The first of today’s NRL Round 5 matches is between St George Illawarra Dragons and Newcastle Knights. The game is set to commence at 3pm local time with the game to be played at Jubilee Oval. The away team Newcastle Knights are the current favourites in the market. View our game preview and teams for the match between St George Illawarra Dragons and Newcastle Knights.
WIN Jubilee Oval
Sunday 3pm
Odds:
St George Illawarra Dragons $2.15 vs Newcastle Knights $1.72 at Sportsbet Australia
St George Illawarra Dragons $2.35 vs Newcastle Knights $1.61 at Luxbet Australia
Preview:
Watch Out Dragons: The home side will have to work hard for field position this week – given Newcastle concede the fewest metres across the NRL (just 1153 metres) and the Dragons yield the most ground every week (1468 metres).
Compounding the above, Newcastle rank fourth for inroads with 1413 metres each week. In particular watch for their big boppers Adam Cuthbertson (average 134 metres and nine tackle-breaks), David Fa’alogo (130 metres) and Kade Snowden (129 metres) to lay a platform before Akuila Uate and Darius Boyd (coincidentally each averaging 127 metres from 14 runs a game) cut loose out wide and at the back.
Cuthbertson will be keen to continue his good form and impress against the team he won a premiership with in 2010; the interchange forward scored two tries and made two line-breaks plus 105 metres in 31 minutes last week.
Watch Out Knights: Trent Merrin and Nathan Fien have formed a shark-and-suckerfish relationship over the opening weeks of the season – with Fien scoring tries in successive weeks after feeding off the good groundwork of his big lock forward.
Against the Raiders in Round 3 Merrin charged hard from close range before popping an offload for Fien to score – a scenario that was repeated last week against Cronulla. The Knights need to be mindful whenever Merrin gets the ball in centre-field in their red zone – and particularly if he’s received the ball from Fien, as it’s likely the No.7 will run around his No.13 looking for a belated pass.
Jarrod Mullen needs to make sure he kicks deep and away from the Dragons’ back three – Gerard Beale and Brett Morris rank fourth and fifth for kick-return metres, with 242 and 223 respectively. Last outing against the Knights Morris contributed 204 metres plus seven tackle busts.
The Knights need to be ready to defuse Jamie Soward’s cross-field attacking kicks and grubbers – Jason Nightingale scored from a kick against the Sharks and could easily have had a second had he grasped a 50:50 chance midway through the first half.
Plays To Watch: For both teams it’s about getting the ball into the hands of their speedsters out wide – in particular Brett Morris and Akuila Uate. The Dragons will also put on plenty of left-edge second-man plays, while Darius Boyd – a linchpin left-edge attacker in his time at the Dragons – will continue to focus hard on providing opportunities down the right side of the field for the Knights (two try assists, two line-break assists in 2013 so far). With Uate outside him, why wouldn’t he?
Key Match-Up: Mitch Rein v Kurt Gidley. Rein was the creative hub for the Dragons last year, making 10 line-breaks, five try assists and five line-break assists; however he’s been a little quiet over the opening month, with just the solitary line-break to his name. Expect him to take more control out of dummy-half – especially given the injury to back-up hooker Cameron King.
Meanwhile with all the pressure off him as a focal point of their attack, Kurt Gidley could prove the surprise packet here. Look for him to link with his bigger forwards, popping short flat balls on their chest close to the Dragons’ try line.
Where It Will Be Won: For the Dragons it’s about creating opportunities through prolific second-phase play; while for the Knights it’s all about shutting down the Dragons’ offloads.
St George Illawarra boast the fourth-best offloading game in the league (averaging 13.2 per game) with Trent Merrin leading all players with 13 so far. Others inflicting damage include Jason Nightingale (eight), Bronson Harrison (six) and Brett Morris and Matt Prior (five each).
Meanwhile Newcastle have confidence in their ability to shut down offloading oppositions – they concede just seven each game, the second fewest by any team.
The History: Played 26; Dragons 17, Knights 9. The Dragons have won six of the past nine clashes, including two victories last season. However, while the Dragons have an outstanding record when travelling up the F3, the Knights hold a 3-2 advantage in matches played at Kogarah.
Match Officials: Referees – Ben Cummins & Gavin Morris; Sideline Officials – Steve Carrall & Jason Walsh; Video Referees – Paul Simpkins & Matt Rodwell.
Televised: Channel Nine – Delayed 4pm; Fox Sports 1 – Delayed 6pm.
The Way We See It: This could be a season-defining game for the Dragons, who must bag the competition points if they’re to stay within striking distance of the top eight. They’re certainly capable, as they showed last week. The Knights will need to be at the top of their game and be switched on or else they could find themselves swamped. It’s a tough game to tip but attitude could carry the day; we have a gut feeling the Dragons will want it more. St George Illawarra by four points.
Teams:
St George Illawarra Dragons:
Gerard Beale, Brett Morris, Chase Stanley, Matt Cooper, Jason Nightingale, Jamie Soward, Nathan Fien, Dan Hunt, Mitch Rein, Jack Stockwell, Tyson Frizell, Ben Creagh (c), Trent Merrin
Interchange: Bronson Harrison, Matt Prior, Leeson Ah Mau, Daniel Vidot, Jack de Belin, Michael Henderson (two to be omitted).
Newcastle Knights:
Darius Boyd, James McManus, Anthony Quinn, Alex McKinnon, Akuila Uate, Jarrod Mullen, Tyrone Roberts, Kade Snowden, Kurt Gidley (c), Willie Mason, Robbie Rochow, Chris Houston, Jeremy Smith
Interchange: Danny Buderus, Neville Costigan, Adam Cuthbertson, David Fa’alogo, Tahu (one to be omitted).
