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North Queensland Cowboys vs St George Illawarra Dragons: NRL live scores, blog

21st July, 2018
When: 7:35pm (AEST)
Where: 1300Smiles Stadium
TV: Live, Fox League
Betting: Cowboys $2.42, Dragons $1.57
Overall meetings: Played 29; Cowboys 15, Dragons 14
Last meeting: Dragons won 28-22 at WIN Stadium in Round 7, 2017
Referees: Adam Gee, Ziggy Przeklasa-Adamski

Cowboys
1. Lachlan Coote 2. Kyle Feldt 3. Enari Tuala 4. Kane Linnett 5. Justin O'Neill 6. Te Maire Martin 7. Johnathan Thurston 8. John Asiata 9. Jake Granville 10. Scott Bolton 11. Gavin Cooper 12. Coen Hess 13. Jason Taumalolo
14. Ben Hampton 15. Shaun Fensom 16. Francis Molo 17. Corey Jensen 18. Jake Clifford 19. Ethan Lowe 20. Mitchell Dunn 21. Antonio Winterstein (Four to be omitted)

Rabbitohs
1. Matthew Dufty 2. Nene Macdonald 3. Euan Aitken 4. Timoteo Lafai 5. Jason Nightingale 6. Gareth Widdop 7. Ben Hunt 8. James Graham 9. Cameron McInnes 10. Paul Vaughan 11. Tyson Frizell 12. Tariq Sims 13. Jack de Belin
14. Jeremy Latimore 15. Kurt Mann 16. Leeson Ah Mau 17. Luciano Leilua 18. Patrick Herbert 19. Blake Lawrie 20. Jai Field 21. Jordan Pereira (Four to be omitted)
Johnathan Thurston (Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Roar Guru
21st July, 2018
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Will the St George Illawarra Dragons bounce back after successive defeats or can the North Queensland Cowboys restore some much-needed pride? Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match at 7:35pm (AEST).

Some have recently suggested that the entire Cowboys team is in need of a rest and last week’s 38-12 loss to the Raiders only strengthened that claim.

After making it all the way to the grand final last year, North Queensland entered 2018 burdened by high expectations that they haven’t come close to fulfilling.

Wins have been hard to come by, with Paul Green’s men claiming just the one victory from their past eight games. As such, the threat of the wooden spoon is hanging, yet it doesn’t look to be motivating them.

Coach Green has still refused to make any drastic changes to the side, although Justin O’Neill replaces Antonio Winterstein on the wing, while Coen Hess starts for Shane Wright.

The Dragons have an unfortunate reputation for choking, and they have done themselves no favours in the past fortnight.

Back-to-back losses to the Storm and Tigers have only given their sceptics even more of a reason to argue that Paul McGregor’s men are simply making up the numbers in 2018.

After looking a possibility for the minor premiership, a loss on Saturday night could see Saints drop out of the top four for the first time this year.

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The club desperately needs a win given that McGregor no longer has the opportunity to rest his State of Origin stars.

Prediction
The Dragons may be on the decline but they have the perfect opportunity to regain confidence.

Dragons by 24.

Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match from 7:35pm (AEST).

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