St George Illawarra Dragons facing toughest test yet, says Brad Fittler
League legend Brad Fittler says St George Illawarra face one of their toughest tests of the season, when they take on Souths at ANZ Stadium in round 10 of the NRL.
The Dragons sit atop the NRL ladder with eight wins from nine starts, but Fittler feel the intensity of recent matches could leave them vulnerable this week.
“This is a tough one, Dragons have had a four week block where they played the Storm, the Roosters, the Sharks and the Warriors, and that was their only loss against the Warriors,” Fittler said.
“I feel like there might be a bit of a comedown so I’m a bit nervous about this game.
“I’m going to tip them, because they’re my favourite team at the moment, but they’ve put a lot of effort into this last month. If they win this game it will be a great sign for the club.”
Immortal Andrew Johns agrees the Dragons will get the points, but believes they won’t be troubled too much.
“The Dragons will just keep winning, (they’ve got) pretty much the same team that’s gone through the opening nine rounds of the competition, as long as that team’s together they’ll just keep winning,” Johns said.
Both Johns and Fittler are tipping the 11th placed Canberra to get the cash against the 8th placed Cronulla, which will be live and free on Nine on Sunday from 3:00pm.
“This is the best the Raiders have played in quite a while, I’ve enjoyed watching them lately,” said Fittler.
“They’re holding the ball a bit more, they’re staying in the game a bit longer and I think their halves are back in control.
“Paul Gallen is back so it will be interesting to see how he impacts the style of Cronulla, but I feel like the Raiders down there.”
Johns added: “There’s plenty of points in the Raiders. I’ll go the Raiders at home in a really high scoring, entertaining game. This will be a beauty to watch.”
Premiership winning coach Phil Gould retains his spot at the top of the Wide World of Sports tipping ladder as we approach the halfway mark of the NRL season.
Leaderboard
Gus - 42
Locky - 39
Joey - 38
Freddy - 37
Wally - 34
Sterlo – 34
Gus
Tigers
Panthers
Bulldogs
Warriors
Storm
Broncos
Dragons
Sharks
Locky
Cowboys
Knights
Bulldogs
Warriors
Storm
Broncos
Dragons
Raiders
Joey
(watch the video)
Freddy
(watch the video)
Wally
Cowboys
Panthers
Eels
Warriors
Storm
Broncos
Dragons
Raiders
Sterlo
(to come)
