St George Illawarra Dragons have a score to settle with the Parramatta Eels when The Knock-On Effect 2022 season kicks off at Kellyville Park in Sydney’s north-west on Saturday.
NSWRL TV will live stream the match from the opening whistle at 1pm (AEDT), as part of a line-up of seven games on this weekend’s schedule.
The shift from Wollongong’s Collegians Sporting Complex to Kellyville, due to the heavy rain over the past week, has robbed the Dragons of home ground advantage but they have good memories from last April to motivate them for any location.
The Short Side with Luke Lewis | Round One
The Dragons were humbled 40-8 when these two sides met last year in round five. It was a seven tries-to-two Eels triumph at CommBank Stadium, with halves Jordan Rankin and Jake Arthur leading the charge. Arthur scored a double and Rankin kicked six from seven conversions.
Rankin is back at No.6 this weekend but with the Eels NRL side playing on Sunday, coach Brad Arthur has not reduced his 24-man squad yet leaving a few blanks on the NSW Cup team list. Arthur has been named at No.17 in the side to face the Gold Coast Titans.
Regardless, The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup Eels coach Ryan Carr will piece together a formidable team, which was in third position last season with nine wins before the competition was abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
St George Illawarra coach Russ Aitken won’t mind the Eels being weakened if Arthur isn’t there, but he’ll ensure no complacency creeps in after the Dragons managed just four wins in 2021.
This weekend several washed out rounds in Harrold Matthews and SG Ball Cup games will be live streamed from Henson Park, Marrickville, in Sydney.
There will also be postponed games from the Country Men’s and Women’s Championships, the SLE Laurie Daley and Andrew Johns Cups held over due to the drenching many regions of NSW received.
You can watch NSWRL TV by clicking here. The full list of seven games on NSWRL TV is (all times AEDT):
Saturday, 12 March
The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup: Dragons v Eels, Kellyville Park 1pm
Harold Matthews Cup: Sydney Roosters v Western Suburbs Magpies, Henson Park 10am
SG Ball Cup: Roosters v Magpies, Henson Park 11.30am
Sunday, 13 March
SLE Andrew Johns Cup: Illawarra South Coast Dragons v North Coast Bulldogs, Dudley Oval in Newcastle 10am
SLE Laurie Daley Cup: ISC Dragons v NC Bulldogs, Dudley Oval 11.20am
Men’s Country Championships: ISC Dragons v NC Bulldogs, Dudley Oval 1pm
Women’s Country Championships: ISC Dragons v NC Bulldogs, Dudley Oval 2.40pm
