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  1. #1
    Super Moderator TITAN PETE's Avatar
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    Default ROUND 17 St. George Illawarra Dragons v Newcastle Knights

    Sunday

    St. George Illawarra Dragons v Newcastle Knights at WIN Stadium, 3pm

    Dragons: Jason Nightingale, Peni Tagive, Alex McKinnon, Kyle Stanley, Reece Simmonds, Nathan Fien, Ben Hornby (c), Dan Hunt, Dean Young, Michael Weyman, Adam Cuthbertson, Michael Greenfield, Matt Prior. Interchange (from): Jon Green, Mitch Rein, Jack De Belin, David Gower, Jack Bosden, Jake Marketo, Trent Merrin.

    Peter Sterling's Late Mail: Trent Merring will return to the squad after being released from NSW Origin duty. Brett Morris could also return if Michael Jennings is passed fit for Origin III. Morris would replace Reece Simmonds on the wing.

    Knights: Wes Naiqama (c), James McManus, Junior Sa?u, Keith Lulia, Peter Mata?utia, Tyrone Roberts, Ryan Stig, Richie Fa?aoso, Isaac De Gois, Evarn Tuimavave, Chris Houston, Joel Edwards, Steve Southern. Interchange (from): Matt Hilder, Antonio Kaufusi, Cameron Ciraldo, Dan Tolar, Marvin Karawana.

    Peter Sterling's Late Mail: James McManus continues to battle an ankle injury, but is expected to play.
    #itaintweaktospeak

  2. #2
    Super Moderator TITAN PETE's Avatar
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    Fans breathe easy over Fien

    David Middleton NRL.com Fri, Jul 01, 2011 - 11:00 AM

    Dragons supporters held their collective breaths following Monday night’s gripping win over the Sea Eagles, waiting for the NRL’s Match Review Committee to announce a charge against utility star Nathan Fien.

    The Kiwi international was reported for a high shot on Manly fullback Brett Stewart and it was clear that anything other than a Grade 1 charge would mean a suspension and force another player out of the Dragons’ line-up for Sunday’s home game against the Knights.

    Already unavailable are Origin stars Darius Boyd, Brett Morris, Mark Gasnier, Jamie Soward, Ben Creagh, and Beau Scott while centre Matt Cooper remains on the sidelines through injury. Adding Fien to that list would have left the Dragons painfully short of experienced players to face Newcastle.

    But if the Dragons’ fans were sweating, it was nothing compared to thousands of Dream Team coaches (17,338 in total), who are relying on Fien on a weekend when many of the highest-scoring players are out of action.

    Origin has taken out many of the best Dream Team performers of 2011 including Cameron Smith, Corey Parker, Paul Gallen, Johnathan Thurston and Jamie Soward, while the byes have taken care of Daly Cherry-Evans, Dallas Johnson, James Maloney and Glenn Stewart.

    High-scoring halves and five-eighths are in short supply this week and the loss of Fien would have been a major blow for a huge number of Dream Teams, including Middo’s Magicians.

    Our “first-choice” halves are Jamie Soward and Elijah Taylor from the Warriors, with Fien and Cowboys’ rookie James Segeyaro on the bench but Origin, byes and a potential suspension threatened to leave us with nothing in the cupboard.

    Fien’s reprieve (he entered an early plea on a Grade 1 high tackle charge and avoided suspension) left us with one scoring half and even though we swore off more trades (with only five left to cover the final 10 rounds) we couldn’t resist the temptation to use up one more and import another scoring half. With some wiggle room under our salary cap we traded out Segeyaro ($80,700) for the rising Cronulla halfback Chad Townsend ($127,000). Townsend produced an outstanding score of 50 against the Titans and while he may not have the same opportunities against the Rabbitohs, with team-mate Paul Gallen unavailable, we are confident he will come up with a score in the high 30s at least.

    The vast number of absent stars will undoubtedly result in a low-scoring round across the board this weekend and like most of the NRL outfits who will play in round 17, the Magicians have been forced to field an under-strength combination. We’ll be short-handed, too, with only 13 potential scorers in our line-up, but we are sure we’re not alone.

