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St George Illawarra Dragons vs South Sydney Rabbitohs: Charity Shield NRL pre-season live scores, blog

24th February, 2018

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St George Illawarra Dragons vs South Sydney Rabbitohs

2018 NRL pre-season, Charity Shield, February 24

Glen Willow Stadium, Mudgee, NSW
St George Illawarra Dragons South Sydney Rabbitohs
18 SCORE 22
3 Tries 4
3 Conversions 2
0 Penalty Goals 1
0 Field Goals 0
Kick-off: 7:30pm (AEDT)
Venue: Glen Willow Stadium, Mudgee
TV: Live, Fox League
Online: Live, Foxtel app or Foxtel now
Betting: Dragons $1.55, Rabbitohs $2.45
Overall record: Played 28, Dragons 16, Rabbitohs 12
Charity Shield (since 1999): Played 17, Rabbitohs 9, Dragons 5, drawn 3
Referee: Adam Gee

St George Illawarra Dragons (squad)
Leeson Ah Mau, Euan Aitken, Jack de Belin, Matt Dufty, Tyson Frizell, James Graham, Ben Hunt, Josh Kerr, Tim Lafai, Jeremy Latimore, Blake Lawrie, Luciano Leilua, Zac Lomax, Nene Macdonald, Kurt Mann, Cameron McInnes, Darren Nicholls, Jason Nightingale, Reece Robson, Hame Sele, Tariq Sims, Paul Vaughan

Gareth Widdop
South Sydney Rabbitohs
1 Alex Johnston 2 Richard Kennar 3 Hymel Hunt 4 Dane Gagai 5 Robert Jennings 6 Cody Walker 7 Adam Doueihi 8 Thomas Burgess 9 Damien Cook 10 Mark Nicholls 11 John Sutton 12 Tyrell Fuimaono 13 Sam Burgess
Interchange: 14 Robbie Farah 15 Jason Clark 16 George Burgess 17 Junior Tatola 18 Dean Britt 19 Braidon Burns 20 Jacob Gagan 21 Zane Musgrove
Will the Dragons make the eight? (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)
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24th February, 2018
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Match result:

The Rabbitohs are winners in the annual Charity Shield fixture, defeating the Dragons by four points on Saturday night.

» Click here to read the full match report

Final score
St George Illawarra Dragons 18
South Sydney Rabbitohs 22

Match preview:

The St George Illawarra Dragons and South Sydney Rabbitohs will wrap up preparations for the NRL season when they contest the Charity Shield in Mudgee. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 7:30pm (AEDT).

St George Illawarra don’t have a great track record in the Charity Shield, having only won five of 17, but they were solid in their first outing of the year last week against English Super League club Hull FC.

While there were underlying issues and a lack of consistency, that’s to be expected in the first game of the season.

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A 24-18 victory over Hull saw the first chance for the new spine of Matt Dufty, Ben Hunt, Gareth Widdop and Cameron McInnes to combine, with James Graham also making his first outing in the Red V.

Hunt and Widdop will need to shake more rust off in Mudgee, but the performance of Dufty was one to behold. He had over 200 metres and was involved in everything for the Dragons as he tries to lockdown the fullback spot for the season ahead.

He undoubtedly has earnt himself first crack and will probably be wrapped in cotton wool for the Shield, along with the other key players.

The Rabbitohs meanwhile, also came away with a win at Homebush last week as they went past the Wigan Warriors in a game devoid of star-power.

Without Greg Inglis, Adam Reynolds and Sam Burgess among others, the Bunnies made a good start under new coach Anthony Seibold to take an 18-8 victory.

The red, white and green will still be without Inglis and Reynolds for this one, although it’s been rumoured Inglis will make a shock run off the bench during the second half despite not being named.

South Sydney do need to show something in this match though. Granted, they did in last year’s Charity Shield and it made no impact on their season as they finished at the wrong end of the ladder, but they will be keen to make a few statements in this one.

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New prize recruit Dane Gagai is also expected to start, while Damien Cook takes over the first-choice hooking role from Robbie Farah. So often in 2017 though, South Sydney struggled with the fundamentals of rugby league and it’s important for them to put together a consistent 80 minutes before the season starts.

Prediction
The Dragons looked solid in patches last week and should continue to improve this week. With the Rabbitohs still playing without Greg Inglis and Adam Reynolds, the Charity Shield should return to the Red V.

Dragons by 8.

Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of the Charity Shield from 7:30pm (AEDT) and don’t forget to add a comment in the section below.

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