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St George Illawarra Dragons vs Newcastle Knights: NRL live scores, blog

1st April, 2018
Where: WIN Stadium
When: 4:10pm AEDT
TV: Nine, Fox League
Betting: Dragons $1.32, Knights $3.55
The St George Illawarra Dragons host the Warriors this weekend. (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)
Roar Pro
1st April, 2018
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Match result:

The St George Illawarra Dragons find themselves with a 4-0 record after taking a comfortable win against Newcastle on Sunday.

Final score
Dragons 30
Knights 12

Match preview:

The Easter bunny has gifted us one of the games of the round marking a blockbuster Easter Sunday, as the St George Illawarra Dragons come up against the Newcastle Knights in what is set to be a great test for either side. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage of the match, starting from 4:10pm AEDT.

The Red V of St George can do no wrong coming into Round 4, sitting only with the New Zealand Warriors as the two unbeaten sides atop the NRL ladder.

Strong starts can be deceptive however, just ask the Dragons of 2017. This Dragons outfit does indeed look different, with Ben Hunt and Gareth Widdop forming a dynamic tandem and the likes of James Graham, Tariq Sims and Paul Vaughan showing promising signs through the early portion of the year.

The Dragons have named an unchanged side to take on the Knights in Wollongong.

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Newcastle come off a tough 30-point thrashing at the hands of the Roosters, in what many anticipated to be a much closer affair.

Nathan Brown will be eager to see his young side improve and will look to Mitchell Pearce to find the form that he entered the opening rounds of the season with.

Brock Lamb comes into the Newcastle outfit replacing Connor Watson as Pearce’s halves partner and Chris Heighington returns to the bench for the Knights.

Depending on how many times the whistle gets blown and how many shots at penalty goal are taken, expect to see some highly entertaining razzle dazzle football from both sides.

The matchup of the forwards will be key with the Dragons possessing plenty of firepower that we can expect to see in the NSW Origin arena this year.

Newcastle must match their intensity if they are to have any hope of providing the go forward in both attack and defence.

Jack de Belin and Kalyn Ponga are my two players to watch from either side, both capable of blowing a game wide open. Look to see de Belin in everything, particularly defensively as he has become a stalwart for the Dragons.

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Ponga is a different kettle of fish, stepping, weaving and causing headaches for even the most dominant defences. He will combine with Pearce to score at least one, if not two tries.

Prediction
If Newcastle are ready for the task at hand and their forwards are willing to turn up right from the start, they are a red-hot crack at overcoming St George and continuing a tipsters nightmare with another upset on the cards.

This game will be much tighter than what people are expecting with either side capable of a dominating display. I’m going against the grain and predicting this game will swing the way of the Knights with Brock Lamb scoring in his return to the starting side and Pearce kicking another field goal to ice out the Dragons.

Newcastle by 1.

Join myself and The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match starting from 4:10pm AEDT

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