On Friday night, the Dragons’ rollercoaster NRL season goes on the line against an in-form Broncos outfit in front of 50,000 fans at the best rugby league venue in the world, Suncorp Stadium.
If that doesn’t get Dragons fans excited, nothing will.
The Red V are paying the price for a forgettable fortnight in which they lost to both the Knights and Rabbitohs, and are stranded in 9th position, two points outside the top eight, but with a decent points differential of +99, the third best in the league.
Last weekend, they stopped the two-game losing streak, registering a solid win over the Gold Coast Titans, 42-16.
With the Panthers beating the Cowboys, the Tigers upsetting the Sea Eagles, and Raiders staying alive by hammering the Warriors, Friday night represents the final opportunity for Paul McGregor’s men. Win and they will, momentarily, move into 6th position and place huge pressure on a number of teams, with the Raiders/Panthers match having massive ramifications.
The Dragons haven’t won at Suncorp since 2009, but evergreen winger Jason Nightingale is the only member of the current squad that was still at the club back then, so I’m not really reading too much into that.
Should they lose, the remaining games against the Panthers and Bulldogs will be meaningless for the Dragons, who could find themselves four points adrift of a number of teams heading into Round 25.
On Saturday, the Dragons showed what they are capable of against the Titans, putting in a brilliant first half to race to a 22-0 lead, but it won’t be as easy against the Broncos, who have scored at will over the last fortnight.
The Dragons will need to be patient in attack, as there won’t be too many opportunities, but their second-phase play has been excellent in 2017, led by the likes of Tim Lafai and Jack De Belin, and this sort of ad-lib football will trouble most teams.
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