The Roar
The Roar

Advertisement

[VIDEO] Cronulla Sharks vs St George Illawarra Dragons highlights: NRL scores, blog

12th July, 2015
Kickoff: 4.00pm (AEST)
Venue: Remondis Stadium
TV: Nine Network, live
Last Meeting: Dragons 42-6 Sharks in Round 12, 2015
Head-to-Head: Sharks 16, Dragons 18

Cronulla Sharks
1 Michael Gordon, 2 Sosaia Feki, 3 Gerard Beale, 4 Ricky Leutele, 5 Valentine Holmes, 6 Jack Bird, 7 Jeff Robson, 8 Andrew Fifita, 9 Michael Ennis, 10 Matt Prior, 11 Luke Lewis, 12 Wade Graham, 13 Paul Gallen (c)
Interchange: 14 Jayson Bukuya, 15 Ben Barba, 16 David Fifita, 17 Sam Tagataese, 20 Chris Heighington

St George Illawarra Dragons
1 Josh Dugan, 2 Justin Hunt, 3 Euan Aitken, 4 Peter Mata’utia, 5 Jason Nightingale, 6 Gareth Widdop, 7 Benji Marshall, 8 Leeson Ah Mau, 9 Mitch Rein, 10 Ben Creagh (c), 11 Will Matthews, 12 Joel Thompson, 13 Mike Cooper,
Interchange: 14 George Rose, 15 Trent Merrin, 16 Jake Marketo, 17 Heath L’Estrange, 24 Mark Ioane
Paul Gallen has been one of the stand-out players of the year to date. (AAP Image/Action Photographics, Brett Crockford)
Roar Guru
12th July, 2015
105
4109 Reads

Match result:

Cronulla Sharks 28
St George Illawarra Dragons 8

The Sharks struck early in the local derby with Sosaia Feki scoring after Robson spread to the left wing.

The next points didn’t come until 20 minutes later when Luke Lewis went through the Dragons line in his 250th first grade game.

>> MATCH REPORT: Sharks dent Dragons top eight hopes

The Sharks scored again just two minutes later with Valentine Holmes going over on the last tackle.

The Dragons got their first point on halftime after taking advantage of the loose ball to score through Charly Runciman.

The Dragons’ attack turned around significantly after the break however, the Sharks were next to score with Andrew Fifita barging through the line off a Michael Ennis kick.

Advertisement

Ben Barba went over two minutes later after Saia Feki came up with an amazing offload.

The Dragons had one last attempt with Charly Runciman scoring his second try after Mata’utia sent him down the sideline.

The Dragons will now want to improve on their attack as they prepare for a Heritage Round clash with the Rabbitohs at the Cricket Ground.

Match preview:

Can the St George Illawarra Dragons get their NRL season back on track with a win over the Cronulla Sharks at Remondis Stadium? Join The Roar from 3.50pm (AEST) for live scores and commentary.

The fierce rivalry between the south of Sydney continues as the likes of Paul Gallen, Josh Dugan, Trent Merrin and Michael Ennis return from their State of Origin duties.

The match will be a massive arm wrestle in the back row where the experienced Luke Lewis, Wade Graham and Gallen will take on the young Will Matthews, Joel Thompson and Mike Cooper. The battle of the forwards is key to the winning team.

Advertisement

Ennis and Gallen have been named to return with Pat Politoni excluded from the side and Chris Heighington pushed onto an extended bench. Josh Dugan has been named to back-up from State of Origin moving Justin Hunt onto the wing in place of the injured Yaw Kiti Glymin.

Jason Nightingale returns on the wing in place of Charly Runciman, while Will Matthews and Joel Thompson return in the second row pushing Jake Marketo to the bench and seeing Luke Page and Nathan Green drop out of the team. Heath L’Estrange and Merrin force Craig Garvey out of the side and Mark Ioane to 18th man.

The Sharks and Dragons have played 35 times since 1998. The Sharks have won 16, the Dragons winning 18 with one match tied. Their most recent meeting came in Round 12 of this year when the Dragons defeated the Sharks 42-6 in front of 18,011 fans at Jubilee Oval.

The Sharks are coming off a loss to the Sea Eagles 16-28, the Dragons were defeated by the Cowboys 12-18.

Prediction
It will be a close match but the Sharks will just edge out their rivals.

Sharks by four.

Join The Roar from 3.50pm for live scores and commentary in our live blog.

Advertisement
close