Top spot is up for grabs when the St George Illawarra Dragons face the Melbourne Storm in a top-of-the-table clash in Wollongong this Sunday.
After eight rounds of the 2017 season, the Storm and Dragons have emerged as the pacesetters, sitting first and second on the ladder respectively with only three losses between them so far.
A highlight of the Storm’s season has been the return from injury of veteran fullback Billy Slater, and his duel with Josh Dugan will go a long way towards deciding who claims top spot on the ladder by sunset on Sunday.
The Storm are currently 7-1 for the season, with their only defeat so far coming against Cronulla in an error-riddled performance in Round 6.
Their most recent outing saw them shake off the challenge of the Warriors on Anzac Night to win 20-14; it was their second win over the Auckland-based club after also defeating them 26-10 in Round 2.
The Dragons, on the other hand, suffered just their second loss of the season when they went down to the Sydney Roosters 13-12 in a golden point thriller on Anzac Day.
Compounding their defeat was the knee injury suffered by captain Gareth Widdop, who has been ruled out for six weeks and as a result will miss England’s clash against Samoa in next week’s representative weekend.
His absence could bring to an end what has been a fairytale start for a side many had tipped for the wooden spoon in 2017.
The heartbreaking loss to the Roosters bumped them down to second place on the ladder and they could be heading further south without their captain, who re-signed with the club for another four years last week.
Statistics have revealed that he has been the mastermind behind their resurgence in attack, whereby they have scored 203 points – just three points more than the next-best side, the Canberra Raiders.
His absence will test the Dragons more than most, and it’s the last thing they need as they attempt to continue their renaissance after a dismal 2016 season.
They’ll also be banking on Josh Dugan and Tyson Frizell emerging though Sunday’s match unscathed after both were selected by coach Mal Meninga for next Friday’s Test in Canberra.
The history between the Dragons and Storm is well documented, and stretches back to when they met in the 1999 grand final.
While the Storm has dominated most of the rivalry, their record at WIN Stadium remains poor, Craig Bellamy’s men having not saluted at the seaside ground since early 2005.
Only Billy Slater, Cameron Smith and then-bench player Cooper Cronk remain from the last Melbourne side to win in Wollongong.
Further, even during their halcyon years of recent the Dragons were able to spring some victories over the Storm, including a 26-18 victory in 2012 which gave the Storm a fifth straight loss and provided the spark for Craig Bellamy’s men to eventually win their second legitimate premiership.
Additionally, the Dragons also won their last meeting, also in Wollongong, by 20-10, though on that occasion the Storm were missing key players Smith and Cronk to Origin duty, while Slater was recuperating from injury.
This will be the only time the two sides meet this season, and for the Storm this will be the first in a string of three consecutive matches away from Melbourne; in fact they will not play in front of their fans again until June 3.
They’ll be hoping to kick it off with a win over the Gareth Widdop-less Dragons, for whom the challenge of trying to traverse through the next six weeks without him is about to begin in earnest.
So, who will be top of the ladder come Sunday? Stay tuned.
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