Round 23: Wests Tigers v Dragons preview
Tigers look to keep finals hopes alive against dejected Dragons
Yet again the Tigers will be playing for their season on Saturday afternoon when they take on the St. George Illawarra Dragons.
Brisbane's 38-18 win over South Sydney on Thursday night saw them climb four points ahead of the ninth-placed Tigers.
And the 20-point victory also means their for-and-against is now 44 points better than that of Ivan Cleary's side. A loss on Saturday would all but end their season.
After losing four straight, the Tigers went on to win four of their next five, including last week's two-point win over Canberra. Coach Cleary would have been somewhat concerned with their performance, despite holding on to take the victory.
16 of their 22 points came while the Raiders had Joey Leilua in the bin before a string of errors invited Canberra back into the contest. To their credit, they withstood a heap of pressure to claim the two points but will still need to improve their first-up contact in defence after missing 50 tackles in the win.
After the Broncos got up on Thursday night, the Tigers may actually now be a better chance of overtaking the spluttering Dragons. Paul McGregor's side have now lost five of their last six games, including last week's 40-4 defeat at the hands of the 15th-placed Eels.
If their poor form isn't enough, they have also recently lost key players Gareth Widdop and Paul Vaughan to injury. Kurt Mann replaces Widdop in the five-eighth jersey, although boom rookie Jai Field is still an outside chance to come in.
Several Dragons players have come out and criticised the media, arguing they are anything but chokers. However, until they start delivering on the field, the tag is warranted.
A 66% completion rate crippled their chances last week against Parramatta and while a lot of criticism has been directed at halfback Ben Hunt, he can't do much behind a forward pack that is failing to turn up. The Dragons built their early-season success off aggression up front and it's no coincidence that their losing streak has coincided with that element of their game going missing.
Last Meeting: The Tigers stunned the Dragons 20-16 in Round 18 this year.
Who to watch: Behind Damien Cook, Luke Brooks has arguably been the most improved player in the competition this year. His kicking game, both short and long, has been first-class and he has matured as a leader within the squad despite being just 23 years old. All the talk may be about bringing Nathan Cleary to Concord but Brooks is certainly doing his chances of staying at the Tigers no harm with his consistency in 2018.
His opposite Ben Hunt has a tough job this week. All eyes will be on the Queensland halfback as he attempts to direct the Dragons around without regular halves partner Gareth Widdop. Hunt has been hammered recently for his lack of game management, however, as said earlier, this is a tad unfair given the poor platform laid by his big men. Unfortunately, he has no choice but to let his actions on the footy field do talking. The Dragons desperately need a leader and Hunt is the man to arrest their form slump.
Favourite: The Tigers are backed to continue the Dragons' woes.
Tip: A massive danger game for Wests. The Dragons should thrive with people expecting very little of them. The Tigers should do enough but it'll be closer than most think. Wests Tigers by 8.
