Saturday Selection: St George Illawarra Dragons v Warriors Round 21 preview, stats, team lists
Saturday Selection
The Dragons are in a late-season form slump. Picture: Brett CostelloSource: News Corp Australia
IT’S a scenario St George Illawarra fans have seen all before.
Their side bursts out of the blocks to sit on top of the NRL ladder before they begin to slide in the latter part of the season.
While Dragons have ensured they will play finals football this season, question marks still remain over their true premiership credentials after three losses from their past four games to sit fourth on the ladder.
Their Round 20 loss to title contender the Sydney Roosters exposed them both defensively and offensively.
They appear to be a shadow of the side that took down the Tricolours earlier in the season on Anzac Day, along with a number of other big scalps like Melbourne.
“We’re seeing that at the moment with the Storm and the Roosters and how much they’ve evolved with their attack, but it’s been on the back of their defence.
“That’s Paul McGregor’s biggest challenge.
“Jack de Belin, Cameron McInnes, Paul Vaughan — these guys led this barrage of intent and aggression in the early parts of the season and it’s just dwindled.
“They look fatigued.”
With the Dragons taking on the Warriors at WIN Stadium at 3pm, the team from across the ditch remains the only top eight side they face in their final five regular season games.
While a win will calm a few nerves this week, they must power into September, otherwise they’ll be another also-ran.
TEAMS
Dragons: 1 Matt Dufty, 2 Jordan Pereira, 3 Euan Aitken, 4 Tim Lafai, 5 Jason Nightingale, 6 Gareth Widdop (c), 7 Ben Hunt, 8 James Graham, 9 Cameron McInnes, 10 Paul Vaughan, 11 Tyson Frizell, 12 Tariq Sims, 13 Jack de Belin
Interchange: 14 Jeremy Latimore, 15 Kurt Mann, 16 Leeson Ah Mau, 17 Luciano Leilua
Reserves: 18 Patrick Herbert, 19 Blake Lawrie, 20 Zachary Lomax, 21 Mitchell Allgood
Warriors: 1 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, 2 David Fusitu’a, 3 Gerard Beale, 4 Solomone Kata, 5 Ken Maumalo, 6 Blake Green, 7 Shaun Johnson, 8 James Gavet, 9 Issac Luke, 10 Agnatius Paasi, 11 Isaiah Papali’i, 12 Tohu Harris, 13 Adam Blair
Interchange: 14 Jazz Tevaga, 15 Simon Mannering, 16 Leivaha Pulu, 17 Bunty Afoa
Reserves: 18 Peta Hiku, 20 Mason Lino, 21 Sam Lisone, 22 Joseph Vuna
Dragons
— The Dragons have now lost three of their past four matches, two of them by 18 points or more and will be hoping to avoid back to back losses for just the second time this season (Rds. 17-18). They have conceded 20 points or more in all six of their losses this season.
— If the Dragons score 20 points or more in this match they will have done so in eight straight matches at WIN Stadium, which would be their second best streak of doing so behind 12 straight games between 2001-03.
— When leading at the halftime break, the Dragons have won a perfect 10 from 10 games. The same goes for when they score the first try in matches this season, winning nine of
nine games.
Warriors
— The Warriors concede 4.9 linebreaks per game, the second most with only the Titans ahead of them (5.8).
— The Warriors make 33.3 tackles per game inside their own 20, the most in the competition. They also concede the most penalties per game in this area (3.8 per game).
— When leading at halftime, the Warriors have gone on to win 10 of 11 matches this season.
HEAD TO HEAD
27 games: Dragons 21, Warriors 6
THE FORM GUIDE
Dragons (most recent game first)
36-18 LOSS v Roosters (away)
24-10 WIN v Cowboys (away)
20-16 LOSS v Tigers (home)
Warriors (most recent game first)
36-12 LOSS v Titans (away)
12-6 LOSS v Storm (home)
26-6 WIN v Broncos (away)
https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/sa...s/news-story/dc953276a597508aef3923288767ea05
Saturday Selection
- August 3, 2018 12:00pm
- by Staff writers
- Source: FOX SPORTS
The Dragons are in a late-season form slump. Picture: Brett CostelloSource: News Corp Australia
IT’S a scenario St George Illawarra fans have seen all before.
