Roar Guru
The Queen’s Birthday holiday will see a cracking game of rugby league as the Canterbury Bulldogs host the red-hot St George Illawarra Dragons. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 4pm.
The Bulldogs have been bitten hard by the injury bug in 2015, but they’ve still got the talent to roll with any side in the competition.
After a bye last weekend they won one of the games of the season so far in Round 11, beating the Raiders 41-34 in a classic.
Despite their struggles this season, the Bulldogs sit in ninth on the ladder, and are still a realistic chance to play finals in 2015.
The Dragons’ start to the season was terrible, but they’ve won eight of their past nine games to jump to the top of the NRL ladder. Paul McGregor has built a fantastic defence, one that currently ranks first in the NRL. They had a massive 42-6 win over the Sharks last weekend, a game that could have been a shut-out if not for a refereeing error in the 10th minute of the game.
Despite their current run of form, many still don’t view the Dragons as a legitimate threat this year, and they start as underdogs in this match.
The Bulldogs have made a plethora of changes, with many of their State of Origin stars returning for duty. Trent Hodkinson comes into the side, pushing Moses Mbye out to the centres. Curtis Rona shifts to the wing, dropping Tyrone Phillips back to the NSW Cup. James Graham returns from injury, forcing Sam Kasiano back to the bench at the expense of Antonio Kaufusi. Josh Morris forces Tim Lafai out of the squad, while Josh Jackson’s return sees Danny Fualalo drop back to reserves.
The Dragons have made only one change for this week, with Joel Thompson returning to the side from his hamstring injury. Will Matthews drops back to the bench to make room for Thompson, while Jake Marketo becomes 18th man.
Prediction
The Bulldogs are starting favourites in this game, but the bookies may lose a bit of money on this one. The Dragons have shown enough in attack in recent weeks to suggest that scoring points is becoming less of an issue.
Dragons by 12