Tonights Friday night NRL Round 2 match is between the St George Illawarra Dragons and Brisbane Broncos. The opening kick is set to commence at 8:05pm local time with the match being played at WIN Stadium in Syndey. Away team Brisbane Broncos are the current favourites for the match. View our full match preview for the game.
Round: Round 2, Friday, 8.05pm
Stadium: WIN Stadium
Odds:
St George Illawarra Dragons $2.10 vs Brisbane Broncos $1.75 at Sportsbet Australia
St George Illawarra Dragons $2.05 vs Brisbane Broncos $1.79 at Luxbet Australia
Preview:
Watch Out Dragons: The Dragons were shaky down their right side last season, leaking 36 tries in their 24 games, and last week they gave up two tries there and were sliced open repeatedly. To make matters worse first-choice centre Chase Stanley, although named, remains under an injury cloud (knee sprain); should he be a late withdrawal (as is our mail) usual-winger Daniel Vidot will come in as the makeshift man. Regardless of who lines up in the No.4 jersey, expect Jack Reed, Josh Hoffman and Corey Norman to launch plenty of left-side raids for the Broncos, while Alex Glenn and Sam Thaiday will be used as battering rams.
Justin Hodges looms as the big danger man for the Saints; he was devastating on the right side last week, with 150 metres, two try assists, two line-break assists, two offloads and four tackle-breaks – almost a third of his team’s combined tally.
Watch Out Broncos: Brisbane can expect a fast and furious softening-up from the Dragons’ props. Last week it was Dan Hunt and Leeson Ah Mau who put their bodies on the line in the extreme 35-degree Melbourne heat – the pair each topped 100 metres in little more than 30 minutes on the field. Coach Price has elevated Michael Weyman to start alongside Hunt; after taking baby steps in his NRL return after 10 months out with injury, Weyman will be expected to rally here. When he burns out expect interchange Ah Mau to carry the torch.
Trent Merrin is another who will take the battle to the Broncos. Starting at lock he will need to be contained in the tackle or else he’ll pose a threat with his ability to offload (three last week).
Hooker Mitch Rein had a subdued season opener – he’ll offer a lot more than the 36 receives and solitary run he provided last week. In particular he’ll be dangerous sizing up opportunities to go himself out of dummy-half, particularly inside the Broncos’ 10-metre zone.
Scott Prince can’t let the missed tackles mount or he’ll prove a liability every week; Prince missed six tackles last week – in 2012 he averaged 4.5 misses per match, the third most in the league.
Plays To Watch: Dragons wingers Jason Nightingale and Brett Morris attempting to spark their side like they’re fleeing a stampede; Trent Merrin’s charges and offloads (three to date); veterans Matt Cooper and Justin Hodges locking horns; captain Sam Thaiday giving his all (15 runs, 31 tackles in 59 minutes against Manly); Alex Glenn (17 runs, 150 metres) eyeballing Nathan Fien in the Dragons’ right-edge defensive line; Andrew McCullough running from dummy-half close to the try line – he came within a blade of grass of success last week.
Key Match-Up: Gerard Beale v Corey Norman. The last time these teams met Beale occupied the right wing for the Broncos while teammate Norman wore the No.6 jersey. Now they oppose each other at fullback. Neither player offered a great deal for their team last week – Norman ran just 76 metres without any impact in attack, while Beale fared little better adding just 84 metres – so both will be keen to spark this week.
It’s safe to assume Beale will be focusing on a huge game against his former club after never really being considered a standout candidate for his preferred position. He’ll look to work on his combinations with wingers Brett Morris and Jason Nightingale, as well as five-eighth Jamie Soward targeting the right edge in particular.
Meanwhile Norman will be desperate to repay the faith shown in him by coach Griffin and register some big gains with the ball in hand – he was leading Bronco for try assists and line-break assists last season (14 each category) while he added 11 line-breaks and 10 tries. Look for him to chime in off a delayed Scott Prince pass down the left edge of the field inside the Dragons’ 20.
Where It Will Be Won: For Brisbane it’s about a sustained effort throughout the 80 minutes while the Dragons simply have to find a way to get into good field position and convert that into points.
Brisbane capitulated in a diabolical second 40 against the Sea Eagles, bumbling to just eight completed sets from 16 individual possessions, missing 21 tackles after the break and committing more than an error every five minutes!
Meanwhile the Dragons completed their sets better than opponents Melbourne (79%-64%) and made almost half as many errors (8-15) – yet they struggled with the ball in hand, making just one line-break and creating just the one true scoring opportunity to Jason Nightingale (not including Jamie Soward’s long-range intercept effort). It doesn’t appear much has changed for them in attack since last season and if they can’t find some mojo they’ll struggle again here.
The History: Played 28; Broncos 15, Dragons 13. The Broncos have won six of the past nine games. The Dragons won the last encounter in Wollongong 34-16, back in Round 5 of their 2010 premiership season. Since then the Broncos have won three times in Brisbane.
Match Officials: Referees – Jason Robinson & Gavin Morris; Sideline Officials – Ricky MacFarlane & Paul Holland; Video Referees – Steve Chiddy & Gavin Reynolds.
Televised: Channel Nine – Live 8.05pm AEDT (NSW & Qld); Fox Sports 1HD – Delayed 10pm.
Teams:
DRAGONS:
Gerard Beale, Brett Morris, Chase Stanley, Matt Cooper, Jason Nightingale, Jamie Soward, Nathan Fien, Dan Hunt, Mitch Rein, Michael Weyman, Tyson Frizell, Ben Creagh (c), Trent Merrin
Interchange: Bronson Harrison, Leeson Ah Mau, Matt Prior, Cameron King, Jack Stockwell (one to be omitted)
BRONCOS:
Corey Norman, Josh Hoffman, Jack Reed, Justin Hodges, Lachlan Maranta, Scott Prince, Peter Wallace, Josh McGuire, Andrew McCullough, Sam Thaiday (c), Alex Glenn, Matt Gillett, Corey Parker Interchange: Ben Hunt, Ben Hannant, Mitchell Dodds, David Stagg, Scott Anderson (one to be omitted)
