Round 22: Dragons v Sea Eagles preview
Dragons look to deny Daly's day
The St George Illawarra Dragons will be hoping to continue two decades of dominance over the Manly Sea Eagles in Wollongong on the day Daly Cherry-Evans celebrates his 300th appearance in first grade.
Making their penultimate appearance at WIN Stadium for 2023 on Saturday evening, the St George Illawarra Dragons will be eyeing off back-to-back wins for the first time this season following an uninspiring 18-14 victory over the Wests Tigers in last Thursday's "Spoonbowl".
Holding a dominant record over the Sea Eagles with seven wins from nine meetings since 2017, interim coach Ryan Carr has handed Connor Mulheisen a first grade debut off the bench after Moses Mbye was granted an immediate release to join St Helens in the English Super League.
Sitting in 15th position with a difficult run of four straight matches against top eight contenders to follow throughout August, a win on Saturday evening will all but ensure the Dragons avoid claiming the wooden spoon for the first time.
Facing a do-or-die prospect to remain in contention for the top eight, the Manly Sea Eagles will be aiming to break a horror streak in Wollongong spanning two decades.
Sitting on the cusp of the top eight in 11th position after nearly suffering the greatest collapse in rugby league history during last Sunday's 30-26 victory over the Sharks, coach Anthony Seibold has named Matthew Lodge and Toafofoa Sipley in place of injured props Taniela Paseka and Josh Aloiai with Ethan Bullemor coming onto the bench.
Boasting a terrible record at WIN Stadium with one win from ten appearances against the joint venture, the Sea Eagles last prevailed at the venue in 2003 - nine months before rookie forward Samuela Fainu was born.
Daly Cherry-Evans will become the 49th player to reach 300 appearances in first grade and only the second player, alongside Cliff Lyons, to achieve the feat with the Manly Sea Eagles; Lachlan Croker will make his 100th appearance in first grade.
Last meeting: Round 19 2022 - Dragons 20 Sea Eagles 6
Who to watch: Coming up with an audacious play that proved decisive in the context of the 80 minutes last Thursday, centre Zac Lomax will need to have a similar impact if the Dragons are to cause an upset this week. Showing glimpses of his attacking best with three tries, two try assists and 15 tackle breaks in his past two appearances, the 23-year-old has bounced back following a turbulent start to the year marred by being selected out of position and a stint in reserve grade. Scoring three tries in as many appearances against the Sea Eagles throughout his career, a strong showing from Lomax will go a long way towards the Dragons posting consecutive wins in Wollongong for the first time in a year.
Little fanfare accompanied the signing of a Gerringong Lions junior plying his trade for St George Illawarra's reserve grade team five years ago. Fast forward to the present and Reuben Garrick stands as one of Manly's most consistent contributors with 65 tries and a 77% goal kicking strike rate in 108 appearances. Filling in at fullback after spending time at wing and centre earlier in the year, the 25-year-old goal kicker shapes as a pivotal figure should the match go down to the wire.
Favourite: The Sea Eagles are favoured to take the two points despite a horror record in Wollongong.
My tip: The sense of occasion should carry the Sea Eagles to a win decades in the making. Sea Eagles by 13.
