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Three Origin players will feature in the Round 13 clash between the Newcastle Knights and St George Illawarra Dragons this evening, join us for live scores and updates from 5.30pm AEST.
The Knights are the home team, but the Dragons will feel pretty good too – their current winning streak at Hunter Stadium, eight games, is the longest active streak by an NRL side at an away venue.
The Knights have the advantage on the ladder, sitting in 7th spot after an equal number of wins and losses. They’ve scored the second most points in the competition so far, but their record in the last five weeks is pretty rough – only one win.
The Dragons are almost in the same boat, coming off four consecutive losses. They’re placed in 13th, and have lost twice as many games as they’ve won. Last week the Dragons lost 16-14 to the Bulldogs, keeping it close despite being behind from the 25th minute onwards.
In Round 12 the Knights faced league-leaders South Sydney Rabbitohs, and were strong through the first half to go into the break 12-12.
In the second half it was a different story, and the Rabbitohs pulled away to win 25-18.
The previous game between the Knights and Dragons was just two months ago, and Brett Morris got things started with an early try, and a Soward field goal put the Dragons up 9-0 at half.
Darius Boyd had an up-and-down game for the Knights, scoring shortly after halftime, but then fumbling inside his own ten which led to the Dragons game-clinching try, with the final result 19-16.
The news this week has centred on Dragons coach Steve Price’s decision to drop Jamie Soward from the squad to their NSW Cup side, and bring up Chase Stanley as a replacement.
Soward, who has signed with Penrith for next season, played fairly well last week but rumour has it that he’s unpopular with the rest of the playing group.
Making the headlines for Newcastle were reports that the team is in discussions with 35-year-old halfback Craig Gower, who hasn’t been seen in the NRL since 2007 (he’s been playing in Europe during that span) and may join the team as soon as next week.
Players to watch include Chase Stanley and his performance at the Dragons five-eighth spot, and Knights winger James McManus, who is equal first on the NRL try-scorers list with 11 tries in 12 games.
I’m tipping the Knights by four!
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