One wining streak will end when the St George Illawarra Dragons take on the Melbourne Storm at AAMI Park on Sunday, May 8 (2pm). This is your Round 9 game day guide.
A win streak and another trophy
One winning streak will fall by the wayside in Melbourne as the Dragons look to bring another trophy home to the burgeoning cabinet.
The Dragons and Storm will once again play for the Emergency Services Cup, in recognition of the emergency services personnel who dedicate themselves to protecting both the New South Wales and Victorian people.
It won't come easy. The Storm are the form team in the competition with five-straight wins to their name.
Scarily, they have scored a whopping 120 points in the past fortnight.
Sunday will prove a huge litmus test for the Dragons who sit on the edge of the top eight with a 4-4 record to start season 2022.
Bird is the word
Jack Bird's welcome returned to the Dragons' line up has come at the expense of last weekend's Wests Tigers hero Jayden Sullivan.
Sullivan and fellow Illawarra junior Talatau Amone have shifted back to the bench because of Bird's inclusion.
In other team news, the Storm will have to make do without forward Tepai Moeroa (shoulder) in Kenny Bromwich's 200th NRL game. Jordan Grant is the new face on the bench which includes former Dragons lower grade playmaker Tyran Wishart.
Four years between drinks
AAMI Park hasn't seen the Red V represented since 2018, in what proved a high-scoring affair minus a bunch of State of Origin representative players.
82 points were scored in a game most remembered for halfback Darren Nicholls' maiden first grade game.
Nicholls, at the ripe old age of 29, became the second oldest player to ever debut in the NRL's modern era after veteran English superstar Brian Carney.
Dragons legend Jason Nightingale was also forced to play north of 70 minutes in the back row due to injury where the Red V fought to the bitter end in the 52-30 defeat.
Freeze frame
A sold out hill at WIN Stadium. The biggest crowd in Wollongong since 2018. Enough said!
