2021 NRL – St. George Illawarra Dragons vs Manly Sea Eagles Preview & Prediction
THE FACTS
When is St. George Illawarra Dragons vs Manly Sea Eagles taking place? Friday 26th March, 2021 – 07:00 (UK)
Where is St. George Illawarra Dragons vs Manly Sea Eagles taking place? WIN Stadium, Wollongong
Where can I get tickets for St. George Illawarra Dragons vs Manly Sea Eagles? Click here for ticket information on 2021 NRL matches
What channel is St. George Illawarra Dragons vs Manly Sea Eagles on? Sky Sports Arena will be televising selected NRL games in the UK and you can find their schedule here. For Australian broadcasters, you can find a list here
Where can I stream St. George Illawarra Dragons vs Manly Sea Eagles? If televised on Sky Sports, then subscribers will be able to stream the match live via Sky Go. Alternatively, the match will be available to subscribers of Watch NRL
THE TEAM NEWS
ST. GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS
Starting 13: Dufty, Ramsey, Bird, Lomax, Ravalawa, Norman, Hunt, Lawrie, McCullough, Vaughan, Kerr, Sims, Fuimaono – Interchanges: Faamusili, Merrin, Alvaro, Wiliame – Reserves: Ellis, Ford
Unavailable: Jack de Belin (Suspended), Cameron McInnes (Injured), Jayden Sullivan (Injured)
- St. George Illawarra Dragons overcame North Queensland Cowboys in an entertaining contest last week to earn new coach Anthony Griffin his maiden win in charge but he will be looking for his side to build on that here.
- In an end-to-end game, the Dragons prevailed largely on the back of some gutsy defensive plays to hold on to win 18-25 but they need to work on finishing off line breaks and turning them into points having made six in last week’s encounter.
- Anthony Griffin has opted to retain the same 17 as last week's win and he will be hoping his side can improve on their recent good run of form against Manly Sea Eagles having won five of their last six meetings.
MANLY SEA EAGLES
Starting 13: Walker, Saab, Parker, Suli, Garrick, Foran, Cherry-Evans, Paseka, Croker, Taupau, Gosiewski, Schuster, J. Trbojevic – Interchanges: Cust, Boyle, Keppie, Aloiai – Reserves: Funa, Sipley
Unavailable: Tom Trbojevic (Injured), Jorge Taufua (Injured), Manase Fainu (Suspended), Haumole Olakau’atu (Injured), Curtis Sironen (Injured), Andrew Davey (Injured)
- Manly Sea Eagles showed some signs of improvement in their defeat to South Sydney Rabbitohs last week but they were perhaps fortunate that the deluge of rain before and during that clash allowed the scores to remain relatively close for large periods.
- After an abysmal loss to Sydney Roosters in Round 1, Manly went down 12-26 to the Rabbitohs last week but they still have plenty to work on if they are to earn their first win of the campaign with their defence a particular area of concern having missed 74 tackles so far.
- Andrew Davey suffered a devastating injury last week with his knee issue set to rule him out for the entire campaign so Josh Schuster will start in the back row with Morgan Boyle coming onto the bench.
THE PREDICTION
St. George Illawarra Dragons claimed their first win of the season as they defeated North Queensland Cowboys last week and they will believe they can build on that by making it back-to-back successes. They showed some good signs in that win, especially with their scramble defence as they held on to claim the win in the final 20 minutes despite coming under plenty of pressure. They take on winless Manly Sea Eagles who have struggled on both sides of the ball through two rounds and their defensive woes could be of particular concern here. The Dragons moved the ball to good effect last week and if they can produce a similar level of performance, they are likely to earn another victory in this one.
