Wests Tigers v St George Illawarra Dragons
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5 hours ago | Robert Crosby
Wests Tigers v Dragons preview
9th plays 10th as finals hopefuls battle it out
It's election night footy at Magic Round, with the Wests Tigers ‘hosting' the St George Illawarra Dragons at Lang Park to round out the Saturday triple-header. Sitting in 9th, the Wests Tigers have seemingly weathered the Lachlan Galvin media frenzy, and are looking to continue building momentum following their golden point victory last week. Meanwhile the Dragons are just one spot behind in 10th, and will be aiming to bounce back from a disappointing ANZAC Day.
A packed Leichhardt Oval witnessed the Wests Tigers secure a 20-18 win over the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks last Sunday. After surviving the final 15 minutes of regulation time with the Sharks at times coming literal inches away from snatching victory, it was the stellar efforts of Terrell May, as well as desperate trysavers from practically the entire 13, that kept them in the game. They will be disappointed that they let the Sharks back into the game, having led by 12 whilst up a man and with 25 to go. After numerous failed field goal attempts, mostly from the Sharks, it was a penalty goal from Adam Doueihi that sealed the result.
The Tigers have named the same 17 this week, despite some concern over a possible injury to Api Koroisau suffered in golden point. After playing 84 minutes as a prop last week, one can expect Terrell May to have a slightly reduced workload.
St George were simply blown off the park in their annual ANZAC Day clash with the Sydney Roosters last week. Going down 46-18, it was their biggest loss of the season so far by a decent margin. In front of 41,000 fans, the Dragons struggled for metres and possession and failed to turn the tide following a Sandon Smith sin binning early in the second half.
Halfback Lachlan Ilias has faced the consequences, being axed to the reserves by Shane Flanagan on Tuesday. In his place comes 19 year old Lyhkan King-Togia, who has four NRL games under his belt from the back-end of 2024. Corey Allan has been named to make his return from an ACL injury on the wing, meaning Sione Finau must make way. The return of Hamish Stewart from concussion protocols moves Jack De Belin to the bench and Blake Lawrie to the reserves.
The Dragons have won six of their past seven matches against the Tigers, however the one outlier came at Magic Round in 2023 - a possible positive sign for Wests.
Last meeting: Round 14 2024 - Dragons 56 Wests Tigers 14
Who to watch: Terrell May has been playing the best footy of his career since joining the Tigers, and looks all but set to make his Origin debut later this year. The Samoa representative is on a 3 year deal with the Wests Tigers and has been racking up some crazy statistics throughout the beginning of 2025. The prop is sitting pretty in 2nd place on the Dally M leaderboard following his man of the match performance against the Sharks, in which he charged down a field goal and played in excess of 80 minutes. In the mind's of most fans, there's no doubt that May will continue in his form.
Lyhkan King-Togia has a lot of pressure on his shoulders, with Shane Flanagan taking a massive chance in picking him over Lachlan Ilias for the number seven jersey. King-Togia is just 19 years of age and has started in only one NRL game in his career. He set up 3 tries last week in a 30 point smashing of Manly in NSW Cup, and signed a contract upgrade and extension with the club this week as well. King-Togia will be keen to show that he is up for the challenge as he looks to be a key player at the Dragons over the next 3 seasons.
Favourite: The Tigers are the narrow favourites to get their second win on the trot.
My tip: I think the Tigers may be feeling a little tired following their herculean efforts last week, and the Dragons will be ready to capitalise. St George Illawarra by 14.
1. Jahream Bula 2. Sunia Turuva 3. Adam Doueihi 4. Starford To'a 5. Brent Naden 6. Lachlan Galvin 7. Jarome Luai 8. Terrell May 9. Apisai Koroisau 10. Fonua Pole 11. Samuela Fainu 12. Alex Seyfarth 13. Alex Twal 14. Tallyn Da Silva 15. Royce Hunt 16. Jack Bird 17. Sione Fainu 18. Tony Sukkar 19. Heath Mason 20. Kit Laulilii 21. Solomona Faataape 22. Tristan Hope
1. Clinton Gutherson 2. Tyrell Sloan 3. Moses Suli 4. Valentine Holmes 5. Corey Allan 6. Kyle Flanagan 7. Lyhkan King-Togia 8. Toby Couchman 9. Damien Cook 10. David Klemmer 11. Dylan Egan 12. Jaydn Su'A 13. Hamish Stewart 14. Jacob Liddle 15. Jack de Belin 16. Emre Guler 17. Luciano Leilua 18. Loko Jnr Pasifiki Tonga 19. Nathan Lawson 20. Blake Lawrie 21. Lachlan Ilias 22. Raymond Faitala-Mariner
Referees: Wyatt Raymond; Sideline Officials: Matt Noyen, Drew Oultram; Video Referees: Kasey Badger;