Sunday’s NRL 2018 Round 11 match is between St George Illawarra Dragons and Canberra Raiders. The opening kick is set to commence at 14:00 local time with the game to be played at Glen Willow Regional Sports Stadium, Mudgee. The home team St George Illawarra Dragons are the favourites for the match. View our preview and teams for the game between St George Illawarra Dragons and Canberra Raiders.
When: 14:00 | Sunday 20/05/2018
Where: Glen Willow Regional Sports Stadium, Mudgee
Preview:
Both teams coming off as loss and playing in the town of Mudgee, this game will be a great spectacle.
There is always something special about taking the game to small towns.
The hype from the community is infectious to the players and will definitely have an effect.
Although last week’s game was their worst, it’s pretty good to go into round 11 with only two losses.
They’ll both be looking to bounce back this week.
Canberra however, had the game in the bag and threw it away.
Also losing Blake Austin to injury will be a blow.
KEY BATTLE: Jordan Rapana/Joseph Leilua v Euan Aitken/ Nene Macdonald, Jarrod Croker/Nick Cotric v Jason Nightingale/Tim Lafai
Some great matchups across the paddock, but I’m interested to watch the two centre wing pairings go at it.
These eight players are such keys to the attack in both of their teams.
The Verdict
I expect the mighty Dragons to bounce back in an entertaining affair.
The Dragons have a 19-13 (59.4 percent) record as a home team, after playing within its home state since 2015.
Unibet Odds:
St. George-Illawarra at $1.34
Canberra at $3.30
Odds:
OFFER: Deposit $50 BET with $200 via this link – Ends Soon!
Tip: St George Illawarra Dragons at $1.37
Value Tip: First Try Scorer: Matthew Dufty at $11.00
More Info:
Teams:
St George Illawarra Dragons:
1 Matt Dufty, 2 Nene Macdonald, 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 Blake Lawrie
Reserves: 18 Reece Robson, 19 Zachary Lomax, 20 Mitchell Allgood, 21 Hame Sele.
Canberra Raiders: 
1 Jack Wighton, 2 Nick Cotric, 3 Jarrod Croker (c), 4 Joseph Leilua, 5 Jordan Rapana, 6 Blake Austin, 7 Aidan Sezer, 8 Iosia Soliola, 9 Siliva Havili, 10 Shannon Boyd, 11 Joseph Tapine, 12 Elliott Whitehead, 13 Josh Papalii
Interchange: 14 Ata Hingano, 15 Luke Bateman, 16 Charlie Gubb, 17 Dunamis Lui
Reserves: 18 Liam Knight, 19 Michael Oldfield, 20 Sam Williams, 21 Craig Garvey.
NRL News:
Paul McGregor was only half joking when he labelled South Sydney the new NRL benchmark.
A week after defending premiers Melbourner declared St George Illawarra now set the standard, the Dragons hit their first hurdle when they were humbled 24-10 by the Rabbitohs on Sunday.
The Dragons remain in top spot on 16 points – two ahead of Penrith and the Warriors – however the Rabbitohs’ sixth win in their past eight games lifts them to equal fourth with Melbourne on 12.
“They (Souths) are the benchmark,” McGregor quipped.
“They’re a good side. We knew before the game that we’re playing some quality opposition. They’ve got some big, powerful forwards and some speed out wide and good experience through their whole side.”
McGregor insisted that he didn’t mind Melbourne counterpart Craig Bellamy crowning the Dragons as the team to beat following their clash last week.
“You’ve got to play good week to week to play finals footy and then you’re ready. So if teams think we are the benchmark, we’ve got to make sure that we go out and don’t disappoint,” he said.
Rabbitohs coach Anthony Seibold was quick to distance his side from any such tag.
“They (Dragons) have been more consistent than us over the first 10 rounds so the pleasing thing for me, from a coaching point of view is the players turn up to work and they’re working hard to improve,” he said.
“We’re just building a little bit of consistency into our game. But they’re on top of the table for a reason.”
Other big winners from round 10 were Penrith, who jumped to second spot after James Maloney again willed his team from behind to secure a 29-18 win over Newcastle.
Heavyweights the Sydney Roosters turned in arguably their best game of the season with a 32-0 shutout of the Warriors in Auckland, and Melbourne overcame a slow start to bludgeon Gold Coast 28-14.
The Storm’s win may have come at a cost however, with skipper Cameron Smith facing a two-match ban for making dangerous contact on former teammate Kevin Proctor after grabbing his leg in a heavily-criticised tackle.
In other matches, Canterbury edged Parramatta 20-12 to leave the Eels alone at the bottom of the table, while Manly ended a five-game losing streak by toppling Brisbane 38-24.
The Wests Tigers ensured Johnathan Thurston would see out his career without a win at Leichhardt Oval by beating North Queensland 20-12, while Cronulla beat Canberra 24-16.
