Round 5: Dragons v Dolphins preview
A return to Wollongong will be something that the Dragons hope that can re-spark their start to the season as an injury hit Dolphins sides heads to the NSW South Coast to keep their strong start to their inaugural season going.
The Dragons showed so much promise in their opening match of the season in Round 2 against the Titans where they looked as if they had turned the corner of previous seasons as they were super strong.
The past fortnight though has seen that there isn't a full tank of fire for the Dragon as in both their loss to the Broncos and Sharks, the Red ‘V' have collapsed faster than the Berlin Wall coming down.
Last weekend, the Dragons looked extremely sharp during the first half of their game against the Cronulla Sharks where they were matching and surpassing the Sharks at times during the opening forty minutes with some swift plays and a high completion rate. The second half was a total 'dogs breakfast' for the Red V with basic handling errors coming out of trouble and defence that just didn't look interested at all as the Sharks sensed blood in the water and took advantage putting 28 unanswered points on the Dragons.
Changes could be on the cards for the home side with Jack De Belin tipped to return from a calf injury despite only being named in the reserves. The main 1-17 is unchanged as named last week by coach Anthony Griffin.
The "Redcliffe" Dolphins tasted defeat for the first time in the NRL last weekend as they were far from disgraced in their 18-12 loss to table toppers the Brisbane Broncos. The Dolphins have been impressive across the opening four rounds as many people didn't give them much chance but a strong team dynamic has helped them significantly.
Outside of Round 1, the Broncos proved the biggest test for the Dolphins so far in 2023 and they were far from as they were able to come from 8-0 down at one state to lead 12-8 mid-way through the second half. The lead wasn't to be as the Broncos came back to win but the proof was there that even key outs and bumps in the game plan the Dolphins can match it with the best teams in the comp.
The Dolphins have been forced into a major change with halfback Sean O'Sullivan disappointingly suffering a torn pectoral muscle an hour into last week's game. Anthony Milford is moved into the halfback role after replacing Isaiya Katoa at five-eighth when the ex-Panther was ruled out last week.
Katoa returns into the six jersey whilst the Dolphins have also lost Tesi Niu to a knee injury. Jack Bostock is expected to make his debut and Jeremy Marshall-King returns to the hooker role with Mason Teague heading to the bench.
Who to watch: After some pretty brash words about his sides efforts last week, there is going to be a lot of focus on the performance of Ben Hunt who was about the only player to put his hand up for the entire 80 minutes last week. Hunt is a world class performer but he has struggled at times and it's down to the lack of quality around him. Hunt needs to ensure that the Dragons are on the same page if they want to get past the Dolphins.
An individual match winner, Isaiya Katoa has a calm head on his shoulders as seen during the 2022 Jersey Flegg grand final, but the pressure has stepped up from that effort for the Panthers to the NRL which in his 3 games he has handled well but without the dominant leader Sean O'Sullivan there, Katoa will need to play a controlling game. The poise and footballing smarts of Katoa are going to be important for the Dolphins this week and right through the season without O'Sullivan there to do most of the work. Katoa needs to be the dominant half if the Dolphins are to win.
Favourite: The Dragons have been put as favourites for the contest but it's not by a huge margin and with a lack of past head to head football, it's hard to make a judgment on the teams against each other.
My tip: It's a coin flip of a game, it could go in about four different directions with the Dragons firing and running up a score or they could make their fans want to jump into the Wollongong Ocean (as called by Paul Vautin once) next to the hill. The loss of Sean O'Sullivan puts the game into the Dragons favour but I can't see this game being that big of a blowout. Dragons by 2.
