Bulldogs v Dragons preview

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs v St. George Illawarra Dragons
ANZ Stadium - Saturday 5:50pm

Two traditional Sydney rivals do battle in order to stay alive.

While there form throughout 2015 hasn't quite lived up to the expectations placed on them at the start of the year, the Bulldogs come into the finals on the back of five straight wins and will be prepared better than most clubs for the need to perform in September football. Having scraped into the top eight last season, Des Hasler's men launched a remarkable run to make the Grand Final, before going down to South Sydney. With Brett Morris back after sitting out last week's narrow victory over the Warriors, the Bulldogs will field their strongest possible lineup including 12 players who featured in last year's decider. With Trent Hodkinson out through injury, Tim Browne will need to replicate his surprise goal-kicking performance from last week in order to get the Blue and Whites over the line and into a Semi Final appearance against either Melbourne of the Roosters.

With undoubtedly the easiest run home of all the teams that made the top eight, the Dragons have stumbled their way into their first finals series since the departure of Wayne Bennett in 2011. Having established a match-winning lead last week, the Dragons almost lost to the lowly Tigers, saved only by an extra time penalty from Josh Dugan. Coach Paul McGregor has retained the same squad as last week, with rookie playmaker Drew Hutchison named to play alongside Benji Marshall in the halves. With the full extent of Gareth Widdop's quad injury unknown, the English international will be given to the last minute to prove his fitness, such is his importance for the Dragons if they are to come away with the win. Close to half the Dragons side will be making their finals debut on Saturday night, a telling factor in the battle of experience considering the wealth of big matches the Bulldogs have featured in since Des Hasler took over in 2012.

Last meeting: Round 13 2015 - Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 29 St. George Illawarra Dragons 16

Who to watch: Having shocked Dragons supporters with his sudden exit last season, Brett Morris will be out to add further misery upon his former club by eliminating them on Saturday night. While injury and representative football have limited the fullback to just 14 games this season, Morris remains one of Canterbury's most lethal attacking weapons; with blinding speed and the ability to pull off try-saving tackles, Brett Morris will have a huge influence in the outcome of the first elimination final.

Ten years ago, Benji Marshall catapulted himself into NRL folklore with a finals campaign that helped deliver Wests Tigers their maiden premiership. Now 30 years old, the former Kiwi test captain and Golden Boot winner will need to be at his best if the Dragons are to remain alive in 2015. At times throughout the season, Marshall has shown considerable poise and class to direct the merged venture around the field, but with Gareth Widdop likely to miss Saturday's clash, the pressure will be firmly on Marshall to get the Dragons their first finals win since the 2010 Grand Final.

The favourite: The Bulldogs are renown for their ability to lift during the finals, while the Dragons have barely scraped in; on that form line the Bulldogs have been heavily favoured to come away with the win.

My tip: In their past three matches, the Dragons have struggled to beat three of the bottom teams this season; by contrast Canterbury have made emphatic statements against some of the competition heavyweights that regardless of the adversity they face they won't be beaten. Bulldogs by 13.

1. Brett Morris 2. Curtis Rona 3. Josh Morris 4. Timoteo Lafai 5. Sam Perrett 6. Josh Reynolds 7. Moses Mbye 8. Aiden Tolman 9. Damien Cook 10. James Graham 11. Josh Jackson 12. Frank Pritchard 13. Greg Eastwood
Interchange: 14. Sam Kasiano 15. Shaun Lane 16. David Klemmer 17. Tim Browne 19. Lloyd Perrett

1. Josh Dugan 2. Eto Nabuli 3. Euan Aitken 4. Peter Mata'utia 5. Jason Nightingale 6. Drew Hutchison 7. Benji Marshall 8. Leeson Ah Mau 9. Mitch Rein 10. Mike Cooper 11. Tyson Frizell 12. Jake Marketo 13. Trent Merrin
Interchange: 14. George Rose 15. Ben Creagh 16. Mark Ioane 17. Jack de Belin 18. Justin Hunt 19. Nathan Green 21. Craig Garvey

Referees: Jared Maxwell, Gavin Morris; Sideline Officials: Ricky MacFarlane, Russell Turner; Video Referees: Ashley Klein, Luke Phillips;

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