Friday’s NRL 2018 Round 6 match is between St George Illawarra Dragons and Cronulla Sharks. The opening kick is set to commence at 19:50 local time with the game to be played at WIN Stadium, Wollongong. 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 Cronulla Sharks.
When: 19:50 | Friday 13/04/2018
Where: WIN Stadium, Wollongong
Preview:
The Sharks will need Josh Dugan, who is expected to return after that groin injury, and more to get away with the win this round against the competition leaders.
If they are to do that, they’ll need to drag the Dragons into an old fashion dogfight like what we saw two weeks ago against the Storm.
Euan Aitken has had a great start to the 2018 season with four tries and an average running game of 120m and he’ll be in for another big game.
He might find his opponent a little more challenging though, as the Sharks’ Ricky Leutele is a great defensive centre.
The one blemish he has is his passing game that needs some work.
KEY BATTLE: Gareth Widdop v Matt Moylan
My key matchup will be between one of the game’s best performers this season in Gareth Widdop up against Trent Hodkinson.
The skillset and combinations that the Dragons are playing with will get them home and again another few Dally M points for the Englishman.
The Verdict
With big outside backs that carry the ball strongly, a no frills hard edged forward pack with some flair in Jack De Belin and a silky halves pairing, the Dragons will stay undefeated.
The Red V has a 12-3 (80.0 percent) record after a win, playing as a home team since 2015.
Unibet Odds:
St George Illawarra Dragons at $1.49
Cronulla Sharks at $2.65
Odds:
OFFER: Deposit $50 BET with $200 via this link – Ends Soon!
Tip: St George Illawarra Dragons at $1.48
Value Tip: First Try Scorer: Matthew Dufty at $11.00
More Info:
Teams:
St George Illawarra Dragons:
1 Matthew 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 Hame Sele. Reserves: 18 Jacob Host, 19 Zachary Lomax, 20 Reece Robson, 21 Blake Lawrie.
Cronulla Sharks:
1 Matt Moylan, 2 Edrick Lee, 3 Josh Dugan, 4 Ricky Leutele, 5 Valentine Holmes, 6 Trent Hodkinson, 7 Chad Townsend, 8 Andrew Fifita, 9 Jayden Brailey, 10 Matt Prior, 11 Luke Lewis, 12 Wade Graham (c), 13 Paul Gallen (c). Interchange: 14 Kurt Capewell, 15 Kurt Dillion, 16 Avagalu Seumanufagai, 17 Joseph Paulo. Reserves: 18 Jesse Ramien, 19 Scott Sorensen, 20 Jack Williams, 21 Kyle Flanagan.
NRL News:
St George-Illawarra have gone undefeated over the first month of the NRL for the first time in the merged club’s history, after beating Newcastle 30-12 at WIN Stadium.
Easily the best attacking team over the opening month of the competition with Ben Hunt and Gareth Widdop at the helm, the Dragons laid on five tries to continue on their merry way on Sunday.
The victory took the Dragons’ attacking aggregate to 138 for the season, at an average of 34 points per game, to keep them at the top of the ladder ahead of the similarly undefeated Warriors.
Hunt and Widdop were again magnificent in attack, linking directly twice for two tries in four minutes in the first-half to take the control of a match they never relinquished.
In just their fourth game together, the pair first threw long cut-out balls before Tim Lafai provided a falling flick pass for Nene Macdonald – who is becoming a serious strike weapon the left wing.
Moments later, they were at it again off the back of a set piece to create space for Matt Dufty to put Euan Aitken in and set up an 18-6 lead after the two teams had traded tries early.
For all their flair, the Dragons made just five errors and completed at 83 per cent in the rout, while their forwards were again dominant up front.
Jack de Belin – who declared last week he was made for State of Origin with NSW – produced bell-ringing tackles to force errors in the lead up to each of Hunt and Widdop’s first-half efforts.
Prop Paul Vaughan – whose Origin chances also increased with the Blues’ losses of Andrew Fifita and Jordan McLean over the weekend – ran 143 metres, James Graham had 156 and Leeson Ah Mau scored his first try in almost four years.
Newcastle’s loss marked their second in as many weeks after they started the season with two wins.
They also lost centre Tautau Moga to a knee injury when he was hurt stepping for the game’s opening try, before the Dragons took control and played the Knights out of the match.
