WCC: Wigan Warriors vs St George Illawarra Dragons

[Sydney Titans Fanatic]

Wigan Warriors vs St George Illawarra Dragons
Wigan Warriors:
Sam Tomkins, Darrell Goulding, Martin Gleeson, George Carmont, Paul Deacon, Thomas Leuluai, Stuart Fielden, Michael McIlorum, Andy Coley, Harrison Hansen, Joel Tomkins, Sean O?Loughlin, Paul Prescott; Interchange: Ryan Hoffman, Amos Roberts, Lee Mossop, Liam Farrell, Chris Tuson, Stefan Marsh. (Two to be omitted)


St George Illawarra:
Darius Boyd, Brett Morris, Mark Gasnier, Matt Cooper, Jason Nightingale, Jamie Soward, Ben Hornby, Dan Hunt, Nathan Fien, Michael Weyman, Beau Scott, Ben Creagh, Matt Prior; Interchange: Michael Greenfield, Trent Merrin, Jon Green, Bronx Goodwin, Cameron King. (One to be omitted)

[TITAN PETE]

This is the only time u will ever see me saying these words Go u Dragons

[TITAN PETE]

RSS
NRL.comThu, Feb 24, 2011 - 10:55 AM


Wigan Warriors v St George Illawarra Dragons
DW Stadium, Wigan
Sunday, Feb 27 7.15pm (Mon 6.15am NSW, 5.15am Qld)

Red-and-white dynamite! St George Illawarra face off against Wigan in what should be an intriguing, free-flowing World Club Challenge event over in the old dart.

Two famously successful clubs come together for the title of World Champions ? it doesn?t get much better.

Having won their respective local competitions in 2010 the two teams now have more success in their sights but only one can come away with the silverware.

The Dragons have already touched down in England for their quick assault on the crown, fresh from two impressive trial wins over South Sydney and the Bulldogs. They have a 21-man squad on tour ? 14 of the boys played in the team who downed the Roosters last October for the NRL trophy.

While the cohesion and combinations from last year will certainly be beneficial it?s a difficult task to play well on the other side of the world. The team have gone from a brutal summer to the bitter cold, they have endured a 20 hours-plus flight and are in a new time zone? and they have yet to get into the swing of the new season.

While the prestige of winning the match would be huge, the jury remains out as to how beneficial ? if at all ? this exercise will be for the preparation of the Dragons? NRL title defence.

The Warriors come into the match fresh from three winning trial matches and their opening two league games for the new season. They opened their account with a 16-all draw against St Helens, the team they defeated for the premiership last year, and then pummelled Bradford 44-10 last weekend.

With English conditions, a few more games under their belt and even English officials, the Wigan boys certainly have some aspects in their favour.

Watch Out Warriors: The Dragons? left-side attack is their bread and butter; they will stick with what they know, just as they have for the past two seasons. After the likes of Michael Weyman, Trent Merrin and Dan Hunt roll forward the Red V will shift the ball to the left with gusto. They will do so with Ben Creagh hitting the edge of the ruck and fullback Darius Boyd sweeping around the back giving the Dragons two halves options.

The flat-running Creagh usually isolates smaller defenders and if more than one defender commits his way, Jamie Soward or Ben Hornby will go out to Boyd instead. The fullback can then find Matt Cooper and Brett Morris in space.

While the left side is their strength the Dragons proved in the grand final they are more than capable of going right also. Internationals Mark Gasnier and Jason Nightingale (who made a game-high three line-breaks in the NRL decider) are waiting in the wings out right to punish loose defence.

Watch Out Dragons: Wigan has some great off-the-cuff players who can be unpredictable and therefore hard to read. Former Dragon and Panther Amos Roberts, Kiwi half Thomas Leuluai and youngster Sam Tomkins are all players who can create something from nothing. Roberts has speed and flair out wide and comes into the game on the back of a two-try effort against Bradford. Tomkins posted 18 try assists last season and also managed 23 line-breaks.

Then there are try-scoring machines Pat Richards and Darrell Goulding who finished one-two on the 2010 top try-scorers list with 29 and 25 respectively. Former Wests Tiger Richards also had 25 line-breaks to his name.

Where It Will Be Won: Defence. We always hear about the attacking nature of the British game but English teams don?t often come up against defence like the Dragons boasted last season.

St George Illawarra averaged just 11.8 points against them per game on their way to glory. In contrast, the Warriors leaked 15.2 points a game, still an impressive effort, but not quite in the class of the Red V.

The speed of the ruck will be critical for the English side. If they can?t get some quick-play-the-balls they will have a hard time cracking the Dragons? line. The Dragons will try to choke the Warriors into mistakes and if they succeed, it could get ugly.

The History: These two teams have never met in competition; however, they come into the match after very successful seasons. The Dragons claimed the NRL title after a 17-7 regular season saw them clinch a second successive minor premiership; three good finals wins sealed the deal, culminating in a 32-8 win over the Sydney Roosters in the grand final.

