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Knights
14
Match Complete
Dragons
24
| 79 |  | Z. Lomax | ||
| 78 |  | J. Pereira | ||
| K. Sio | | 71 | ||
| 67 | | M. Dufty | ||
| 58 | | Z. Lomax | ||
| 57 | | N. Macdonald | ||
| 47 | | Z. Lomax | ||
| 45 | | J. Latimore | ||
| N. Meaney | | 38 | ||
| S. Kenny-Dowall | | 37 | ||
| K. Sio | | 11 | ||
| 6 |  | Z. Lomax |
| 3 | Tries | 4 | ||
| 1 | Conversions | 3 | ||
| 0 | Penalty Goals | 1 | ||
| 0 | Field Goals | 0 |
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The St George Illawarra Dragons will face a tough road trip as their final tune-up for the NRL finals when they take on the Newcastle Knights on old boys day in the Hunter. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 3pm (AEST).
Despite their struggles over the past few seasons, old boys day is the one where Newcastle have continually put in a decent effort.
It’s their biggest club day of the year, and even without the injured duo of Kalyn Ponga and Connor Watson, they will give the struggling Dragons a run for their money.
In good news, there is no way Newcastle can collect the wooden spoon, with the club making major leaps forward on the last three years.
They beat the Panthers a fortnight ago in a big upset win on home soil and while they lost to the Sharks last week, it’s their defence which has been the main problem this season.
St George Illawarra are horrendously out of form. They have lost two of their last three by big margins to sides in the bottom four, capped off by an embarrassing 38-0 defeat at Kogarah to the Bulldogs last week.
It brings the club’s recent record to six losses in their last eight games, and without Gareth Widdop or Paul Vaughan on the field, they are going to struggle turning things around.
It would be fair to say the Dragons have looked fatigued and not likely of winning any games between now and the end of the season, but a win at Leichhardt over the Tigers showed their defensive qualities can still exist.
They will be searching for those ahead of the finals, with the club needing to play more direct in the forwards and look to get back to their offloads and quick play the balls which had them on top of the ladder after three months of the season.
While the Dragons form is horrendous, they are desperate for a win here, which should secure a home final next week instead of a potential trip to Auckland or Brisbane.
Prediction
With no Ponga or Watson and the Dragons still trying to get their season back on track ahead of the finals, they should pull off a victory here.
Dragons by 8.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of this match from 3pm (AEST) and don’t forget to add a comment in the section below.
Kick-off: 3pm (AEST)
Venue: McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle
TV: Live, Fox League
Online: Live, Foxtel app, Foxtel now, NRL Digital Pass
Betting: Dragons $1.85, Knights $2.60
Overall record: Played 36, Dragons 25, Knights 11
Last meeting: Round 4, 2018 – Dragons 30 defeat Knights 12 at WIN Stadium, Wollongong
Last five: Dragons 4, Knights 1
Record at venue: Played 19, Dragons 15, Knights 4
Referees: Henry Perenara, Ziggy Przeklasa-Adamski
Newcastle Knights
1 Nick Meaney, 2 Ken Sio, 3 Sione Mata’utia, 4 Cory Denniss, 5 Shaun Kenny-Dowall, 6 Jack Cogger, 7 Mitchell Pearce (c), 8 Herman Ese’ese, 9 Danny Levi, 10 Daniel Saifiti, 11 Jamie Buhrer, 12 Aidan Guerra, 13 Mitchell Barnett
Interchange: 14 Tom Starling,, 15 Chris Heighington, 16 Jacob Lillyman, 17 Josh King, 18 JJ Felise, 19 Pasami Saulo, 20 Brock Lamb, 21 Luke Yates
St George Illawarra Dragons
1 Matt Dufty, 2 Nene Macdonald, 3 Zac Lomax, 4 Tim Lafai, 5 Jordan Pereira, 6 Kurt Mann (c), 7 Ben Hunt, 8 James Graham, 9 Cameron McInnes, 10 Leeson Ah Mau, 11 Tyson Frizell, 12 Tariq Sims, 13 Jack de Belin
Interchange: 14 Jeremy Latimore, 15 Jai Field, 16 Blake Lawrie, 17 Luciano Leilua, 18 Reece Robson, 19 Patrick Herbert, 20 Hame Sele, 21 Jacob Host
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