Brisbane Broncos vs St. George Illawarra Dragons Preview & Prediction | 2025 NRL

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The Brisbane Broncos host the St George Illawarra Dragons in a key matchup prior to the Origin period.

Start date/time: Sunday 18th May, 2025: UK – 5:00am / Local – 2:00pm / US ET – 12:00am / Saturday 17th May, US PT – 9:00pm

How to watch on TV: UK – Sky Sports / Australia – Foxtel / US – Some matches are televised live on Fox Sports

How to watch online: UK – Sky Go & Watch NRL / Australia – Kayo Sports / US – Watch NRL, and if the match is televised in the USA it can also be streamed live on Fox Sports platforms

Brisbane Broncos team news

Ezra Mam returns following his nine-game suspension. Ben Hunt is out for at least a month after with a hamstring injury, while Jock Madden’s season is over after suffering a torn pec. Xavier Willison has been named in the back row with Brendan Piakura on the bench but they’ll likely switch on game day as they did last week.

Squad: 1. Selwyn Cobbo 2. Deine Mariner 3. Kotoni Staggs 4. Gehamat Shibasaki 5. Jesse Arthars 6. Ezra Mam 7. Adam Reynolds 8. Patrick Carrigan 9. Billy Walters 10. Payne Haas 11. Xavier Willison 12. Jordan Riki 13. Kobe Hetherington 14. Cory Paix 15. Corey Jensen 16. Brendan Piakura 17. Fletcher Baker 18. Tyson Smoothy 19. Josiah Karapani 20. Martin Taupau 21. Jaiyden Hunt 22. Delouise Hoeter

St. George Illawarra Dragons team news

Jack de Belin returns to the starting side after Toby Couchman (shoulder) was injured last week and Blake Lawrie earns a recall on the bench. Backrower Dylan Egan has been named to start with Luciano Leilua on the bench but coach Shane Flanagan could swap the duo late again like he did last week.

Squad: 1. Clinton Gutherson 2. Tyrell Sloan 3. Moses Suli 4. Valentine Holmes 5. Corey Allan 6. Kyle Flanagan 7. Lyhkan King-Togia 8. Jack de Belin 9. Damien Cook 10. David Klemmer 11. Dylan Egan 12. Jaydn Su’A 13. Hamish Stewart 14. Jacob Liddle 15. Luciano Leilua 16. Loko Jnr Pasifiki Tonga 17. Blake Lawrie 18. Nathan Lawson 19. Hame Sele 20. Lachlan Ilias 21. Raymond Faitala-Mariner 22. Michael Molo

Brisbane Broncos vs St. George Illawarra Dragons prediction

The Brisbane Broncos have suffered back-to-back to feats to the Rabbitoh’s and then the Panthers in the last fortnight. They currently sit on five wins against five losses amongst a bunch of sides on 10 competition points in the bottom end of the top eight.

The St George Illawarra Dragons have just three wins against six losses on the season, including last week’s narrow 15-14 defeat to the Warriors. That’s now three defeats in succession for the red V and their season is on the brink of slipping away.

With some key personnel still out for the Broncos it will be interesting to see if the return of Ezra Mam can boost their attacking creativity.

For the Dragons, Tyrell Sloan has been very impressive of late with multiple tackle busts and plenty of running metres from out wide.

Historically the Broncos have won 25 of the 46 matches between the two sides but more recently it has been the Dragons getting the better of the Broncos, winning seven of the past nine contests.

We like the Broncos in this one to have just a little bit too much fire power out wide

Brisbane Broncos vs St. George Illawarra Dragons tip: Brisbane Broncos to win