Dragons V Roosters Preview
NRL
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Dragons v Roosters
ANZ Stadium
Friday 3.15pm.
ANZAC Day clashes between these two rivals have traditionally been fiercely fought affairs but it appears much of the fight has gone out of the Dragons this year.
It was only three weeks ago that coach Nathan Brown insisted hed be sticking with halfback Jamie Soward and five-eighth Rangi Chase as his halves combination so they could grow in confidence; that all went out the window after they plunged to their third successive defeat against the Cowboys and Soward was dumped.
Well, after their meek capitulation to the Bulldogs last week to make it four in a row, Chase is gone. And Soward is back except now hes at five-eighth, with captain Ben Hornby named again at no.7 (despite hooker Dean Young actually playing first receiver last week).
Young has been named at hooker, swapping jerseys with Stuart Webb.
As if naming players in their positions wasnt difficult enough, this week they come up against a Roosters side still smarting from a complacent loss to the Knights at Gosford last week.
With rep jerseys on the line, you can bet there wont be a repeat this week or if there is, it wont be because of complacency. And against the current Dragons outfit thats as likely as Johnathan Thurston not making the Kangaroos side on Sunday night.
Sia Soliola has been named in the centres, with Mitch Aubusson benched, while Mark OMeley has been named at prop after being a late withdrawal last week.
Watch out Dragons
The Roosters are making 25 per cent more line breaks than the Dragons (24-18). And the Dragons are having to make an average 10 more tackles a game. And its the last chance for Braith Anasta to push his claims for a Kangaroos jersey. And Mitchell Pearces last chance to push for a City jersey, en route to a Blues gig. And Mark OMeleys last chance to sew up a Country jersey. And Willie Masons to tie down a green-and-gold one. Need we go on?
Watch out Roosters: To date the Dragons have been fairly predictable around the rucks, shifting it one- and two-men wide for modest gains before sending the ball to the backs to see what they can do.
In fact, the Dragons are the only side in the competition yet to make a line break from dummy-half. Nathan Brown could very well look to change things up this week, utilising Stuart Webb and Young to push up. Given their current form its the only way theyre going to get the Roosters back-pedalling.
Where it will be won: Attitude. Theres no question St George Illawarra are capable of a huge win over any team, as they showed when blitzing competition leaders the Titans against the odds in round 2. Its just their percentage rate of doing so is approximately half that of Federal Opposition Leader Brendan Nelsons personal approval rating yikes!
The Roosters meantime will be stung into action, having surrendered the competition lead last week. And the loss only highlighted their ineffectiveness in the second half of games theyve now had more points scored in the final 20 minutes of their six games than in their first hours of play (56 out of 104). Coach Brad Fittler will have identified this and put into action a remedy plan.
The History: Played 17; Dragons 9, Roosters 7, drawn 1. The Dragons have won five of the past eight games but were crushed in last years Anzac Day game 18-4 at the SFS. Before that they won four straight including their biggest-ever win over the Roosters 44-6 at WIN Stadium in 2005. They have yet to meet at ANZ Stadium.
Conclusion
The Dragons will dig in, but for how long? The one player who can really turn things on for them is Jason Ryles. Once a feared prop and one of the first players picked in rep teams Ryles prospects have gone into freefall since the beginning of last season.
Hes gone a long way to resurrecting his reputation with some honest, toiling games over the past month and given the Dragons dismal efforts its no mean feat to shine against a dull background.
Last week he made 15 runs for 146 metres in 55 minutes, against the Cowboys it was 161 metres from 17 hit-ups with three offloads in 60 minutes. Good stats. If he can ramp up that sort of go-forward (and keep his mouth shut and not give away foolish penalties another two last week!) he can stir the drowsy Dragons.
Match officials: Referee Sean Hampstead; Sideline Officials Jeff Younis & Steve Chiddy; Video ref Steve Cooley.
Televised: FoxSports 2 Live 3.15pm.
* Statistics: NRL Stats.
