ADAM Quinlan has played just one NRL game for the Dragons in two years.
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But the 23-year-old has been asked to reignite the club’s faltering attack, as part of a shake-up by coach Paul McGregor.
St George Illawarra’s season is on the verge of collapse after successive capitulations to Manly and the Gold Coast. With a season-defining run of games against top four contenders Canterbury, Brisbane and Cronulla, victory against the Tigers on Sunday is vital.
Quinlan played 25 games for the Dragons, before joining Parramatta in 2015. However, he never made his Eels debut and instead moved to England to play with St Helens, only to return to Wollongong this year.
His only appearance this year was in the Dragons loss to the Warriors in New Zealand, but returns while Josh Dugan recovers from a jaw fracture suffered in State of Origin game three.
Kurt Mann, who started the season at fullback, before spending much of the season alongside Quinlan with the Illawarra Cutters, is on the wing.
Taane Milne, 21, has been promoted to the NRL line-up, with Benji Marshall named to play his 250th game. After being forced out of Friday night’s crushing 32-12 loss to the Titans with another hamstring problem, Marshall is now poised to reach the remarkable milestone against his former club. Marshall played 201 games for the Tigers, including the 2005 premiership win.
Lock Jack de Belin will play 100 games on Sunday, prefering to leave the limelight to Marshall.
“I’m happy it was Benji’s 250th, I didn’t want to make a fuss (of his own milestone),” de Belin said.
“It’s his time, it’s an amazing achievement. Hat’s got off to Benji Marshall, he’s a fantastic player, all the boys are really proud of him.
“I grew up watching Benji with all his flick passing and steps, so yeah, he’s the coolest.”
De Belin admitted the Dragons are “in a funk”, as the likely need to win five of their remaining seven games because of the woeful points differential (-145).
Four wins may be enough on the run in, because of Parramatta’s salary cap penalty potentially setting the bar lower.
“We’ve just got to keep training hard and hopefully we can get some more wins on the board,” he said.
“You never really know what you’re going to get with the Tigers, they like to play a bit off the cuff and throw the ball around.”
NRL – Round 20
Sunday (4pm)
DRAGONS v TIGERS
ANZ Stadium
TV: Live on Nine Wollongong and Fox Sports 1
