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St George Illawarra Dragons vs Newcastle Knights: Dragons win trial 18-10

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Roar Guru
23rd February, 2019
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Match result:

The St George Illawarra Dragons have taken out the scoreboard honours 18-10 over the Newcastle Knights in the pre-season NRL clash at WIN Stadium in Wollongong, the final ledger finishing four tries to two.

» Click here for the full match report

Final score
St George Illawarra Dragons 18
Newcastle Knights 10

Match preview:

It is the second of the weekend’s pre-season NRL trial matches, as the St George Illawarra Dragons play host to the Newcastle Knights, at the re-scheduled match at WIN Stadium. Join The Roar from 4pm (AEDT) for live scores and blog of the game.

Finally, after what has felt like the longest off-season in the history of world sport, after last week’s glimpse of footy with the All Stars game some club colours finally grace the playing field.

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What do the Dragons do with Jack de Belin? Well, for the purposes of today’s experiment, they don’t play him, which allows the under-fire Dragons to take a breath, and focus on that thing that all fans have been waiting months for: the footy.

The Dragons bring some new faces into their squad this year in 2019, so the likes of Corey Norman and Korbin Sims will be eager to get some runs on the board, and some miles under the belt.

The stalwarts of this team to keep an eye on though will be those who faded so badly come the pointy end of last season, the likes of Ben hunt, Gareth Widdop, and even Cameron McInnes.

So much rested on the shoulders last season of the Dragons’ 9, 7, 6, and their number 1, Matt Dufty, only for the end of the season to end in a whimper, and waste all those great early season runs.

Which makes you wonder if Mary (coach Paul McGregor) might try to better time his team’s run this season.

It will be interesting to see how much energy the Dragons put into this match.

As for Newcastle, they’re premiership favourites, aren’t they?

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With the greatest player the game will ever see in Kalyn Ponga, the greatest forward going round in David Klemmer, and those proven premiership performers Mitchell Pearce and Tim Glasby, add the freshness of up and coming superstars Kurt Mann and Jesse Ramien, it’s Knights unbackable NRL premiership favourites.

Right?

Of course not, and the Knights will be very, very wary of that thing they have not had to deal with since the horrid days of Wayne Bennett: expectation.

Nathan Brown may well be the coach under the most pressure to start this year.

He has sold Newcastle his vision that he needed time for his plans to come to fruition, as its fans sat through wooden spoons, one win seasons, and last year, the lofty heights of finishing 12th.

This is the year of Brown, so coming into the trial against the Dragons, while word is that almost all but one starting position is settled, every player will be on notice that performances will, and should, speak louder than reputations.

A solid showing against a high profile opponent in Wollongong would be just the tonic to set the Knights up for a strong pre-season, and a strong season.

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Prediction
Both teams will have their eyes on the prize this season, and neither will want to give away too much in a pre-season game against a rival contender.

This match is about match fitness, forming defensive patterns, and learning combinations. Won’t be many points, but for what it’s worth, the Dragons should come out on top.

St George Illawarra 16 Newcastle Knights 12

Catch all the action on The Roar live coverage from 4pm (AEDT), and don’t forget to leave your comment in the comments section below.

Where: WIN Stadium, Wollongong
When: Saturday 23rd February 2019, 4:00pm (AEDT)
TV: Live streaming on the NRL website and app

Dragons
1. Euan Aitken, 2. Mitchell Allgood, 3. Matt Dufty, 4. Jai Field, 5. Jackson Ford, 6. Jacob Host, 7. Ben Hunt, 8. Josh Kerr, 9. Tim Lafai, 10. Jeremy Latimore, 11. Blake Lawrie, 12. Luciano Leilua, 13. Zac Lomax, 14. Joe Lovodua, 15. Lachlan Maranta, 16. Steven Marsters, 17. Cameron McInnes, 18. Darren Nicholls, 19. Corey Norman, 20. Jordan Pereira, 21. Mikaele Ravalawa, 22. Reece Robson, 23. Tristan Sailor, 24. Korbin Sims, 25. Tariq Sims, 26. Lachlan Timm, 27. Paul Vaughan, 28. Gareth Widdop

Knights
1. Aidan Guerra, 2. Brodie Jones, 3. Beau Fermor, 4. Connor Watson, 5. Daniel Saifiti, 6. Danny Levi, 7. David Klemmer, 8. Edrick Lee, 9. Herman Ese’ese, 10. James Gavet, 11. Josh King, 12. Jacob Gagai, 13. Jamie Buhrer, 14. Jesse Ramien, 15, Kalyn Ponga, 16, Kurt Mann, 17, Lachlan Fitzgibbon, 18. Mitchell Pearce, 19. Mason Lino, 20. Mitch Barnett, 21. Nathan Ross, 22. Pasami Saulo, 23. Phoenix Crossland, 24. Sione Mata’utia, 25. Star To’a, 26. Shaun Kenny-Dowall, 27. Tim Glasby, 28. Tex Hoy

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