Sunday’s NRL 2018 Round 18 match is between St George Illawarra Dragons and Wests Tigers. The opening kick is set to commence at 16:10 local time with the game to be played at Jubilee Oval, Sydney. The home team St George Illawarra Dragons are the favourites for the match.
View our preview and teams for the game between St George Illawarra Dragons and Wests Tigers.
When: 16:10 | Sunday 15/07/2018
Where: Jubilee Oval, Sydney
Preview:
The Dragons’ last start with an understrength team saw them thumped by the Storm.
Every team will have a throw away game this year and that will certainly be their one.
I don’t think the coach would have spent much time on that game and he’ll be more focused on this game.
The Origin stars will return for the Red V which will be a big welcome.
They will go through a little post Origin slump, but I feel it won’t be this week.
Playing at home and the fact the Blues have the series victory fresh in their minds will be enough.
KEY BATTLE: Dragons v Tigers forwards
The matchup of the forwards will be one to watch.
The Dragons have been very dominant in that area this year and have been rewarded with Origin births but the Tigers who started the year so strong in this area will need to be at their best if they are to win this one.
The Verdict
The size and skill of the Dragons’ outside backs will be the difference however.
Look for the Dragons to come home late in a free-flowing open affair.
I will say however the inclusion of their favourite son Robbie Farah will pay big dividends for the Tigers for the remainder of their season.
An area they were really lacking in was their creativity but they’ll be better with Farah’s inclusion along with Moses Mbye as well.
The Dragons have a 4-1 (80.0 percent) W/L record in day matches against the Wests Tigers since 2014.
Unibet Odds:
St. George-Illawarra at $1.36
Wests Tigers at $3.20
Odds:
Tip: St George Illawarra Dragons at $1.38
Value Tip: First Try Scorer: Jason Nightingale at $11.00
More Info:
Teams:
St George Illawarra Dragons:
1 Matt Dufty, 2 Nene Macdonald, 3 Euan Aitken, 4 Tim Lafai, 5 Jason Nightingale, 6 Gareth Widdop (c), 7 Ben Hunt, 8 James Graham, 9 Cameron McInnes, 10 Paul Vaughan, 11 Tyson Frizell, 12 Tariq Sims, 13 Jack de Belin
Interchange: 14 Jeremy Latimore, 15 Kurt Mann, 16 Leeson Ah Mau, 17 Luciano Leilua
Reserves: 18 Patrick Herbert, 19 Hame Sele, 20 Blake Lawrie, 21 Reece Robson, 22 Jai Field, 23 Darren Nicholls.
Wests Tigers: 
1 Moses Mbye, 2 David Nofoaluma, 3 Esan Marsters, 4 Kevin Naiqama, 5 Corey Thompson, 6 Benji Marshall, 7 Luke Brooks, 8 Russell Packer (c), 9 Robbie Farah, 10 Ben Matulino, 11 Chris Lawrence, 12 Josh Aloiai, 13 Elijah Taylor
Interchange: 14 Alex Twal, 15 Suaso Sue, 16 Michael Chee Kam, 17 Matt Eisenhuth
Reserves: 18 Jacob Liddle, 19 Luke Garner, 20 Tim Grant, 21 Malakai Watene-Zelezniak.
NRL News:
A late burst from the Melbourne Storm has set up an impressive 52-30 victory over St George Illawarra on Thursday night.
The Dragons took a 30-28 lead with 20 minutes to go but the home side ran in four tries in a devastating ten-minute burst to stun the visitors.
Jahrome Hughes, Cheyse Blair and Ryley Jacks all crossed in quick succession before a 70-metre effort from Suliasi Vunivalu put the result beyond reach.
The win sees the Storm move to 24 competition points with South Sydney to move above the Dragons (26 points) on percentage with the bye.
The Dragons were poised to take a narrow lead into the main break after both teams had crossed for three tries, Gareth Widdop’s accurate goal kicking proving the difference.
But veteran backrower Ryan Hoffman stunned the visitors on the stroke of halftime with a 45-metre dash to the line on the final play of the stanza to put the Storm ahead 22-18.
Melbourne extended the lead with a Smith penalty soon after the restart but Luciano Leilua levelled the scores following a slick inside ball from centre Tim Lafai.
Young Tonumaipea struck back off the back of a bullocking run from prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona and the Dragons took the lead again with a set move from the base of the scrum setting up Mann’s second four-pointer.
But Hughes kicked off the Storm’s late flurry as he cut through the middle of St George Illawarra’s defence with Blair crossing for his second of the night three minutes later.
The Dragons could do little as Jacks put the game out of reach in the 72nd minute with Vunivalu outpacing everybody to add the exclamation mark on a strong second half.
