St George Illawarra Dragons v St Helens pre season warm up game (Live Sky Sports Mix 9am UK)

[Dunbar]

2 hours ago, Saint Toppy said:

Keep hearing this about the threat from the big outside backs, thought Saints did pretty well in that department given they don't get much bigger than Ravalawa, Suli & Moga 

The Panthers backs are not particularly big.

[dkw]

3 hours ago, Saint Toppy said:

Overall that wasn't a bad performance for a first hit out for quite a few of those players. The forwards in particular looked to have the upper hand against the Dragons and as much I like Bell as a player he doesn't bring the same intensity in defence that Knowles will next week.

For me what Saints need to do in order to really stand a chance next week is to cut down on the errors. Hurrels mis-read cost them 1 try and a couple of missed tackles the 2nd. They also put the ball down a few times when not really under much pressure so ball control needs to improve as the Panthers will punish them much more than the Dragons were capable of.

Ok so the Dragons had a few missing like Hunt, Bird, Sloan, Woods & Molo but it was by no means a reserve team and lets be honest Saints dominated the majority of that game and even if the Dragons had been at near full strength I still fancy Saints would have won.

Bring on the Panthers !!!

Are both Knowles and Batchelor back in the squad for next week, I felt they were missed in the game v St George, especially when the game changed a bit, would he been very useful to have brought at least one of the bench.

[Saint Toppy]

1 hour ago, dkw said:

Are both Knowles and Batchelor back in the squad for next week, I felt they were missed in the game v St George, especially when the game changed a bit, would he been very useful to have brought at least one of the bench.

Knowles trained during the week but was taken ill the day before, but he should be fine for next week. The club hasn't released any statements yet on the extent of Batchelors foot injury he picked up in the first half of the Dragons game so we'll have to wait & see if he plays or not.

[Dunbar]

I was away during the weekend and only saw the first 15/20 of this game.

Just caught up with the rest.  Unlike most on here, I thought it was a poor Saints performance.  Their execution was lacking on many plays and despite Dodd kicking well in the first quarter, Lomax took over after that and Dodd seemed to drift out of the game.

The good news is that it was a win despite the performance and they can and should be a lot better next week.

Edited February 14, 2023 by Dunbar

[yipyee]

On 11/02/2023 at 21:41, The Rocket said:

Reports over here said that 400 St. Helens` fans have come over to cheer them on.

Amazing commitment! 

And a good excuse to escape the lousy winter weather over here although the sun was shining in St Helens today.

I was of course being tongue in cheek sarcastic to the folk that wear a particular type of hat who don't like cross border games 

 

Looking forward to next week, just that st helens are playing is great. Its a shame this isn't their 4th WCC game in a row

 

[The Rocket]

2 hours ago, yipyee said:

Amazing commitment! 

And a good excuse to escape the lousy winter weather over here although the sun was shining in St Helens today.

I was of course being tongue in cheek sarcastic to the folk that wear a particular type of hat who don't like cross border games 

 

Looking forward to next week, just that st helens are playing is great. Its a shame this isn't their 4th WCC game in a row

 

Well, they`re saying now that there was 500 at the St. George vs. St. Helens game with the St. Helens` coach adding: 

“We know there a lot more coming for next week as well, which really excites us, and it just shows how much this team and the club mean to the people of the town.

“We will do all we can to make it a successful trip for them, but we can’t thank them enough for their support.”

[DACS]

If the Panthers turn up to play with intensity in defence then Sts will really struggle to make ground or score enough points to worry them. If its a bit less intense Sts will have a chance, and that's certainly a possibility. I'll be hoping for a Sts win regardless.

One thing SL sides have to do to stand much chance is cut down the errors. We see it with England and in these games that NRL sides tend to make fewer unforced errors and when they do they tend to react much quicker to cover it up. Drives me nuts.