Match Centre

Round 7: Sydney Roosters v St George Illawarra preview

Traditional Anzac Day Clash Set to Be A Thriller

The Sydney Roosters will play the St George Illawarra Dragons on Anzac Day for the 19th time on Sunday in an event that in recent years has grown to be as much a part of the day as "The Last Post," playing two-up and eating Anzac biscuits. The fixture did not go ahead last year due to Covid-19, which will only add to the anticipation of the match, which is already a game of the round contender. 

Since 2002, the Dragons have had the upper hand on the day, winning the Anzac Cup 11 times compared to the Roosters 7. The atmosphere created by the large crowd has a way of producing extremely exciting contests which often take the full 80 minutes to be decided, occasionally even longer.

Who could forget when Matt Cooper scored the levelling try with 3 minutes to play in 2004 and Matt Head nailed the side-line conversion to win the game for the Dragons? Or in 2012, when Michael Weyman got an offload away to Ben Creagh who scored to put the Dragons in front with literally 50 seconds on the clock?

In the more recent close finishes, it has been the Roosters who have come out on top, with Mitchell Pearce breaking a 5-year field goal drought in 2017 to ice the match-winner in golden point. In the most recent clash in 2019, fans were on the edge of their seat with 5 minutes to go when Sio Siua Taukeiaho capitalised on a Dufty error to score the sealing try.

With both sides keen to make up for disappointing performances last week after an otherwise strong start to the year and playing in front of what will be the biggest crowd of the season so far, there is every reason to believe that Sunday's game will be just as if not more exciting than the aforementioned spectacles.

In team news, Brett Morris will return on the wing from a calf strain, replacing Matt Ikuvalu, while Sam Verrills is due to play his first NRL game since rupturing his ACL in Round 7 last year, ironically against the Dragons. His inclusion pushes rookie Ben Marschke to the bench, while Adam Keighran drops out of the side due to a fractured eye socket.

For the Dragons, Trent Merrin has been dropped, with Blake Lawrie taking his place as starting prop, with Ben Hunt an outside chance of returning from a leg injury from the reserves in jersey number 21.

Last meeting: Round 13 2020 - Dragons 16 Roosters 24

Who to watch: With the news breaking that Victor Radley successfully had his charge downgraded at the NRL judiciary on Tuesday night and will be free to play, it will be interesting to see whether or not his combination with Sam Verrills can pick up where it left off early last year and 2019. There is no question that in 2020 the Roosters missed the dynamic link provided by Radley in attack, however James Tedesco will be the only spine player from 2020 to take the field for the Roosters on Sunday. Radleys combination with inexperienced halves pairing Walker and Hutchison has progressed in the past couple of weeks and the fiery lock will be keen to make amends for his high shot which saw him sit down for 10 last week against Melbourne. When in sync, the Roosters can be one of the most exciting attacking teams to watch, and Radley at his best would go a long way to achieving a Roosters victory on Sunday.

Many were quick to question the logic of incoming coach Anthony Griffin recruiting veteran hooker Andrew McCullough on a three-year deal, however the move has proved to be an astute one so far, with McCullough's cool, experienced head often ensuring the Dragons attack doesn't become as frantic as it has in recent years, while he's also provided his usual reliability in defence, making 319 tackles so far in 2021, only 1 behind comp leader Jayden Brailey. Matt Dufty is also one to keep an eye on, who has proved he isn't just a speed merchant by developing one of the games better cut-out passes which regularly exposes opposition edge defence. The Roosters have previously been exposed by the strength of Will Kennedy close to the line and will need to ensure they are prepared for the skill of Dufty, who scored perhaps the most memorable try in the history of the Anzac Cup in 2019.

The favourite: The Roosters are favoured by 5 and a half points over the Dragons at the time of writing.

My tip: I was leaning towards the Dragons in this one due to the expected effect of injuries to the Roosters forward pack, however, Trent Robinson has named a stronger than expected team which I think will get the job done in another Anzac Day thriller. Sydney Roosters by 1.