The Charity Shield is an annual pre-season fixture between the St George Illawarra Dragons and South Sydney Rabbitohs, with both sides representing a charity attached to the club for the fixture and wearing special jerseys.
The match has been dubbed the unofficial start to the NRL season over the years, although with the World Club Challenge and World Club Series last week, that idea has been thrown out the back window this time around.
Both the Dragons and Rabbitohs were involved in the World Club Series last week, recording wins over Hull F.C. and the Wigan Warriors respectively.
South Sydney come into the 2018 season with a new coach as Anthony Seibold takes the reigns, while the Dragons off-season changes are headlined by gun recruits, half Ben Hunt and prop James Graham.
The first Charity Shield was played in 1982, when the St George Dragons and Illawarra Steelers existed as separate clubs. The St George Dragons won 11 of their 17 matches prior to the merger, but as St George Illawarra have only won five of the 17 since.
How to watch the match on TV
The match has long been broadcast right around Australia, with Fox Sports holding the rights to one of the biggest pre-season matches on the NRL’s calendar.
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They will broadcast the game on their 24 hours a day, seven days a week rugby league channel, Fox League, which can be found on Channel 502.
If you want to watch the match on TV, you will need a valid Foxtel TV subscription, complete with the sports package.
How to stream the match online
Because Foxtel have the exclusive rights to broadcast the match on TV, it means you will need to use one of their streaming applications if you want to stream the match online. These are either Foxtel Now or the Foxtel App.
If you already have access to Foxtel on TV, you will be using the Foxtel app, which allows you to stream the channels of Foxtel on any device you may own for free, provided you have existing login details.
Foxtel Now is the better option if you only want to stream Foxtel channels. Packages including sports start from $44 per month, although there is also a 14-day free trial to test it out first.
If you are outside of Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands and want to watch the NRL, the best way is to use Watch NRL.
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Here at The Roar, we will be covering the 2018 Charity Shield with a live blog and highlights.
Key game information: 2018 Charity Shield
Kick-off: 7:30pm (AEDT) Venue: Glen Willow Stadium, Mudgee TV: Live, Fox League 502 Online: Live, Foxtel app or Foxtel now Overall record: Played 28, Dragons 16, Rabbitohs 12 Charity Shield: Played 17, Rabbitohs 9, Dragons 5, drawn 3 (since dragons and Illawarra merged in 1999)