Dragons v Storm preview

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St George Illawarra Dragons v Melbourne Storm Saturday 3:00pm at Jubilee Stadium, Carlton / Bidjigal

This is a contest that could get real ugly for the winless Dragons as they take on the undefeated Storm.

The Dragons are at home for their third game of the season, having played at Netstrata Jubilee in Round 1, where they went down 28-20 to the Bulldogs and then followed with a trip to their second home at WIN Stadium in Round 2, where they threw away a victory to a fast finishing Souths side 25-24. This match will be back at Netstrata after they had a bye last week. A loss here puts them  in a precarious place as they will be playing games against equally desperate sides, most of which will be away from home in the following month.

The Storm similarly have yet to play an away game yet, having opened their season with an emphatic destruction of Parramatta 56-18 in Round 1. Last week, after they had a bye, the Storm faced off against the Panthers in a Grand Final rematch, which again was an entertaining spectacle that went down to the wire, this time resulting in a Storm victory 30-24.

Melbourne have not had much success at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium in recent times either - just 1 win from their last 5 trips to the ground - that win was in Round 1, 2015. In the two games after, the Dragons racked up 30 points both time (in 2018 and 2020).

The Dragons though have won just 2 of their last 7 games at their Kogarah home and have lost all of their last 3 there.

Dragons coach Shane Flanagan has somewhat of a reputation of building defensively solid sides whose attack relies heavily on their forwards. His sides inability to put 2 strong halves of footy together so far would be concerning for him, especially when coming up against the attacking might and prowess that Melbourne Storm possess.

60 of Melbourne's 90 points scored this year have come in the first half and if the Dragons defence isn't up to the task, they may well find themselves on the back foot early and unable to ever get themselves into the game.

Last meeting: Round 22 2024 - Storm 16 Dragons 18

Who to watch: Storm playmaker Cameron Munster was sensational last week and looks to be in sparkling form. If the Dragons defence give him too much room, he's going to carve up their edges and the Storm will put on plenty of points. Ryan Papenhuyzen has also been threatening in attack every time he gets involved. Harry Grant has been directing the team around the paddock with the guile of a previous Storm rake, which is ensuring the Storm are getting out of their own half and into attacking zones on a regular basis.

The Dragons winger Christian Tuipulotu has been racking up the tries, already with 4 to his name after just 2 games. His powerful kick returns and ability to get across the tryline has been one of the shining lights for the Dragons at the start of this year. Fullback Clint Gutherson is heavily involved in the Dragons red zone attack while Jaydn Su'A has been solid up front.

Favourite: Storm are favourites here, but not by as much as many might suspect.

My tip: Hard to see anything other than a Storm victory here. Their attack is red hot right now and the Dragons still look clunky. Storm by 14.

1. Clinton Gutherson 2. Tyrell Sloan 3. Moses Suli 4. Valentine Holmes 5. Christian Tuipulotu 6. Kyle Flanagan 7. Lachlan Ilias 15. David Klemmer 9. Damien Cook 10. Emre Guler 11. Luciano Leilua 12. Jaydn Su'A 13. Jack de Belin 8. Toby Couchman 14. Jacob Liddle 16. Hamish Stewart 17. Dylan Egan 18. Mathew Feagai

1. Ryan Papenhuyzen 2. William Warbrick 3. Jack Howarth 4. Grant Anderson 5. Xavier Coates 6. Cameron Munster 7. Tyran Wishart 8. Stefano Utoikamanu 9. Harry Grant 10. Josh King 11. Shawn Blore 12. Eliesa Katoa 13. Trent Loiero 14. Bronson Garlick 15. Alec MacDonald 16. Tui Kamikamica 19. Marion Seve 18. Kane Bradley

Referees: Peter Gough; Sideline Officials: Drew Oultram, Damian Brady; Video Referees: Kasey Badger;