Dragons brush off flak and stay put
BY MICHAEL CARAYANNIS
14/05/2009 9:17:00 AM
ST GEORGE Illawarra chief executive Peter Doust has rubbished suggestions that the Dragons should have moved their blockbuster sell-out match against Canterbury from WIN Jubilee Oval tomorrow night.
Bulldogs boss Todd Greenberg had criticised the Dragons for not moving away from the boutique Kogarah ground to a bigger ANZ Stadium or the Sydney Football Stadium.
But Doust hit back at his adversary saying he would honour the commitments he made to members and fans at the start of the season. "It makes you wonder what commitments [Greenberg] is wishing to change,'' Doust said.
"It is not for Greenberg to be making policy for the NRL or where the opposition play their home games.''
The Bulldogs last played at Kogarah in front of 18,223 fans in 2006. The Dragons moved back to a refurbished Jubilee Stadium earlier this year, having played Sydney-based home matches at ANZ Stadium last season.
The match is a sell-out with more than 20,000 people set to pack the ground (with a sell-out, NRL and club junior passes won't be accepted). "The club organises and communicates very specifically with the local area command about any traffic, transport and security manners at WIN Jubilee Oval before every home game,'' Doust said.
Injured trio Ben Creagh (ankle), Beau Scott (elbow) and Luke Priddis (knee) will return to the Dragons team for the Heritage Round clash.
Priddis will undergo a final fitness test at Wollongong today, with Mathew Head placed on standby.
Jarrod Saffy (ribs) is expected to miss at least another week while Jeremy Smith (ankle) is an outside chance to return in the local derby clash against Cronulla next Saturday.
Following an impressive Dragons' debut last week forward Mickey Paea retains his place on the bench.
DRAGONS
1 Darius Boyd, 2 Brett Morris, 3 Beau Scott, 4 Matt Cooper, 5 Wendell Sailor, 6 Jamie Soward, 7 Ben Hornby [c], 8 Justin Poore, 9 Dean Young, 10 Michael Weyman, 11 Matt Prior, 12 Ben Creagh, 13 Neville Costigan.
Interchange: 14 Dan Hunt, 15 Luke Priddis, 16 Jason Nightingale, 17 Mickey Paea.
