Currently sitting in third place on the ladder, the St George Illawarra Dragons have the chance to heap further misery on the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs when the two teams face off in the annual Queen’s Birthday clash at ANZ Stadium on Monday.
Having been tipped by many to contend for the wooden spoon at the start of the season, the Dragons have instead surprised many by winning eight of their twelve games to currently be sitting third on the ladder.
Their resurgence in form this year has been put down to a renewed attitude following the disappointment of last season, and the departure of Benji Marshall which has allowed Gareth Widdop to play with more freedom.
Widdop made an encouraging return from a knee injury against the Wests Tigers last week, scoring two first-half tries as the Dragons won 16-12.
Origin representatives Tyson Frizell and Josh Dugan also backed up for the Red V, but the former failed to finish the match after what turned out to be a minor injury.
Prop forward Paul Vaughan has also emerged as the buy of the year, but was considered by many to be unlucky not to have been selected for New South Wales in Game I of the State of Origin series.
(AAP Image/David Rowland)
Blues coach Laurie Daley said that he wanted Vaughan to maintain his consistent form for one full season before he could be considered for selection in the future.
After 13 rounds, the Dragons rank second in attack (only behind the Canberra Raiders) and third in defence (behind the Sharks and Storm), thus fairly reflecting where they are at on the ladder.
The good form shown by the club throughout the first half of the season, ahead of the eagerly-anticipated arrival of Ben Hunt next year, has fans confident of a return to successful times, as seen under Wayne Bennett between 2009 and 2011.
The Dragons’ revival this year contrasts significantly with the fall of grace their opponents this Monday, the Bulldogs, have suffered in 2017.
Des Hasler’s men currently sit third-last on the ladder with just five wins from their thirteen matches, and are coming off a humiliating 38-0 loss to the Penrith Panthers at home last week.
It is the second time this season they have been kept to zero, after being hammered 36-0 by the Sea Eagles in Round 4.
To better understand the context of how this season is unfolding, these were the same Panthers and Sea Eagles sides the Dragons thrashed 42-10 and 35-10 in Rounds 1 and 6 respectively.
The Cowboys, Sharks and Wests Tigers have also beaten the Bulldogs after losing to the Dragons at various stages during the season.
The good news for the Bulldogs is that they should get Josh Reynolds and James Graham back from injury for the match against the Dragons, a side they have lost to just once since Des Hasler took over as coach in 2012.
That was in Round 6, 2015, when the Dragons won 31-6. To date, it remains the only time the Dragons have beaten the Bulldogs since Wayne Bennett left the club at the end of 2011.
Prior to the current Bulldogs dominance, the Dragons won six meetings in a row, coinciding with Wayne Bennett’s successful tenure as coach between 2009 and 2011.
It started with a 30-0 shutout in Round 20, 2008, when the Bulldogs gave Ben Barba his NRL debut after Sonny Bill Williams had controversially walked out on the club to chase his dream of playing rugby union in France.
Another match of notability came in Round 10, 2009, when the Dragons won by 20-18 at Kogarah Oval after Bulldog Jamal Idris had what appeared to be the match-winning try controversially denied due to obstruction.
Then-referees boss Robert Finch said after the match that video referee Steve Clark was wrong to disallow the try to Idris, but it did nothing to ease season-long tension among Bulldogs fans, whose side eventually finished second behind the Dragons on the ladder.
They had already been deducted two competition points for an illegal interchange against the Penrith Panthers earlier that season.
Those two conspired against the blue and white to cost them the minor premiership, though they would finish on top of the ladder in 2012 following consecutive finals misses in 2010 and 2011.
(AAP Image/Paul Miller)
But while the Bulldogs have dominated the Dragons since both sides changed coaches in 2012, it will be the Red V who will start favourites to continue on their recent impressive run of form.
To score just their second win against the boys from Canterbury since 2011, the men from Kogarah will need to perform far better than they did against the Wests Tigers last Saturday afternoon.
This means better service from their key players, including captain Gareth Widdop, fullback Josh Dugan and forward Tyson Frizell, who was cleared of any serious injury after he failed to finish last week.
As for the Bulldogs, while, they’ll be keen not to repeat the embarrassment they suffered against the Panthers last Sunday, and will want to ensure that they are in the contest right up to the very end.
However, it will be hard seeing the Dragons challenged in this one.
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