NRL Round 25 Preview - Newcastle Knights v St.George Illawarra Dragons @ McDonald Jones Stadium

Newcastle Knights v St. George Illawarra Dragons @ McDonald Jones Stadium
 
Preview - The Dragons are a side under pressure as they visit the Knights on Saturday afternoon in their last hit out before the finals. The Dragons have nosedived to 4 losses in their past 5 games, culminating in an ugly 38-0 home loss to the Bulldogs last weekend. The Dragons need to win and have results go their way to have any hope of a Top 4 spot which looked a certainly at the mid-way point of the season. The Knights hit the wall a bit last week, competing hard before falling apart in the final 20 minutes, to go down 38-12 to the Sharks at Shark Park. 
 
Newcastle Knights’ Scouting Report -  Kayln Ponga remains out injured. Jack Cogger replaces Connor Watson in the halves.  Jamie Buhrer moves into the starting second-row spot, with Jacob Lillyman and debutant Tom Starling both on the interchange bench.
 
St. George Illawarra Dragons’ Scouting Report - The Dragons have some issues heading into this big games with Euan Aitken out injured, replaced by Zac Lomax at centre. Jason Nightingale is also out injured, with fullback Matt Dufty going back to starting fullback and Jai Field called up on the bench. 
 
Verdict - Knights by 1-12

I think the Knights can possibly come off with a win here on Old Boys’ Day at home. They have a history of playing extremely well in this game every seaso,n and the Dragons are a side in absolute freefall at the moment. Whilst they did get a reaction to their flogging by the Eels against the Tigers,  I thought that victory was more to the point that the Tigers were awful in that game, turning over a mountain of ball. Expecting the Dragons to be better than last week, but I think the Knights are playing with more confidence and can win in front of a big crowd at home.