Thursday’s NRL 2018 Round 16 match is between St George Illawarra Dragons and Parramatta Eels. 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 Parramatta Eels.
When: 19:50 | Thursday 28/06/2018
Where: WIN Stadium, Wollongong
Preview:
With a NSW win in the bag and a lot of players are looking to back up along with other international players, I get the feeling this game could have the potential to be a dour one.
With seven plus players returning from the rep round for the Dragons and in crucial positions, it will no doubt give the coach some things to think about in regards to resting his troops.
From past experiences, I know every player will look to back up and it may end up that way for the Dragons and then at a later time, look to rest all players.
The advantage they have is that the game was played on a Sunday and not on Wednesday with a short turnaround.
Blooding some new talent in looking for the future for the Eels would be a smart play by coach Brad Arthur and give some hope to fans moving into 2019.
KEY BATTLE: Ben Hunt v Corey Norman
I’m looking forward to seeing the return serve from Ben Hunt up against Corey Norman.
I love Benny and hope he has a wonderful game and keeps surging with his season.
The Verdict
As I’ve mentioned, I feel the Dragons will get the job done but I get the feeling it won’t be one to ride home about.
The Dragons have an 18-13 (58.1 percent) line record at WIN Stadium since 2012.
Unibet Odds:
St. George-Illawarra at $1.30
Parramatta at $3.60
Odds:
Tip: St George Illawarra Dragons at $1.29
Value Tip: First Try Scorer: Kurt Mann at $10.00
More Info:
Teams:
St George Illawarra Dragons:
1 Matt Dufty, 2 Nene Macdonald, 3 Euan Aitken, 4 Tim Lafai, 5 Kurt Mann, 6 Gareth Widdop (c), 7 Ben Hunt, 8 James Graham, 9 Cameron McInnes, 10 Paul Vaughan, 11 Jacob Host, 12 Tariq Sims, 13 Jack De Belin
Interchange: 14 Jeremy Latimore, 15 Jason Nightingale, 16 Leeson Ah Mau, 17 Luciano Leilua
Reserves: 18 Blake Lawrie, 19 Reece Robson, 20 Jai Field, 21 Hame Sele, 22 Darren Nicholls, 23 Patrick Herbert.
Parramatta Eels: 
1 Clint Gutherson (c), 2 Bevan French, 3 Michael Jennings, 4 Jarryd Hayne, 5 George Jennings, 6 Mitchell Moses, 7 Corey Norman, 8 Daniel Alvaro, 9 Cameron King, 10 Siosaia Vave, 11 Marata Niukore, 12 Brad Takairangi, 13 Nathan Brown
Interchange: 14 Will Smith, 15 Tim Mannah (c), 16 David Gower, 17 Peni Terepo
Reserves: 18 Kirisome Auva’a, 19 Kane Evans, 20 Jaeman Salmon, 21 Suaia Matagi.
NRL News:
St George Illawarra are poised for their best shot at a premiership since their 2010 success after easily dismantling Manly 32-8 in Wollongong.
Saturday evening’s win takes the Dragons two points clear at the top of the ladder, the first time they have been first this late in a season since claiming their first title as a joint venture.
The Dragons crossed for six tries in the comprehensive display, as Ben Hunt set up two and their defence held strong throughout.
Crucially, all six State of Origin stars taking part coming through the game unscathed, with Sea Eagle Tom Trbojevic causing the only scare when he reached out to attempt to score in the second half.
He stayed down clutching at his right shoulder but played on and looked pain-free by fulltime.
The Dragons one win in front of South Sydney and Penrith heading into the representative round, after which all three teams will feel the pinch of Origin and Test football.
It will also give coach Paul McGregor the chance to nurse his team through the busy fortnight that follows, including a short turnaround before facing Parramatta next round and another game without their Origin stars.
“We’ve got a purpose in this squad of what we want to do, and that’s to give ourselves every chance at the back end of the year to finish as high as possible,” McGregor said.
“We’re in that tough period, we’re two games into it and we’ve won both.”
After Manly fought hard to keep themselves in the match at 10-8 down just before halftime, Tariq Sims provided the crucial blow when he beat a number of defenders to cross and give the Dragons’ an eight-point buffer.
The lead quickly extended to 14 just after the break when Hunt grubbered out of dummy-half for a chasing Gareth Widdop to score following back-to-back Manly errors.
“The three minutes before halftime and the little patch at the start of the second half – there is 12 points there,” Manly coach Trent Barrett said.
“I thought our first half was particularly good and we put ourselves in the contest. To let that one in was a try we could’ve stopped.”
James Graham also scored a try to put the match beyond doubt for the Dragons after a 50-metre Jack de Belin break. That four-pointer means every Saints starting player has crossed this year for a try.
Manly’s woes continued in their fourth-straight loss, with centre Moses Suli suffering a sternum injury.
Rookie back Tom Wright provided one of their few highlights with his first NRL try in just his second match when he scorched past Widdop and Matt Dufty.
The Sea Eagles also used both Matt Wright and Trent Hodkinson at hooker, as Barrett vowed to continue to fight to get youngster Manase Fainu cleared by the NRL to make his debut.
