Widdop firing on Monday.
As for the Rabbitohs, well, they simply need to get their premiership defence back on track and prove that they can win without Adam Reynolds – who should be due back in a few weeks.
It will now remain to be seen which team will take the chocolates on Monday night – can the Dragons continue their hot winning streak, or will the Bunnies derail them and get their title defence back on track?
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