St George Illawarra Dragons vs Melbourne Storm Tips, Odds and Teams – NRL 2018 Round 9

Sunday’s NRL 2018 Round 9 match is between St George Illawarra Dragons and Melbourne Storm. The opening kick is set to commence at 14:00 local time with the game to be played at UOW Jubilee Oval, Sydney. The away team Melbourne Storm are the favourites for the match. View our preview and teams for the game between St George Illawarra Dragons and Melbourne Storm.

When: 14:00 | Sunday 06/05/2018

Where: UOW Jubilee Oval, Sydney

Preview:

This is the game of the round and I’ll be lucky enough to be working at this one.

The best team in the game at present v the reigning premiers that are running hot.

I’ve been convinced that the Dragons are the real deal this year but like many, still have a little question mark?

This game will put a stop to that this week.

There are quality matchups all over the park with big, fast skilful outside backs and hard-working quality in the middle.

A lot of talk has been around if Billy Slater will play on and I think if anyone can, he could going by his performances over the last few weeks.

Billy had 1 try, 2 try assists and 150+ metres last week, so it’ll be a big assignment for the Dragons.

KEY BATTLE: Front Row v Front Row

My key matchup is between the big men in the middle.

This is where the game will be decided.

Ben Hunt and Gareth Widdop can’t do what they do and have time and space if the forwards aren’t dominant.

The Verdict

Up against the best wrestling team in the comp who have an ability to slow down the ruck could hurt the flow in which they play with.

This will contain the skill set of Hunt and Widdop and negate the speed of Cameron McInnes if they are successful.

Big game players love the big games and Melbourne have a stack of them.

Cameron Smith, Billy Slater, Cameron Munster, Will Chambers, Josh Addo-Carr and Suisi Vunivalu will be licking their lips for this one.

The Storm has an 18-9-1 (66.1 percent) line record as an away team since 2016.

Unibet Odds:

St. George-Illawarra at $1.91

Melbourne at $1.91

Odds:

OFFER: Deposit $50 BET with $200 via this link – Ends Soon!

Tip: Melbourne Storm at $2.10

Value Tip: First Try Scorer: Josh Addo-Carr at $9.50

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 Reece Robson Reserves: 18 Jacob Host, 19 Zachary Lomax, 20 Mitchell Allgood, 21 Hame Sele.

Melbourne Storm:

1 Billy Slater, 2 Suliasi Vunivalu, 3 Will Chambers, 4 Curtis Scott, 5 Josh Addo-Carr, 6 Cameron Munster, 7 Ryley Jacks, 8 Christian Welch, 9 Cameron Smith (c), 10 Nelson Asofa-Solomona, 11 Felise Kaufusi, 12 Ryan Hoffman, 13 Dale Finucane Interchange: 14 Brandon Smith, 15 Kenny Bromwich, 16 Joe Stimson, 17 Sam Kasiano Reserves: 18 Young Tonumaipea, 19 Patrick Kaufusi, 20 Tui Kamikamica, 21 Brodie Croft.

NRL News:

Melbourne prop Christian Welch admits he has a lot of love for St George Illawarra’s NRL forward pack and in particular James Graham.

But Welch will have to put any fan-boy ideas aside when his side faces their toughest test of the season against the NRL front-runners at Kogarah on Sunday afternoon.

The 23-year-old said that when he started at the Storm he was given a homework task to research another player and chose England international Graham.

“As part of my assignment I looked at James Graham and the way he plays,” Welch said.

“I had a lot of video review and I loved what I found – he’s aggressive, he’s a team first player and he’s got a second to none work ethic.

“I certainly appreciate the way he plays his rugby league and I’m a big fan.

“I really like their forward pack.

“You put him together with Jack de Belin and Paul Vaughan, who are probably going to play for NSW this year, and they’ve got quite a formidable team and playing at Kogarah it’s going to be a pretty fiery game.”

In the corresponding game last year Welch was left in tears when he ruptured his ACL, which meant he sat out the remainder of the season and missed last year’s grand final victory.

But he felt the injury made him appreciate his position as a professional footballer and he has returned in 2018 an even better player.

Welch started his first game of the season last round against the Warriors and scored his first NRL try in four years of first grade.

His try was one of six the Storm scored in the first half as they set up a 50-10 thrashing of the Warriors.

Welch said Melbourne’s improving consistency meant they didn’t have to be a one-off.

“It was a pleasant result for us that first 40 minutes but we just have to do our basics well and that’s what we’ve been working hard on this week because we know we’re coming up a really strong Dragons team.”

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