    In fact, there is little doubt that most teams will experience some pain this weekend, making it an ideal opportunity for one-off players to have a crack at the $500 weekly prize.

    That means you can create a team from scratch, simply sticking to the talent available for this weekend. While the full-season players are desperately manoeuvring players in and out of their line-ups and facing the probability of being stuck with non-scorers, the one-timers have no such problems.

    How would this be for a line-up for this weekend’s round: Jason Nightingale (Dragons); Alex Glenn (Broncos), Ben Smith (Eels), Jack Reed (Broncos), Joel Thompson (Raiders); Nathan Fien (Dragons), Trent Hodkinson (Bulldogs); Luke Douglas (Sharks), Jake Friend (Roosters), Aiden Tolman (Bulldogs), Andrew Ryan (Bulldogs), Nathan Hindmarsh (Eels), Shaun Fensom (Raiders – captain). Reserves: Dan Hunt (Dragons), Chris Houston (Knights), David Stagg (Bulldogs) and Matt Prior (Dragons).

    We reckon that’s a line-up guaranteed to give you a run for your money.
    #itaintweaktospeak

  3. #3
    Super Moderator TITAN PETE's Avatar
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    Knights beat Dragons, Stig may face chop

    David Beniuk AAP Sun, Jul 03, 2011 - 6:50 PM


    Wins in each of his three starts this season may not be enough for contract-less Newcastle halfback Ryan Stig to hang onto his spot in the NRL side, which downed St George Illawarra 14-10 at WIN Stadium on Sunday.

    Stig created the Knights' two second half tries, throwing a superb cut-out ball for centre Keith Lulia's in the 56th minute and then doing it all himself six minutes later as the battered visitors made it three straight for the first time in 2011.

    The 21-year-old has been there for all of the Knights' mini-revival, which has included wins over both 2010 grand finalists the Dragons and Sydney Roosters, but with Jarrod Mullen due back from injury and Kurt Gidley from NSW State of Origin duty, could find it hard to stay there.

    Stig is hoping he has done enough.

    "Three from three so I think I've done all I can do ... I'm hoping to keep my spot," he said.

    "I'm really enjoying it, so once I got it I didn't really plan on giving it back. I just have to wait and see."

    The young half, who has been biding his time for NSW Cup side Central Coast, couldn't have picked a better moment to show his wares.

    Incoming Knights boss Wayne Bennett was looking on as Stig fights for a contract beyond 2011.

    "Hopefully he's happy, we'll just have to see," Stig said.

    "It plays on your mind, everyone wants a bit of security but hopefully we can get that sorted soon.

    "My manager's overseas. He gets back this week so I'll be looking to talk to him soon and hopefully get something sorted."

    The Dragons may have been missing six Origin representatives but their halves pairing of Ben Hornby and Nathan Fien boasted a massive 467 NRL games to Knights duo Stig and Tyrone Roberts' seven.

    "He scored a crucial try and backed himself and it was good to see from Ryan and I'm really happy for him," Knights coach Rick Stone said.

    But Stone said Mullen was likely to return from a pectoral muscle injury against North Queensland on Monday week.

    The Knights lost hooker Isaac De Gois early to a medial ligament injury and were down to one fresh man on the bench when Lulia and prop Dan Tolar suffered concussion.

    Dragons coach Bennett was fully aware his wasn't the only depleted side.

    "They were as depleted as we were so it was just a scrappy game of footy, hard to watch and I assume it was hard to play in," he said.

    The Dragons led 6-0 at halftime after the first of a double to veteran Reece Simmonds but the Knights levelled it up when concussed Lulia latched onto a superb ball from Stig.

    The visitors were in again six minutes later when Stig did it all himself for a 12-6 lead, before Naiqama added a 68th minute penalty goal.

    Simmonds' second four minutes later gave the Dragons hope of getting out of jail but they couldn't find the killer blow.
    #itaintweaktospeak


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