Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
28
Match Complete
St. George Illawarra Dragons
6
| J. Averillo |  | 77 | ||
| A. Elliott |  | 68 | ||
| J. Averillo | | 62 | ||
| J. Averillo |  | 53 | ||
| J. Marshall-King | | 51 | ||
| J. Averillo | | 43 | ||
| J. Averillo | | 41 | ||
| J. Averillo | | 29 | ||
| J. Averillo | | 28 | ||
| 22 | | C. Norman | ||
| 20 | | B. Wiliame | ||
| J. Averillo | | 9 |
| 4 | Tries | 1 | ||
| 3 | Conversions | 1 | ||
| 3 | Penalty Goals | 0 | ||
| 0 | Field Goals | 0 |
It’s the NRL’s annual Queen’s Birthday match as the Canterbury Bulldogs take on the St George Illawarra Dragons on Monday afternoon. Join The Roar for live scores as Round 14 wraps up from 4pm (AEST).
Today is a vital day for the Dragons. Currently sitting eighth, there are remarkably just two premiership points between them and the 14th-placed Knights. It’s their comparatively strong points-for standing, courtesy of last week’s 52-24 thrashing of the Broncos, that has secured their position, and will see them leapfrog the Cowboys and perhaps even Manly with a win today.
The unwanted Matt Dufty shone against Brisbane with two tries and five assists, but Anthony Griffin would have been less impressed with the Dragons’ leaky defence. That hasn’t been too great a concern for much of the season, but the coach will be keen for an improvement against another lowly outfit.
This match has the potential to separate the Dragons from the chasing pack: lose, and the jungle drums will start beating in earnest. Tariq Sims has been named in the reserves backing up from Wednesday’s Origin series opener, but Griffin has stated that the second-rower will start on Monday. Otherwise, the Dragons head in unchanged from the side that dismantled the Broncos.
The Bulldogs’ own defence hasn’t been horrific this season: it’s been their attack that will be giving Trent Barrett sleepless nights. They’ve scored just 134 points across twelve rounds, nearly 100 behind the next-worst Knights (albeit with two games in hand), and have struggled mightily to simply put points on the board.
Last week’s bye should leave them refreshed and ready to try and add to their single win in the second half of the year. Fullback Dallin Watene-Zelezniak is a major absentee with a lingering foot injury, meaning Tui Katoa will take on the job. Jeremy Marshall-King returns from his own foot injury, but the Dogs’ lack of Origin selections means there should be no last-minute surprises.
Game information
Kick-off: 4pm (AEST)
Venue: Stadium Australia, Sydney
TV: Fox League
Live stream: Kayo Sports, Foxtel Now, Foxtel Go, 9Now
Odds: Bulldogs $4.60, Dragons $1.21 (odds via PlayUp)
Teams
Bulldogs
21. Tuipulotu Katoa, 2. Nick Cotric, 3. Will Hopoate, 4. Aaron Schoupp, 5. Nick Meaney, 6. Brandon Wakeham, 7. Jake Averillo, 8. Jack Hetherington, 9. Jeremy Marshall-King, 10. Luke Thompson, 11. Adam Elliott, 12. Matt Doorey, 13. Josh Jackson (c)
Bench/Reserves: 14. Sione Katoa, 15. Dylan Napa, 16. Ava Seumanufagai | 19. Kyle Flanagan, 20. Corey Waddell, 23. Chris Smith
Dragons
1. Matt Dufty, 2. Cody Ramsey, 3. Brayden Wiliame, 4. Gerard Beale, 5. Mikaele Ravalawa, 6. Corey Norman, 7. Ben Hunt (c), 8. Blake Lawrie, 9. Andrew McCullough, 10. Paul Vaughan, 11. Josh Kerr, 12. Jack Bird, 13. Jackson Ford
Bench/Reserves: 14. Talatau Amone, 15. Poasa Faamausili, 16. Daniel Alvaro, 17. Jack De Belin | 19. Kaide Ellis, 20. Tariq Sims
John Shaw
Roar Rookie
Just to be clear, most of them are trying their hearts out. My comment went to effect and impact, not heart.
.kraM
Roar Rookie
Really? There you go. Certainly have been in the past.
Cam
Roar Rookie
Dragons clearly under the impression that showing up in their kit was all that was needed to bank the 2 points.
Oscar St George
Roar Rookie
Dragons had won 4 of the past 5 games between the 2 teams
Rossi
Roar Rookie
I'd like them to sign Johnson, Milford is too far gone now
Simon
Guest
Yeah the NRL always seem to be more rigid with the matches shown outside the normal timeslots. This game and that Easter Monday game that always gets the huge Sydney show crowd should always be on FTA
no one in particular
Roar Guru
can't televise if you don't own the rights
BustlingBillDunn
Roar Rookie
Are you tired of go forward? Want to stop forward momentum dead in its tracks? Introducing instant smaller forward pack*. Just add Bird and Ford! Stir together, and in seconds you’ll have a small ineffective forward pack that can’t get over the ad line! *As seen on TV (in the Dragons match. *Guaranteed to work as advertised or your full money back.
Big Daddy
Roar Rookie
The only downside for me today was the NRL had a great opportunity to televise the match today and the AFL got a jump on them. CH 7 tend to get things done better on these long weekend matches.
BustlingBillDunn
Roar Rookie
Lawrie's the most consistent forward in the pack. He delivers week in, week out.
Centre
Roar Rookie
And Alvaro at the Mittagong pub
Brisguy51
Roar Rookie
Straight swap. Norman comes to Broncos and Milford to St George.
Renegade
Roar Guru
Hopefully not Johnson, cause then I’ll have to hate him! :silly:
The Barry
Roar Guru
That was the greatest day of my life…!!! Last minutes decision by my 11 year old to make the trip to Homebush and as we were lining up for tickets a bulldog supporter said he had some spare free tickets for us !!! Best effort from the Dogs for the season. Dragons weren’t great, but Dogs stayed at their task Jackson is a legend !!! So often there’s a tough carry out of the red zone and you go “who was that?” and Jackson drags himself out from under the pile of bodies, or it’s a line break saving tackle Averillo played well - and he may be my sons new hero - but he’s not a 7. Dogs kicking game wasn’t great for a lot of the game. Dragons were regularly starting sets on the 30 or further Wakeham is poor. I’d think Flanagan or Lewis would be better options but that’s being churlish… that was an exciting afternoon
Succhi
Roar Rookie
Might be old news, but just read Norman has been told to look elsewhere in 2022. He’s played with no heart for 2+ years, don’t think Dragons will get much out of him for the remainder of this year. Could the Dragons possibly sign Milford or Johnson? Surely not.
andrew
Roar Rookie
Just watched the highlights, Saints marshmallow defence was an embarrassment. Talk about soft tries.
Andrew
Roar Pro
100% agree
Andrew
Roar Pro
100% agree, today was a clueless McGregor type performance. Zero improvement on last year
no one in particular
Roar Guru
they look good by comparison
Soda
Roar Rookie
Hunt tries his ring out. The whole team was flat as today. Inexcusable performance all round from the get go.