Their side bursts out of the blocks to sit on top of the NRL ladder before they begin to slide in the latter part of the season.
While Dragons have ensured they will play finals football this season, question marks still remain over their true premiership credentials after three losses from their past four games to sit fourth on the ladder.
Their Round 20 loss to title contender the Sydney Roosters exposed them both defensively and offensively.
They appear to be a shadow of the side that took down the Tricolours earlier in the season on Anzac Day, along with a number of other big scalps like Melbourne.
“We’re seeing that at the moment with the Storm and the Roosters and how much they’ve evolved with their attack, but it’s been on the back of their defence.
“That’s Paul McGregor’s biggest challenge.
“Jack de Belin, Cameron McInnes, Paul Vaughan — these guys led this barrage of intent and aggression in the early parts of the season and it’s just dwindled.
“They look fatigued.”
With the Dragons taking on the Warriors at WIN Stadium at 3pm, the team from across the ditch remains the only top eight side they face in their final five regular season games.
While a win will calm a few nerves this week, they must power into September, otherwise they’ll be another also-ran.
TEAMS
Dragons: 1 Matt Dufty, 2 Jordan Pereira, 3 Euan Aitken, 4 Tim Lafai, 5 Jason Nightingale, 6 Gareth Widdop (c), 7 Ben Hunt, 8 James Graham, 9 Cameron McInnes, 10 Paul Vaughan, 11 Tyson Frizell, 12 Tariq Sims, 13 Jack de Belin
Interchange: 14 Jeremy Latimore, 15 Kurt Mann, 16 Leeson Ah Mau, 17 Luciano Leilua
Reserves: 18 Patrick Herbert, 19 Blake Lawrie, 20 Zachary Lomax, 21 Mitchell Allgood
Warriors: 1 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, 2 David Fusitu’a, 3 Gerard Beale, 4 Solomone Kata, 5 Ken Maumalo, 6 Blake Green, 7 Shaun Johnson, 8 James Gavet, 9 Issac Luke, 10 Agnatius Paasi, 11 Isaiah Papali’i, 12 Tohu Harris, 13 Adam Blair
Interchange: 14 Jazz Tevaga, 15 Simon Mannering, 16 Leivaha Pulu, 17 Bunty Afoa
Reserves: 18 Peta Hiku, 20 Mason Lino, 21 Sam Lisone, 22 Joseph Vuna
Dragons
— The Dragons have now lost three of their past four matches, two of them by 18 points or more and will be hoping to avoid back to back losses for just the second time this season (Rds. 17-18). They have conceded 20 points or more in all six of their losses this season.
— If the Dragons score 20 points or more in this match they will have done so in eight straight matches at WIN Stadium, which would be their second best streak of doing so behind 12 straight games between 2001-03.
— When leading at the halftime break, the Dragons have won a perfect 10 from 10 games. The same goes for when they score the first try in matches this season, winning nine of
nine games.
Warriors
— The Warriors concede 4.9 linebreaks per game, the second most with only the Titans ahead of them (5.8).
— The Warriors make 33.3 tackles per game inside their own 20, the most in the competition. They also concede the most penalties per game in this area (3.8 per game).
— When leading at halftime, the Warriors have gone on to win 10 of 11 matches this season.
HEAD TO HEAD
27 games: Dragons 21, Warriors 6
THE FORM GUIDE
Dragons (most recent game first)
36-18 LOSS v Roosters (away)
24-10 WIN v Cowboys (away)
20-16 LOSS v Tigers (home)
Warriors (most recent game first)
36-12 LOSS v Titans (away)
12-6 LOSS v Storm (home)
26-6 WIN v Broncos (away)
https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/sa...s/news-story/dc953276a597508aef3923288767ea05
