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[VIDEO] St George Illawarra Dragons vs Newcastle Knights highlights: NRL scores, blog

2nd August, 2015
Kickoff: 2pm (AEST)
Venue: Jubilee Stadium, Kogarah
TV: Live, Fox Sports
Betting: Dragons $1.35, Knights $3.25

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 Tyson Frizell
12 Joel Thompson
13 Mike Cooper

Interchange
14 Jack de Belin
15 Jake Marketo
16 Craig Garvey
17 Will Matthews
18 Mark Ioane

Knights
1 Kurt Gidley (c)
2 Jake Mamo
3 Sione Mata'utia
4 Dane Gagai
5 Chanel Mata'utia
6 Carlos Tuimavave
7 Tyrone Roberts
8 Kade Snowden
9 Adam Clydsdale
10 Korbin Sims
11 Beau Scott
12 Tariq Sims
13 Jeremy Smith

Interchange
14 Tyler Randell
15 David Fa'alogo
16 Chris Houston
17 Clint Newton
The St George Illawarra Dragons have not been great lately, but they could improve in 2017. (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)
Roar Guru
2nd August, 2015
101
4647 Reads

Match Result:

In a game that could not sum the entire round of NRL better, the Dragons came out in the second half after up 10-0 then down 20-14 won the half 32-4.

It was a Benji Marshall master class in the second half playing razzle dazzle footy to heap pressure on the Knights players for another week and excel the Dragons into the Top 8.

>>MATCH REPORT: Dragons revive season by thrashing Knights

The game was all theirs in the first 10 minutes after two quick tries from both Dugan and Rein deflated the Knights. However, if the Knights were deflated, they showed no signs of it in the remaining 30 minutes. A 95% completion rate on top of pressure relieving penalties allowed Gidley, Mamo, Ross and Clydesdale to shock the Jubilee crowd and lead at Halftime.

That’s where the cliché of ‘Game of two halves’ kicked in.

The Dragons forwards powered through the Knights forwards, similar to what the Knights did in the first half for Widdop to step past some shoddy defence and score the opening try of the second half in the 45th minute. Frizell was then the next beneficiary of some nice halves passing to extend the Dragons lead and completely demoralise the Knights. However, Randalls try in the 58th minute gave the Knights hope.

Enter Benji Marshall.

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In one of the tries of the season, Marshall collected his own kick, sprinted to the sideline, dummied to Nightingale, gave it to Widdop who passed it to Rein who attempted an over the head throw to finally fall into the lap of the creator in this entire set of events- Benji Marshall.

Soon after, Matthews scored for the Dragons to put the game beyond doubt with Dugan getting a last minute try to put the icing on the cake for the Dragons

The Dragons now move into 7th having and finally broken the losing drought as more pain is inflicted on the Knights who will be ‘contesting’ the wooden spoon.

FULLTIME
DRAGONS 46
KNIGHTS 24

Match Preview:

The 10th placed St George Illawarra Dragons host the 14th placed Newcastle Knights at Jubilee Oval in Round 20 of the NRL. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 1:50pm (AEST)

The Dragons are in desperate need of a win having lost seven in a row, while the Knights will want to win to not only do well by club legend and interim coach Danny Buderus but save their own careers.

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The last time these two teams faced off, the Dragons ground out a 13-0 victory in horrendous conditions in Newcastle.

Craig Garvey replaces Heath L’Estrange on the Dragons bench, with Ben Creagh starting in the front row and Will Matthews returning to the bench.

For the Knights, Carlos Tuimavave is in at five-eighth, with Sione Mata’utia moving into the centres and Jake Mamo onto the wing. Kurt Gidley returns to fullback and Tyler Randall replaces Danny Levi on the bench.

The Sims brothers have easily been Newcastle’s best this season and will need to be on their game against the Dragons pack.

The key men for the Dragons is Benji Marshall and Gareth Widdop, and although they have not played all that bad over this losing run they need to control this game.

For the Dragons to win they need to control possession, get the early lead, and defend like their lives depend on it. They also need to play more lateral – what brought them success early in the season was having shooters close to the opposition try line giving the halves options to create one-on-ones. If they can do that, the Knights do not have the defence to stop it.

If the Knights can get quality possession off the back of their forward pack, they can expose the Dragons’ edges and create space for Mata’utia and Mamo.

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Prediction
Although people still believe the biggest myth in rugby league – that teams win the game after their coach has been sacked (it is actually the game following the week of the sacking) – the Dragons will be too good at home and etch out a comfortable win.

Dragons by 16.

Will the Dragons bounce back into form at the expense of the Knights, or can the Newcastle boys pull out a win for their town, coach and themselves to pour more misery on the Dragons?

Join The Roar from 1:50pm (AEST) for score updates and debate in our live blog.

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