Knights vs Dragons Round 5 Tips, Prediction & Preview

Andrew Hendrie: Apr 5, 2024

St George Illawarra Dragons will be hoping for another ambush at McDonald Jones Stadium when they meet the struggling Newcastle Knights on Friday night.

Knights vs Dragons Tips, Preview & Predictions

Newcastle Knights vs St George Illawarra Dragons free NRL tips, predictions and preview by our NRL tipping experts – Dragons have won 18 of their last 23 games at McDonald Jones Stadium…

Newcastle Knights vs St George Illawarra Dragons H2H Prediction

Newcastle Knights vs St George Illawarra Dragons Tips

Best Dragons +17.5 line & Under 48.5 total points odds $1.62 with Dabble

Dragons have won 18 of their last 23 games at McDonald Jones Stadium
Knights have lost three of their four games this season
Dragons coming off 20-12 win over Manly
Knights have scored 12 points or less in three of their four games this season
Knights have seen 41 points or less in all four games this season
Dragons have seen 38 points or less in three of their four games this season
Kalyn Ponga has scored a try in his last three games vs Dragons
Mikaele Ravalawa has scored a try in seven of his last 11 away games

Newcastle Knights vs St George Illawarra Dragons Same Game Multi Tips

Newcastle Knights vs St George Illawarra Dragons Match Details

🇦🇺 Competition: NRL
📅 Date: Friday April 5 (AEDT)
⏰ Time: 8.00pm AEDT
🏟️ Stadium: McDonald Jones Stadium (Newcastle)

Newcastle Knights vs St George Illawarra Dragons Head to Head

2/9/23: Dragons 12-32 Knights
17/4/22: Dragons 21-16 Knights
4/4/21: Knights 13-22 Dragons
20/9/20: Knights 42-18 Dragons
19/5/19: Dragons 12-45 Knights

Newcastle Knights vs St George Illawarra Dragons Preview & Prediction

An intriguing clash awaits in the second Friday night game as the Knights play host to the Dragons at McDonald Jones Stadium.

The Dragons have experienced a wildly inconsistent start to the season – they’ve got a 2-2 record, beating the Titans and Manly, while also suffering 22+ point hammerings to the Cowboys and Dolphins.

Makes it tough to predict what Dragons side is going to turn up here, but the joint-venture club do have an outstanding record at this venue, winning 18 of the last 23.

St George Illawarra showcased brilliant defensive resolve last week in the 20-12 victory over Manly, not something that you typically associate with the club over the last few years.

Meanwhile, the Knights are finding the going tough to start the season, putting up a 1-3 record and really struggling to score points.

Tyson Gamble has received the chop from Adam O’Brien this week, with Jackson Hastings returning after being dropped himself in Round 2 – he’ll partner Jack Cogger in the halves.

Basically, it’s the same old story with the Knights – they need Kalyn Ponga to be in the form of his life if they are going to be a threat, which is what they were towards the back-end of last season.

VERDICT:

Very tough game to predict. The Knights have offered nothing to start the season and as mentioned, it all rests on Ponga.

The Dragons meanwhile have been very up and down and hard to say what they’re going to produce here.

We’ll back the Dragons to keep this game close with the though process that the Knights are finding it difficult to score points, also going with a total of Under 48.5 (Best Dragons +17.5 line & Under 48.5 total points odds $1.62 with Dabble.)

Newcastle Knights vs St George Illawarra Dragons Teams

Knights team: 1. Kalyn Ponga 2. Thomas Jenkins 3. Dane Gagai 4. Bradman Best 5. Enari Tuala 6. Jack Cogger 7. Jackson Hastings 8. Jacob Saifiti 9. Jayden Brailey 10. Leo Thompson 11. Tyson Frizell 12. Kai Pearce-Paul 13. Adam Elliott 14. Phoenix Crossland 15. Daniel Saifiti 16. Jack Hetherington 17. Mathew Croker 18. Dylan Lucas 19. Jed Cartwright 20. Brodie Jones 21. Tyson Gamble 22. Thomas Cant

Dragons team:1. Tyrell Sloan 2. Zac Lomax 3. Moses Suli 4. Jack Bird 5. Mikaele Ravalawa 6. Kyle Flanagan 7. Ben Hunt 8. Francis Molo 9. Jacob Liddle 10. Jack de Belin 11. Luciano Leilua 12. Jaydn Su’A 13. Tom Eisenhuth 14. Jesse Marschke 15. Blake Lawrie 16. Michael Molo 17. Raymond Faitala-Mariner 18. Hame Sele 19. Christian Tuipulotu 20. Viliami Fifita 21. Ryan Couchman 22. Ben Murdoch-Masila