The Dragons suffered their first defeat of the season last week when hosting the very much in form, Broncos at WIN Stadium.
The Dragons were caught on the back-foot early after the Broncos scored two tries inside of the first ten minutes but responded well, scoring through Jason Nightingale in the 14th minute however, as they did for the remainder of the game, the Broncos were always quick to reply with a try of their own and were never headed in match, winning 36 – 20.
$250 St George Illawarra Dragons vs South Sydney Rabbitohs FREE BET
Joining the starting line-up for the Dragons this week, will be fullback Josh Dugan who will make his first appearance since suffering a knee injury in a pre-season trial match.
Dugan scored six tries from ten appearances for the Dragons last year and his inclusion in a backline that has already registered nineteen tries in four matches this season, can only further increase the Dragons’ attacking options.
After a comprehensive win in round 1 over reigning Premiers the Roosters, South Sydney were being hailed as the team to beat in 2014 however, three consecutive and unexpected losses since, sees the Rabbitohs now thirteenth on the table.
Despite starting favourites against Manly, Tigers and last week the Raiders, Souths have produced poor and disjointed efforts losing by margins of 2, 9 and 12 respectively.
In the above matches, Souths have made a minimum of fourteen errors per game, making it impossible to build or maintain pressure on their respective opponents for any length of time. Also not helping their cause is that in the first half of these matches, the Rabbitohs have only scored twice.
It’s hard to know what is causing their slump in form but it is something that will need to be remedied quickly if the Rabbitohs want to find themselves in the top eight a quarter of the way into the comp.
The two sides met once last year in round 19, a time when the Dragons had only posted five wins for the season and the Rabbitohs were flying high, leading the competition. Despite their position on the ladder though, the Dragons were victorious 22 – 18.
On form, the Dragons are clearly the team to go with it but looking at the playing roster of the Rabbitohs, you’d think that they’d have to turn their form around shortly.
Punters are sticky with them again this week and they’ve opened up $1.70 compared to the Dragons $2.10. Feels much more comfortable taking the Dragons’ price then it does the odds-on that this will be the week the Rabbitohs turn it around.
Odds Comparison:
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| St George Illawarra Dragons | 2.20 | 2.27 | 2.25 | 2.27 | 2.20 | 2.25 |
| South Sydney Rabbitohs | 1.70 | 1.65 | 1.67 | 1.65 | 1.70 | 1.65 |
All odds are subject to change. Odds listed are correct at the time of the latest update.
Teams:
St George Illawarra Dragons:
Josh Dugan, Brett Morris, Dylan Farrell, Gerard Beale, Jason Nightingale, Gareth Widdop, Michael Witt, Tyson Frizell, Mitch Rein, Dan Hunt, Leeson Ah Mau, Ben Creagh, Trent Merrin. Interchange: Jack de Belin, Kyle Stanley, Joel Thompson, Michael Cooper, Adam Quinlan, Jack Stockwell, Bronson Harrison
South Sydney Rabbitohs:
Greg Inglis, Nathan Merritt, Dylan Walker, Joel Reddy, Bryson Goodwin, John Sutton, Adam Reynolds, David Tyrrell, Apisai Koroisau, George Burgess, Chris McQueen, Ben Te’o, Sam Burgess. Interchange: Joe Picker, Kyle Turner, Jason Clark, Luke Burgess, Alex Johnston, Cameron McInnes
