St. George Illawarra Dragons
12
Match Complete
Wests Tigers
6
| 74 |  | L. Brooks | ||
| Z. Lomax |  | 70 | ||
| J. Sullivan | | 69 | ||
| Z. Lomax | | 57 | ||
| B. Hunt | | 56 | ||
| 25 |  | J. Hastings |
| 2 | Tries | 1 | ||
| 2 | Conversions | 0 | ||
| 0 | Penalty Goals | 1 | ||
| 0 | Field Goals | 0 |
The St George Illawarra Dragons host the West Tigers in Wollongong to close out Round 8 of the NRL with both sides looking to assert themselves after a resurgent fortnight. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 4pm AEST.
What a difference a couple of weeks can make in Rugby League. Both these sides looked dead and buried a couple of weeks ago, as they put together some football that was hard to watch. The Tigers were winless after Round 6, with the Dragons not much better at just the one win from as many attempts. The Dragons got home in a tight encounter at home against Newcastle, then backed it up with a tough win on ANZAC to breathe new life into their campaign. The Tigers have treated their fans to back to back one point wins at Bankwest stadium and against two teams who are no slouches in the Eels and Rabbitohs, a third in a row hear can do plenty to silence their detractors even further.
The Dragons and Tigers have split their 40 encounters 50/50. But the Tigers have won the last three clashes between the two sides, and five of the last six including two matches played in Wollongong. The Tigers also boast a 80% win rate playing in Wollongong, winning four of the five games played between the two.
In team news, the Dragons have lost Jayden Su’A to an ankle injury with Josh MaGuire the man to replace him. Tyrell Fuimaono is the man to come onto the bench in the only change for the Dragons side. The Tigers are unlucky to lose Daine Laurie for this one, a standout at the back for the Tigers. Starford To’a takes his place. Oliver Gildart is back in at centre. Kelma Tuilagi is back into the starting pack, knocking Alex Seyfarth back to the bench.
Prediction
A few weeks ago this way a bit of a miss in terms of must watch TV. But now we have a little bit to play for. The winner keeps their momentum going with a third win in a row. The loser is right back under the hammer, with the Tigers taking on the Sea Eagles at Brookvale and the Dragons off to Melbourne next week.
Realistically the Dragons have beaten the struggling Knights at home, and couldn’t put them away until the final play of the game. They won on ANZAC day, but the two tries they scored weren’t off well worked plays, and the Roosters were far from their best. They played tough, but it is hard to see too many points in them.
The Tigers have managed to score some points the last couple of weeks, and the inclusion of Jackson Hastings at halfback has seemingly brought some real balance and confidence to the Tigers. They have held their nerve in some real pressure situations and are seemingly unfazed by travelling to Wollongong based on their recent record. Daine Laurie is a massive loss. He is a really wholehearted player who has performed consistently well for the Tigers since arriving at the club.
I can’t not back the Tigers at this point. They should be brimming with confidence and I think they have more points in them than the Dragons.
Tigers by 8
Game information
Kick-off: 4:00pm AEST
Venue: WIN Stadium
TV/Stream: Kayo Sports, Foxtel, Nine Network
Betting: Dragons $1.58, Tigers $2.40 – odds via PlayUp
St George
1. Moses Mbye 2. Mathew Feagai 3. Moses Suli 4. Zac Lomax 5. Mikaele Ravalawa 6. Jack Bird 7. Ben Hunt 8. Francis Molo 9. Andrew McCullough 10. George Burgess 11. Tariq Sims 12. Josh Mcguire 13. Jack de Belin 14. Talatau Amone 15. Blake Lawrie 16. Aaron Woods 17. Tyrell Fuimaono 18. Tautau Moga 19. Jackson Ford 20. Josh Kerr 21. Tyrell Sloan 22. Cody Ramsey 23. Jack Gosiewski 24. Jayden Sullivan
Wests Tigers
1. Starford To’a 2. David Nofoaluma 3. Luke Garner 4. Oliver Gildart 5. Ken Maumalo 6. Luke Brooks 7. Jackson Hastings 8. James Tamou 9. Jacob Liddle 10. Zane Musgrove 11. Kelma Tuilagi 12. Luciano Leilua 13. Joe Ofahengaue 14. Jock Madden 15. Alex Twal 16. Thomas Mikaele 17. Alex Seyfarth 18. Jake Simpkin 19. Tyrone Peachey 20. Junior Tupou 21. Tukimihia Simpkins 22. Austin Dias 23. Fonua Pole 24. Junior Pauga
JennyFromPenny
Guest
Hey Brendan, it's been a big bear for me too. Had to look up the rules this week to find out what the hell is going on. While actually stating that stoppages of play are being kept to a minimum, it says that a penalty kick at goal or after a try is scored, the clock can stop after 1m 20 has elapsed. That's when the clock is allowed to stop, until play resumes. There is also no other allowance made to stop the clock. Not for a drop out. Not for a scrum. And yet all we see most every game is the clock stop and start at the whim of the timekeeper. Watch Rnd 2 replay of Dragons - Penrith. It's currently free on the NRL site. Dragons score late to come back within a try. 3:10 on the clock when the try is blown. Clock is wound back and stopped at 3:02. (Hang on, not just theb8 seconds wound back, but it's not allowed to stop until another 1m 20s has elapsed). Halfway through Lomax's setup for goal, the clock actually starts up again, makes it down to 2:27. Takes the kick at goal, and clock stops again. When the restart kick-off takes place, the time suddenly says, 3:04. (?!?) We have somehow gone back in time to a point where the try had not even yet been grounded. How can that be? Pass it off as a slip of the buttons, or more pointedly from my view, a massive question mark about the game's integrity.
