Penrith Panthers v St George Illawarra Dragons
Pepper Stadium
Sunday, 4pm
St George Illawarra's season is well and truly on the line at Pepper Stadium against the Penrith Panthers this weekend.
The abacuses and calculators aren't required yet as the equation remains simple for the Dragons – win the last two games and a finals berth will look after itself.
The Panthers secured their place in the NRL Telstra Premiership finals series with a nail-biting win over the Raiders last weekend, and can't be taken lightly.
Although they have lost their skipper Matt Moylan, Penrith will be boosted by the return of Peter Wallace to face the Red V.
Nene Macdonald (knee) has been named to return for the Dragons and replaces Scottish international Euan Aitken (shoulder) who is out for the season and consequently the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.
Leeson Ah Mau and Tariq Sims swap between the bench and the front row, while Hame Sele (illness) occupies Will Matthews's place on the interchange.
Tyson Frizell will also celebrate his 100th NRL game as a Dragon against Penrith.
Teams –
Panthers: 1. Dylan Edwards, 2. Josh Mansour, 3. Tyrone Peachey, 4. Waqa Blake, 5. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, 6. Tyrone May, 7. Nathan Cleary, 8. James Tamou, 9. Peter Wallace (c), 10. Reagan Campbell-Gillard, 11. Corey Harawira-Naera, 12. Isaah Yeo, 13. James Fisher-Harris. Interchange: 14. Sione Katoa, 15. Bryce Cartwright, 16. Tim Browne, 17. Trent Merrin, 18. Moses Leota, 19. Dean Whare, 20. Viliame Kikau, 21. Kaide Ellis.
Dragons: 1.Matt Dufty, 2. Nene Macdonald, 3. Josh Dugan, 4. Tim Lafai, 5. Jason Nightingale, 6. Gareth Widdop (c), 7. Kurt Mann, 8. Leeson Ah Mau, 9. Cameron McInnes, 10. Paul Vaughan, 11. Tyson Frizell, 12. Joel Thompson, 13. Jack de Belin. Interchange: 14. Tariq Sims, 15. Hame Sele, 16. Blake Lawrie, 17. Josh McCrone, 18. Taane Milne, 19. Kalifa Faifai Loa, 20. Luciano Leilua, 21. Will Matthews
Key Match-Up: Dylan Edwards v Matt Dufty – The young custodians have added a spark to their teams' attack since donning their respective No. 1 jumper. Edwards has produced 186.6 metres on average and five try assists in 13 games since Moylan's move to the halves. Dufty is no slouch either and has opened many eyes with his livewire influence. In five games, Dufty has averaged 123.6 metres and had a hand in three tries.
The History: Played 31; Panthers 12, Dragons 19. The Dragons have had the wood over the Panthers in recent seasons, winning their past three. However this is off the back of the Penrith not losing to the Red V throughout the 2012-14 seasons. St George Illawarra won their last clash by 32 points way back in Round 1 at UOW Jubilee Oval.
Match Officials: Referee: Gerard Sutton. Assistant Referee: Ben Cummins. Sideline Officials: Brett Suttor and Michael Wise.
Televised: Channel Nine – Live coverage from 3:30pm; Fox League – Live coverage from 3:30pm.
Radio: ABC and Triple M
Social: Ensure you are across the Dragons' social media platforms on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat.
