Dragons v Sea Eagles preview

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St George Illawarra Dragons v Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Friday 6:00pm at WIN Stadium, Wollongong / Dharawal

Round 6 of the NRL premiership season is upon us and the winless Dragons will play host to a red hot Manly side at WIN Stadium on Friday night.

Sea Eagles are looking for their second win of the season while the home side are still in search of their first points.

Two weeks is not a long time in rugby league - it was only the weekend before last that Manly were also sitting winless and Seibold had been sacked with the Northern Beaches club in complete disarray.

Enter club legend Kieran Foran to take the reins and kick things off with a dominant 52-18 win over the Dolphins in Redcliffe as vintage performances from Tom Trbojevic, Tolutau Koula and Hauole Olakau'atu were on full display.

Dragons on the other hand seem light years away from where Manly are as the joint venture club fell to their fifth loss of the season when they were defeated 32-0 by the Cowboys at their spiritual home at Kogarah. The defeat also resulted in an unwanted club first as they recorded their ninth consecutive loss.

The home team will head into this matchup with some confidence as WIN Stadium has proven to be somewhat a bogey ground for the Sea Eagles in the past as they have only won there twice in the NRL era, in 2003 and 2023 respectively.

Jason Saab returns from injury this week in the only change for the Sea Eagles with Clayton Faulolo taking a spot on the bench, pushing Josh Feledy to the reserves.

For the Dragons, Shane Flanagan has rolled out a pretty familiar side as he looks to save his job with the only changes coming in the form of Tyrell Sloan replacing the injured Clint Gutherson and Setu Tu in for the suspended David Fale. Kyle Flanagan also makes his return from concussion protocols, replacing Lyhkan King-Togia.

Last meeting: Round 26 2025 - Dragons 24 Sea Eagles 40

Who to watch: Haumole Olakau'atu was back to his blistering best last week as he scored a try, set up two and registered two line breaks. The backrower is one of the most damaging in the competition when he's at his best and he'll be sure to target the Dragons' shaky edge defence in this one.

Hamish Stewart has been one of the few standouts for the Red V so far this season and he'll need to be at his best if the Dragons are to have any chance of securing a result. He ran for a strong 123 metres against the Cowboys last weekend with 41 of those being post contact. He also made 43 tackles with just one missed.

Favourite: Despite the Dragons playing at home for this one the favourites for this matchup are the Sea Eagles as they are coming off a big win.

MY TIP: Dragons are a team in trouble and there's no sugar coating it. They failed to score a single point against the Cowboys so it is hard to see them getting a result against a side who decimated a strong Dolphins outfit. Manly by 30.

1. Tyrell Sloan 2. Christian Tuipulotu 3. Moses Suli 4. Valentine Holmes 5. Setu Tu 6. Daniel Atkinson 7. Kyle Flanagan 8. Emre Guler 9. Damien Cook 10. Toby Couchman 11. Luciano Leilua 12. Jaydn Su'A 13. Hamish Stewart 14. Jacob Liddle 15. Blake Lawrie 17. Josh Kerr 18. Hame Sele 19. Kade Reed 20. Mathew Feagai

1. Tom Trbojevic 2. Jason Saab 3. Tolutau Koula 4. Reuben Garrick 5. Lehi Hopoate 6. Luke Brooks 7. Jamal Fogarty 8. Taniela Paseka 9. Brandon Wakeham 10. Kobe Hetherington 11. Haumole Olakau'atu 12. Ben Trbojevic 13. Jake Trbojevic 14. Jake Simpkin 15. Corey Waddell 16. Ethan Bullemor 17. Simione Laiafi 18. Paul Bryan 19. Clayton Faulalo

Referees: Adam Gee; Sideline Officials: Daniel Luttringer, Phil Henderson; Video Referees: Grant Atkins;