Brendon Waldron
Roar Pro
I wasn't at all blaming the ref or talking about what did happen, I was simply asking a question about how the clock works in a hypothetical situation...
danwain
Roar Rookie
They are Jenny, they definitely are immune
JennyFromPenny
Guest
The ref called Tigers knock on, but instead of taking a quick 20m tap, it was the Dragons who were trying to wind down the clock getting to the restart, and then giving the Bunker a chance to butt it. Don't blame the on-field ref there. He was offering a favour.
JennyFromPenny
Guest
More worried about what they do after the Dragons. Panthers are next to visit, and not convinced they are immune from conceding the five-O.
steveng
Roar Rookie
Well called Jack, keep them coming, good job!
What a buy Frank Molo!
:stoked:
thanks for the call
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
Naa, this week was the difficult one IMO. Next is mostly cut and dry.
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
Tiger played better, just missed Laurie and took Dragons lightly. We dodged a bullet
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
Dragoons will kick a goal in the first 5 and Hook will tell them to protect the lead.....
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
Umm.. cheers... LOL it was that kind of game..
Big Daddy
Roar Rookie
If you thought tipping was hard next week only gets harder .
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
And pull SBW's Rooster appearances
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
They never do, but they should
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
Yeah, I was thinking about going to that game but now I'm sure Mother's Day duties will keep me at home...
Jack Aubrey
Roar Guru
A win is a win as far as the Dragons are concerned - three in a row for the Red V. It was a game that had the two teams just trading pretty traditional sets for an hour of the contest. The Dragons finally got a try through Bent Hunt. A simple effort in the end, just ducking under some tackles to give the Dragons the lead. They would extend not long after with Jayden Sullivan. It was a similar effort to Hunt's try. Not much to it. Just using his pace of the quick play the ball and crashing across. The Tigers would come alive with ten to go, and would bridge the gap with a try to Luke Brooks. He found himself with some space on the left, and with the Dragons back peddling and gave the Tigers their first try of the afternoon. Jackson Hastings would miss the conversion, giving the Tigers four minutes to score a try and take the game to extra time. They would get a couple of cracks but in the end come up short. For the Dragons, they have some positives to their game. They have a hard pack, and defend well. Ben Hunt always kicks well. They have some potential match winners in the likes of Amone and Sullivan but they need the ball in better position. The Dragons refusal to kick on the last in good field position is frustrating and downright bizarre at times, but it obviously a coaching ploy. They'll win more games. But it is hard to see them playing finals with their current band of footy. The Tigers are in much the same spot. They haven't had trouble scoring points the last couple of weeks but couldn't find a couple of tries today to beat the Dragons. They have components of a good footy team, but a fair bit of work to do. The Tigers head to Brookvale next Saturday, always a tough road trip. The Dragons head to Melbourne. With the Storm having scored 120-12 in the past two weeks, their is no better way to see how your season is going than a trip down south. Thankyou for joining the coverage this afternoon. I hope you enjoyed the weekend of footy. Bye for now.
Congrats Dragons and faithful fans!! Goose playing better, and Rava never dropped a ball! Well done!
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
Thanks Jack