St George Illawarra Dragons 31
Canterbury Bulldogs 6
The St George Illawarra Dragons, having won three games in a row, will look to continue their dominant form this afternoon as they host the Canterbury Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium. Join The Roar from 3:30pm (AEST) for live coverage.
The Dragons made 15 errors last week as they fumbled their way to a 13-0 win over Newcastle. Paul McGregor’s side also conceded eight penalties, double that of the Knights.
However they dominated the kicking department, nearly doubling the Knights’ kicking metres – 513-269.
McGregor has named the same 17 that defeated Newcastle last week, with Rory O’Brien added to a five-man bench.
The Bulldogs were clearly the better team last week, with eight errors compared to Souths’ 12. Still, the Doggies found a way to lose at the death.
The Bulldogs have made a number of changes with James Graham, David Klemmer and Sam Kasiano missing through suspension. Tim Browne replaces Graham in the starting side, with Lloyd Perrett and Antonio Kaufusi replacing the latter two on the bench.
Sam Perrett moves to fullback, replacing Brett Morris who is out with a hamstring injury seeing Corey Thompson return to the side on the wing. Timoteo Lafai’s leg injury means Moses Mbye shifts to centre, with Josh Reynolds starting at five-eighth and Chase Stanley moving onto a five-man bench alongside Danny Fualalo.
In the 27 matches played between the Dragons and Bulldogs since 1998, the Bulldogs lead 17 wins to 10 overall. Last time the two teams met, the Bulldogs defeated the Dragons 38-6 in Sydney in front of 21,077 fans.
This game will be a battle of the halves, as Josh Reynolds and Trent Hodkinson try to impress New South Wales coach Laurie Daley by getting one up on internationals Gareth Widdop and Benji Marshall.
Prediction
The Bulldogs will be fired up after last week’s controversial loss to the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Des Hasler’s men are able to cover the loss of their five international stars, with all being replaced by an experienced first grade player.
Bulldogs by 10.
Join The Roar from 3:30pm (AEST) for score updates and debate in our live blog.
Dav
Guest
lets see how they run over the next three weeks
Christian D'Aloia
Roar Guru
What is your problem mate? Get off this anti-Dogs agenda of yours for crying out loud.
Alex L
Roar Rookie
Auva'a and Inglis. 2 of them in your team. Pride of league (of woman beaters).
steveng
Roar Rookie
That would be right, Dogs or sorry Bulldogs can never face the truth. Woman beaters??? that is pretty low for a Dog(s) and has nothing to do with our club or the Rabbitohs.
Worlds Biggest
Guest
Great win by the Dragooooons, very impressive defensive effort. This was still a pretty good Dogs team despite the players out. Benji Marshall was a real general today, all the Dragons players put in a good shift. Widdop is a class player and really links up well with his outside men, Dugan was another standout. The backrow was outstanding. As for the Dogs, they still look impotent in attack, Hodkinson must be one of the slowest halfbacks in the comp. Reynolds needs to mix up his kicking game, he often goes for the little cross field chip. The Dogs have Manly next week so should bounce back with a win.
Whites
Guest
Mary was never the issue. It's Doust who stuffed up the salary cap.
Ken
Guest
Since never. The bin is solely for professional fouls and recently they added for a punch. Send off was the option for the ref and it would have been an over-reaction. Send-offs are extremely rare (hasn't been one for 2 years) and are reserved for the worst offences- this wasn't one of them.
Dogs Of War
Roar Guru
Ahead on 5th tackle options. I think we were 2/30.
Dogs Of War
Roar Guru
Never seen so many tries held up in my life. Great defensive perform from the Dragons.
Alex L
Roar Rookie
Stick to cheering your woman beaters, Rabbitohs fan.
steveng
Roar Rookie
It couldn't have happened to a more deserving side than the Dogs, now the Dogs fans will know, feel and realise how all of us Souths fans feel after Reynolds barbaric attack by Graham. I thought that the head high was accidental and it was a tough tackle with a player running full pelt at the defenders and of course things will happen when an arm accidentally ricochets onto the head (I'm giving the same excuse as the Dog's fans did for Graham on Reynolds) and the judiciary will sort this one out with whatever suspension that poor Tyson Frizell gets, but one thing Tyson looked really sorry lol
catcat
Guest
having said that if it happened in the first few minutes of the game - it is definitely a huge disadvantage (but in this game impotent ability to score tries is what killed the dogs, if you can't score at least get a repeat set and grind it in/out!!!!)
Scott Pryde
Expert
I was always for Mary... Doust still needs to go.
steveng
Roar Rookie
I hope that Graham, Klemmer and Kasiano ears are burning for letting his fans down as punishment for their behaviour last Friday. The Dogs looked unorganised, weak with no game plan, they were very lucky to score that 1 try. The saints were awesome in defence and Benji Marshall was phenomenal as the little general in the backline. Great win by the Dragons and they are a force to be reckoned with after this performance tonight.
catcat
Guest
Dogs unable to score a try with all the possesion helped St George today
Jay C
Roar Guru
This is funny when pre season Oust Doust and contrary Mary were the calls
Jay C
Roar Guru
Helped St. George out today
Riley Pettigrew
Roar Guru
It would have been interesting to see how the Dragons went with 12 players.
Cadfael
Roar Guru
On the high tackle, what disturbs me and probably a lot of fans is that a team loses a player due to foul play, so that team is now down to three on the bench. The offender gets put on report. But what is the penalty for the offending side. Apart from a kick, nothing. It will help whoever plays them next week but doesn't help te team in the current game.
Alex L
Roar Rookie
Since when has a swinging arm to the head not been a trip to the bin? It used to be a straight red. But then again, I've come to expect anything from these schizophrenic refs.