Paul McGregor confident Dragons will bounce back against South Sydney
Dragons Den
Charging forward: Tariq Sims. Picture: AAP Image/Michael Chambers.
St George Illawarra coach Paul McGregor is looking forward to seeing his team bounce back from last week's round one defeat when they take on South Sydney on Thursday night.
The odds are stacked against the Dragons, with the side coming off a five-day turnaround and star forward Tyson Frizell absent through injury.
Compounding the challenge for St George Illawarra is the fact South Sydney claimed a dominant victory over defending premiers the Roosters last weekend, a match in which the Rabbitohs pack rolled through their opposition.
Given the way the
Cowboys ran rampant against the Dragons, Souths are sure to stick to what worked so well for them last week. McGregor, however, is confident his pack is up to the task.
"They [South Sydney] rely a lot around their play-the-ball speed and on the other side rely on their ruck control," McGregor said.
"They just build pressure on you from working up the field, generating play-the-ball speed for a nice kicking game with [Adam] Reynolds.
"It's important we embrace that and enjoy that, make sure we get consistent line speed, get our legs fast with attitude, to win collisions, to then dominate field position a bit more. The last couple of times they've played, it's been all them, just on the front foot."
While confident his pack can match it with the Sam Burgess-led Rabbitohs pack, McGregor recognises his team must eliminate the errors that plagued the Dragons last week if they are to defeat South Sydney.
That lack of possession, he believes, was the key reason the Cowboys ran over the top of St George Illawarra in the second half and he said the players are focused on avoiding a repeat.
"I thought the first 30 minutes for us was very professional, we had really good intent with attitude and energy with what we did.
"What happened on the back of that was a nine to three error count, and a couple of kicks that were a metre too long, or a metre too wide. That then put us under fatigue in the second half and that's when you become vulnerable.
"The most important thing for us to learn from last week is you've got to hold the footy at important times and put the opposition under pressure.
"We did that for 15 to 20 minutes last week and looked really strong. This time of year that's what it's about, we've got to stress their defensive line a little bit more than we did last week and get excited when we have the ball."
With
Tyson Frizell injured, 23-year-old forward Josh Kerr is set to make his NRL debut off the bench. After a pre-season that involved his representative debut for the Indigenous All Stars, McGregor is looking forward to watching Kerr feature on Thursday night.
"It's always a young man's dream to be able to play at home when they make their debut and make their debut after a very long journey so he's very excited.
"He's very confident in his belief of what he can do now, where that wasn't there in the past. He's a big boy, he's our quickest forward over 20 metres, weighs 116 kilos, but you still need confidence and belief in your game, what you need to do.
"He's got that out of a tough pre-season and knowing he competes against a formidable forward pack at training and now it's just another pack in a different jumper."
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