Coach Paul McGregor has declared the Dragons will be at their NRL ladder-leading best, despite a brutally short recovery period for Wednesday’s Anzac Day showdown with the Roosters.
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St George Illawarra landed back in Sydney on Saturday after a 20-12 loss to the Warriors, their first of the season.
On the biggest home-and-away round stage of year, the Dragons will meet arch-rivals the Roosters at Allianz Stadium on Wednesday with one less day to prepare, as well as the travel demands of returning from New Zealand.
However, McGregor refused to complain about the scheduling situation and said the Dragons would be ready to fire.
Instead, he said the Dragons had a key advantage heading into the Anzac Day clash.
The Roosters were forced to make 440 tackles after having just 45 per cent of possession in the 6-nil win over the Bulldogs on Thursday night.
In contrast, St George Illawarra had 61 per cent of possession and made 328 tackles in the loss to New Zealand.
“It’s not ideal, but in saying that, it’s not an excuse either,” McGregor said after the game.
“The Roosters played (Thursday) night, I don’t know how many tackles they had to make on their try line, it was quite a few.
“I watched the finish of that game and they were all lying on their backs, it took a fair bit of petrol out of them as well.
“We had a lot of possession. … We’ll recover and go out and play good footy.”
It could be a preview of what’s to come for Dragons players this year, with several players in State of Origin selection contention.
Halfback Ben Hunt is expected to be part of the Queensland team for game on in Melbourne on June 6, while Tyson Frizell will almost certainly be named for NSW.
Jack de Belin, Paul Vaughan, Cameron McInnes, Tariq Sims and Euan Aitken are all in the Origin consideration as well.
McInnes led the way in defence with 40 tackles on Friday, while Hunt was a standout in attack and Paul Vaughan ran for 166 metres.
St George Illawarra play the Bulldogs after Origin I, Parramatta after game two and the Tigers after Origin III.
The Dragons are now joint NRL leaders with the Warriors, while the Roosters sit on the edge of the eight after a misfiring start to their first campaign with Cooper Cronk.
McGregor said they would use the loss as motivation.
“(Players) take things to heart, because it’s important to them, like it is to our fans.
“They want to win, so they’re disappointed.”
St George Illawarra have an 11-day break after the Roosters showdown, before they tackle the Storm at Kogarah.
The Dragons have lost eight of their past 10 games against the Roosters, but have won two of the past three played on Anzac Day.
NRL
Round eight
Wednesday, Anzac Day (4.10pm)
DRAGONS v ROOSTERS
Allianz Stadium