NRL Round 5 Preview and Prediction - Wests Tigers v St. George Illawarra Dragons @ ANZ Stadium

Wests Tigers v St George Illawarra Dragons @ ANZ Stadium
 
Preview - The Wests Tigers will be desperate to end a miserable 3-game losing streak when they host the surging Dragons at ANZ Stadium on Sunday. The Tigers are rooted to the bottom of the NRL after a month of football and a turbulent couple of weeks, which resulted in the sacking of Coach Jason Taylor and the future of their biggest four name players still up in the air. Interim Head Coach, Andrew Webster, will take charge once again, however Ivan Cleary’s appointment seems imminent for the joint venture Clubs who have come to a real crossroads in their existence. The Dragons are a Club with no such problems having won 3 of their opening 4 games to be the surprise packets of the NRL to date in 2017. Paul McGregor was widely expected to be the first coach sacked this year, however, if Saints keep this up he might be more in line for Coach of the Year. Not only is their forward pack dominating and playing with brutal intensity but the much-criticised Dragons’ attack is firing on all cylinders, averaging 25 points per game to date. Last week, the Dragons were convincing 28-12 winners over the Warriors to sky rocket them to 3rd place on the NRL Ladder. 
 
History - The Tigers and Dragons have often traded wins over the years, with the ledger balanced at 10 each over the past 20 meetings. Interestingly, the Tigers have won 5 of their past 6 games at ANZ Stadium against all opponents, whilst the Dragons have struggled at the venue losing their past 5 against all opponents. Last year, when the sides clashed at the venue, the Tigers ran out convincing winners 28-12. 
 
Wests Tigers’ Scouting Report - The Tigers interim coach, Andrew Webster, has put his imprint on the side this week making a few changes. Jamal Idris, after spending a week in the State Cup, comes into the centres for Michael Chee Kam who is relegated to the bench. Josh Aloiai is promoted to the starting back row with Sauso Sue going back into the prop rotation on the bench. Matt Ballin is once again named in Jumper 17 and might be fit to finally take his place, with Jacob Little relegated to State Cup.
 
St. George Illawarra Dragons’ Scouting Report - Not surprisingly, the Dragons are unchanged once again as they look to keep their momentum going. For me, the Dragons have close to the best back row in the competition right this minute in Frizzell, Thompson and De Belin. The Tigers have probably the weakest back row in the competition and I expect the Dragons to really try and target some of their back rowers and the Tigers halves and look to dominate them in the forwards. Gareth Widdop and Josh Dugan both look rejuvenated this season with the Dragons playing a more instinctive and direct style of football away from the boring, predictable set plays that cramped their style so much over the past two years. 
 
Verdict - Dragons by 6-12
 
I have to go with the Dragons here. I just think they can bully the Tigers in the forwards in this game. It looks like a real mismatch in terms of the teams forward production and ability and I expect the Dragons to roll the Tigers’ pack here. I do expect the Tigers to start to finally find some attacking mojo despite missing Luke Brooks in this game. However, to me, this side doesn't look equipped to play 80 minutes of NRL football. They don't look fit enough, they don’t look tough enough and the two 80-metre tries they conceded last week were embarrassing at NRL level. The Tigers look ok while things are going for them, however when the wheels turn, they turn on their heels very quickly and that goes to the culture of mediocrity and lack of accountability at the joint venture over several years. The Tigers might have more attacking weapons than the Dragons, however the Dragons look like a committed football side playing for each other without egos, which should be too much for the Tigers in a higher scoring game than people expect.