Round 24 St George Illawarra Dragons v North Queensland Cowboys

[TITAN PETE]

MONDAY

St George Illawarra Dragons v North Queensland Cowboys at WIN Stadium, 7:00pm (local). #NRLSTINQL

DRAGONS: Jason Nightingale, Brett Morris, Chase Stanley, Matt Cooper, Daniel Vidot, Jamie Soward, Ben Hornby, Dan Hunt, Mitch Rein, Trent Merrin, Matt Prior, Ben Creagh, Dean Young. Interchange: Josh Miller, Will Matthews, Jack Stockwell, Jack de Belin

COWBOYS: Matthew Bowen, Ashley Graham, Brent Tate, Kane Linnett, Antonio Winterstein, Johnathan Thurston (c), Michael Morgan, Matthew Scott (c), Aaron Payne, James Tamou, Gavin Cooper, Glenn Hall, Dallas Johnson. Interchange (from): Ray Thompson, Joel Riethmuller, Ashton Sims, Scott Bolton, Anthony Mitchell

[TITAN PETE]

Dragons a top four side: Bowen

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James MacSmith AAP Sun, Aug 19, 2012 - 7:18 PM

North Queensland talisman Matt Bowen says St George Illawarra remain one of the best sides in the NRL ahead of their meeting on Monday night despite the Dragons' fall from grace.

While the Cowboys are on track for a top eight finish, the joint venture almost certainly won't play finals football for the first time since 2007.

Ahead of the two sides' first meeting since Matt Prior was sent off and later suspended for five weeks for a high tackle on Johnathan Thurston in round nine, Bowen insists the Cowboys remain wary of the Dragons, especially at WIN Stadium in Wollongong.

"It is going to be a big challenge even though they haven't been going that well over the last four weeks," Bowen said.

"They are a top four side and we are going to have to be up for it.

"We showed against the Warriors last week that we can play some football and we need to do that again.

"We just have to worry about the things that we can control and not worry too much about (what is motivating them)."

Both Thurston and James Tamou have been battling ankle injuries in the lead-up to the round 24 match but are expected to play.

Matt Cooper returns for the Dragons after four weeks out with a hamstring complaint.

The Dragons were all but knocked out of finals contention following a loss to the Wests Tigers last week, while the Cowboys can seal a finals berth with their 13th win of the season.

"We showed against the Warriors last weekend that we are up to it," Bowen told the Cowboys website.

"And this is another game we have to do well in."

The Cowboys have consistently struggled to win in Sydney and they have only enjoyed success in three of their nine visits to WIN Stadium.

[TITAN PETE]

Last Time Played: Dragons v Cowboys

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NRL.com Mon, Aug 20, 2012 - 12:00 PM

The Cowboys scored a comfortable 30-6 win at Dairy Farmers Stadium in Round 9. Stamping their authority on the match from the outset, it took the home side just 90 seconds to open the scoring with Johnathan Thurston putting Brent Tate through a gap and Ray Thompson backing up on the inside to score.

Matt Bowen added another 10 minutes later as he latched onto a perfectly timed inside ball from his captain to race over and it was 16-0 soon after as Thurston and Bowen combined to send Kane Linnett across.

However, it was their next play that really had the crowd on their feet as James Segeyaro broke clear and put in a cross-field chip that Tate miraculously scooped in to plant the ball in the corner.

It took the Dragons 50 minutes to finally put some points on the board – although it was worth the wait as Jason Nightingale broke clear down the right touchline and kicked in-field for Brett Morris to score.

But that was as good as it got for the visitors. A forearm to the head of Thurston saw Dragons back-rower Matt Prior sent from the field, the Cowboys taking the easy two points from the resulting penalty, and they added their fifth try late in the game as Tariq Sims pounced on a Thompson grubber to score beside the posts.

North Queensland completed 76 per cent of their sets compared with just 55 per cent by the Dragons.

James Tamou was strong up front for the home side, running for 168 metres and making 25 tackles, while Daniel Vidot made 171 metres and produced six tackle-breaks for St George Illawarra.