NRL Round 16 Preview and Prediction - St. George Illawarra Dragons v Newcastle Knights @ Kogarah

St. George Illawarra Dragons v Newcastle Knights @ Jubilee Stadium

Preview - The Dragons will be looking to break out of their mid-season slumber as they tackle the 15th placed Newcastle Knights at Jubilee Stadium on Sunday afternoon. After beginning the season like a house on fire, the Dragons have now won just 2 from their last 7 matches and have slumped to 6th place, after sitting in 2nd for several weeks earlier in the season. The spark has gone out of the Dragons' attack, with the team managing just 5 tries in the last 3 games combined. The Knights are looking to rebound from another heartbreaking loss 18-14 at the hands of Manly at Brookvale at Lottoland. It's been the story of the Knights season in that they have been far more competitive and some crucial refereeing decisions have let them down as they remain with just 2 victories, despite having claims to have won at least double that amount of games. 

History - The Dragons have totally dominated the Knights in recent seasons winning the last 4 straight as well as 8 from the last 9. Last season the Knights got within 2 points at Kogarah losing on the bell 28-26 in Round 26. The Knights have lost their last 4 clashes at Kogarah and have just 10 from 33 victories overall against the Dragons. 

St.George Illawarra Dragons' Scouting Report - The Dragons will be sweating on the fitness of both Josh Dugan and Tyson Frizzel as they desperately missed their pace and power in a poor loss to Parramatta last week. The Dragons will have to do without Jack De Belin who has been suspended for a week for dangerous contact against Kenny Edwards against Parramatta. Centre Euan Aitken could be set to return after more than a month on the sidelines, having been named on an extended interchange bench. 

Newcastle Knights' Scouting Report - For the Knights, Joe Wardle is replaced in the centres by Brendon Elliott. Dane Gagai has been named to play at fullback and is expected to back up from Origin 2 in Sydney. One player to really impress this year for the Knights has been hooker Danny Levi, with his good service and physical style of play, the Knights will be delighted that he has recently resigned with the Club. 

Verdict - Dragons by 6-14

This is a must win for the Dragons, so I expect them to get the job done pretty comfortably at a ground they love playing in at Jubilee. They simply can't afford to drop a home game against the Knights at this point in their season, given they have lost 5 from their past 7 games. The Dragons' attack has really fallen flat in the past month, and this is the perfect opportunity to get some confidence back into that area, against a Knights' side that can leak points. Newcastle played well at Jubilee last year and were unlucky to lose on the bell, so I'm expecting them to be relatively competitive, however I think they are stronger at home than they are on the road.