Saturday’s first NRL Round 17 match is between St George Illawarra Dragons and Sydney Roosters with the opening kick to commence at 5.30pm local time. The game is to be played at WIN Jubilee Oval which see’s away team Sydney Roosters hold favouritism in the market. View our NRL live scores, odds and results for the game between St George Illawarra Dragons and Sydney Roosters.
WHERE AND WHEN: WIN Jubilee Oval, Saturday, 5.30pm
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Preview:
It’s the St George Illawarra Dragons playing the Sydney Roosters on Saturday, 5.30pm at WIN Jubilee Oval. The Roosters should be able to win this one easily, putting the Dragons at even more danger of claiming the wooden spoon in 2013. The Roosters are currently sitting second on the ladder, and have a lot of confidence on their side thanks to massive performances by Sonny Bill Williams and others. Now only four points behind South Sydney, the Roosters are looking more and more impressive as the season progresses and should beat the Dragons easily.
Teams:
St George Illawarra Dragons:
Adam Quinlan, Brett Morris, Nathan Green, Charly Runciman, Jason Nightingale, Chase Stanley, Nathan Fien, Jack de Belin, Mitch Rein, Jack Stockwell, Tyson Frizell, Ben Creagh (capt), Trent Merrin. Interchange: Cameron King, Leeson AhMau, Matt Prior, Michael Weyman, Will Matthews, Atelea Vea (two to be omitted).
Sydney Roosters:
Anthony Minichiello (capt), Daniel Tupou, Michael Jennings, Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, James Maloney, Mitchell Pearce, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Jake Friend, Luke O’Donnell, Mitchell Aubusson, Sonny Bill Williams, Boyd Cordner. Interchange: Daniel Mortimer, Frank-Paul Nuuausala, Aidan Guerra, Sam Moa, Isaac Liu (one to be omitted).
Dragons can’t sook over Soward: Fien
St George Illawarra’s Nathan Fien says there’s no point pondering whether former halves partner Jamie Soward would have made a difference in the NRL club’s recent slump.
The Dragons are 15th on the table ahead of Saturday’s clash with the Sydney Roosters, with the storied club forced to contemplate their first wooden spoon since 1938.
The joint venture have lost seven of their past nine matches amid the mid-season exit of ex-NSW No.6 Soward, who was released after falling out with coach Steve Price.
Price shifted hard-running centre Chase Stanley into five-eighth after dropping Soward, with the Roosters clash to be the 24-year-old’s fourth hit-out in his new position.
With Soward now playing in the UK Super League with the London Broncos, Fien said his teammates needed to move on.
“Sowy’s been a tremendous player at the club and he’s a great friend of mind … (but) we can’t get struck down by thinking `oh we don’t have Sowy’,” Fien said of Soward’s sour exit.
“We’ve just got to get on with it and do the best that we can with what we’ve got at the moment, and I think Chase Stanley has been doing an outstanding job for us.
“We can’t dwell on what’s happened, we’ve got to look forward.”
Fien also encouraged his teammates to look up, not down, when studying the NRL table.
“You can see that we’re running second last, or you can look at the positives and the fact we’re only two wins outside the top eight,” he said.
“We’re not out of it by any stretch of the imagination.”
Veteran centre Matt Cooper said a 10-week stint on the sidelines with a toe injury has been made all the more worse due to the Dragons’ poor form.
But Cooper backed his teammates to turn it around.
“Obviously it’s disappointing looking at the table and seeing the Dragons one spot from bottom. That’s never happened when I’ve been at the club,” Cooper said.
“I’m sure the players and everyone involved at the club will ensure that we don’t finish bottom of the table.”