The Warriors were minor premiers too, in the English Super League. They carded a 22-5 regular season record and although they lost their opening finals match they regrouped to win three straight, the last a 22-10 grand final win over rivals St Helens.

As far as the history of the WCC goes, Australian teams have won the past two matches (although Melbourne?s 2010 win is somewhat tainted) but the English sides hold an 11-7 overall advantage. Seven of the past 10 matches have gone the way of the northern hemisphere side.

Wigan holds the most WCC titles, having won on three occasions in 1987, 1991 and 1994.

This is the Dragons? first attempt at the trophy, although coach Wayne Bennett won with Brisbane in 1992 (over Wigan) and the Super League version of the competition in 1997, and lost on three other occasions in 1994 (to Wigan), 2001 and 2007.

Conclusion: One always wonders whether a premiership team is bound to experience a title ?hangover? but to date the Dragons look sharp and alert and ready to go. They dismantled the Rabbitohs and Bulldogs in trial games before travelling over to England and look like they are already somewhat back into their groove.

Wigan are more than capable on their day, particularly with Australian coach Michael McGuire (ex-Storm) at the helm, but one thinks the Dragons? style will choke them out of the contest. Look for the Red V to fly the NRL flag with distinction and win by eight.

Match officials: To be announced.

Televised: Fox Sports ? Live from 6am (NSW), 5am (Qld). Channel Nine ? Delayed from 12am Wednesday (NSW).

[Sydney Titans Fanatic]

This is the only time u will ever see me saying these words Go u Dragons

Ill have to agree with your comment this one time only...haha
GO THE DRAGONS

[DIEHARD]

Hell yea! Thanks for the reminder.

[thelwall]

dragons win :)

[onlooker]

21-15 to the dragons, was a good game. The French ref also did well.

[TITAN PETE]

Dragons win World Club Challenge

Tom Wald AAPMon, Feb 28, 2011 - 9:45 AM

St George Illawarra captured the World Club Challenge title for the first time with a 21-15 win over three-time champions Wigan at DW Stadium on Sunday night.

After being blown away in the opening four minutes, the NRL premiers showed their mettle to pull off the victory in front of 24,268 fans in cool, clear conditions.

By their high standards, it was a mistake-riddled performance by the Dragons and showed they were still in pre-season mode.

Winger Brett Morris was man of the match, the winger scoring two tries and causing havoc down the left side all evening as the Dragons prevailed without coach Wayne Bennett on the sidelines.

The hosts had a pre-match blow with workhorse Stuart Fielden sitting out the match alongside the suspended Jeff Lima.

To rev up the crowd, the Warriors paraded members of their 1987 World Club Challenge winning side before a minute's silence in respect for the victims of the Christchurch earthquake.

The Warriors burst out of the blocks, opening up an eight-point lead by the fourth minute.

After Beau Scott coughed up the second hit-up of the match, Wigan playmaker Paul Deacon's pinpoint kick floated beyond the reach of Jamie Soward and was plucked out of the air by George Carmont for the opening try.

Deacon slotted a penalty soon afterwards before the Dragons started finding their way back into the match with Morris and Matt Cooper causing them no end of grief down the visiting side's left side.

They both scored before Soward, who was defending in the centres, was isolated again with the five eighth failing to commit as Carmont finished off a movement that started within Wigan's half.

Morris showed his knack for finding the try line in the 30th minute by beating three, but in a worrying sign for Wigan, their centre Martin Gleeson limped off with a hamstring injury after being terrorised by Cooper.

Wigan fullback Sam Tomkins made it a 15-14 halftime lead for his team with a field goal in the final play before the break.

Young Dragon Cameron King barged over in the 55th minute to hand his side the lead again and Soward made it a six-point edge with a field goal with ten minutes to play.

Four minutes from the end, Wigan's Sam Tomkins was controversially taken out by opposite number Darius Boyd after kicking ahead, with the Dragons fortunate just to concede a penalty from French referee Thierry Alibert.

Stand-in Dragons coach Steve Price said he was proud of his side's ability to shut down Wigan's attack, with the home side unable to score in the second half.

"It is enormous, that second half defensive display was outstanding and I could not be more happy for the guys," he said.

The victory means Australian sides have won the past three World Club Challenge matches.

King suffered a shoulder injury in the second half.

The Dragons said they would know the full extent until they had scans on the complaint.

King played only one NRL match for the Dragons last season.

[Boofhead]

Lets hope the hangover lasts a few weeks. :doh:

[DIEHARD]

Well my boss is a massive Dragons fan.

LOL little did I know that at 5:10pm this arvo when I started to talk to him about the game, he had taped it and hadnt watched it!

Oh well, surely when you work with a Rugby League fan like me, as soon as you see me you gotta say NO SPOILERS!

[Steelers]

Stoked that we topped off a great 2010 season with a win over Wigan :D Hopefully not the last addition to the trophy cabinet this year.