Roar Guru
Can the St George Illawarra Dragons get a much-needed win to boost their finals chances or will the Penrith Panthers tough out another win? Join The Roar for live score updates and debate from 3:00pm (AEST).
Sitting near the bottom of the NRL table logjam, the Dragons likely need to win four of their five remaining matches to quality for the finals.
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Penrith have a good record against the Dragons, winning four of their past five matches, their last victory coming in Round 14 with an 18-14 victory.
For the hosts, Bronson Harrison and Dan Hunt come onto an extended bench with an otherwise unchanged line-up after last week’s tight loss to the Roosters.
For Penrith a number of changes have been made, all forced by injury.
Hard-hitting forward Sam McKendry replaces injured veteran Brett Kite, Isaah Yeo replaces Elijah Taylor, who has been ruled out for the rest of the season, and Ivan Cleary has named Matt Robinson, former NSW prop Tim Grant, Kevin Kingston, Sam Anderson and Ryan Simpkins on an extended bench.
The Penrith halves pairings of Jamie Soward and Will Smith will be tested against the in-form combination of Gareth Widdop and Benji Marshall.
Soward will be hoping for a big match against his former club and after his halves partner will be hoping for a more comprehensive performance after looking very nervous in last week’s win against the Bulldogs.
The Panthers caught the Bulldogs off-guard last weekend in what was an uncharacteristic performance from Des Hasler’s men.
Penrith won’t be so lucky against a desperate Dragons outfit.
Dragons by 8.
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