Dragons v Sea Eagles preview

St. George Illawarra Dragons v Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
WIN Stadium - Saturday 7:30pm

St George Illawarra fans breathed a collective sigh of relief on Saturday when their team collected their first win of the season 22-20 against a wasteful Canberra Raiders outfit.

However it was not all smooth sailing for the Dragons, the fact they found themselves down 18-0 after 20 minutes will not be lost on the team and coach Paul McGregor will no doubt be reinforcing the fact that the Dragons need to start well against a Manly side desperate to halt a two game losing streak. Starting quickly is something the Red V have failed to do in 2015 and something that they need to improve on quickly.

The Dragons have named the same squad as the one that won last week in Canberra, with talented rookie Euan Aitken retaining his left centre spot. George Rose comes onto an extended bench.

For Manly they will be very keen to get back in the winners circle. After playing well for 40-50 minutes of their victory against the Storm in round 2, they fell back into an error riddled performance against Canterbury losing 16-12. Ball retention and discipline will be the focus in training this week, as these uncharacteristic errors haunted Manly last Friday.

The returns of captain Jamie Lyon and talented Five-Eighth Kieran Foran are big boosts for this Manly side.
Manly have lost their last three down at Wollongong ad haven't won down the Gong since 2003, although there have only been 4 clashes at Wollongong between these sides since 2003.

Last meeting: Round 19 2014 - St. George Illawarra Dragons 12 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 21

Who to watch: Mitch Rein showed what an explosive player he can be with his wonderful solo effort last week which busted open the game in the nation's capital. Despite only being 24 Rein is a leader out in the middle for the Dragons and several team mates look to him for inspiration. His ability to defend strongly in the middle of the park and his running out of dummy half (esoecially when the opposition are getting tired) are invaluable to the Dragons chances of winning this game. His 119 Metres and 40 tackles last week show just how reliable he is to the Red V.

For the Sea Eagles all eyes will be on their halves and their Half Back Daly Cherry Evans. DCE has been marvellous since deciding to head up north from 2016 with the Gold Coast Titans. He seems to have a great weight lifted off his shoulders since making the decision and it's starting to benefit the Sea Eagles. Last week in a losing effort DCE ran for 85 metres, 20 tackles, 3 offloads and a Try assist. It was undoubtedly his best performance of 2015. The Dragons will need to shut him down and particularity focus on his right edge combination with Jamie Lyon. If DCE is given any room to navigate then the Dragons could be in trouble.

The favourite: Despite both being locked on 2 points and the Dragons having the home ground advantage, it's hard to go past Manly in this one.

My tip: Manly by 8, in a tense struggle.

1. Josh Dugan 2. Eto Nabuli 3. Euan Aitken 4. Dylan Farrell 5. Jason Nightingale 6. Gareth Widdop 7. Benji Marshall 8. Leeson Ah Mau 9. Mitch Rein 10. Mike Cooper 11. Tyson Frizell 12. Joel Thompson 13. Trent Merrin
Interchange: 14. Rory O'Brien 15. Jack de Belin 16. Jake Marketo 17. Heath L'Estrange 20. George Rose

1. Brett Stewart 2. Cheyse Blair 3. Jamie Lyon 4. Steve Matai 5. Peta Hiku 6. Kieran Foran 7. Daly Cherry-Evans 8. Luke Burgess 9. Matt Ballin 10. Willie Mason 11. Jamie Buhrer 12. Feleti Mateo 13. Dunamis Lui
Interchange: 14. Jesse Sene-Lefao 15. Jake Trbojevic 16. Tom Symonds 17. Ligi Sao 18. Justin Horo

Referees: Gavin Badger, Chris Sutton; Sideline Officials: Jeff Younis, Lawrence McDonnell; Video Referees: Steve Chiddy, Ben Galea;

Check out all the action live in our Match Centre