After a dominant win over the Knights in Round 23, Wests Tigers will be determined to keep their finals hopes alive this Sunday when they take on the St. George-Illawarra Dragons.
Remarkably, the contest will be the first time the two sides have met this season, with Michael Maguire's side needing to win to stay in touch with the top eight.
With no injuries or suspensions coming from the Round 23 win over Newcastle, Wests Tigers could field the same side that took down the Knights, although there's no doubt bound to be plenty of interest in the number nine jersey again this week following the late change between Benji Marshall and Josh Reynolds.
Originally named to start at hooker, Reynolds dropped back to the bench on game day with Marshall instead filling the number nine duties in attack, before switching back to his preferred five-eighth position once Reynolds came on.
That wasn't the only change for Wests Tigers on the day, with a successful centre switch between Esan Marsters and Paul Momirovski — Marsters going from right to left while Momirovski went the other way to accomodate Robert Jennings' return.
Given Wests Tigers produced their best attacking performance of the season, you'd have to think the same could happen again this week, although the positional flexibility shown in the backline could see them revert back if needed.
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There's also the possibility of captain Moses Mbye returning with the centre nearing a return from the hip flexor injury suffered against the Bulldogs in Round 21.
His return would certainly be a boost for Maguire's side in the run home, with the likes of Robbie Farah (tibia), Jacob Liddle (knee), Josh Aloiai (hand), Ben Matulino (knee) and Russell Packer (foot) all unavailable for selection.
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On the other side of the field, St. George-Illawarra could welcome back halfback Ben Hunt after the Origin playmaker missed last week's clash due to concussion, with possible ramifications for the likes of Corey Norman and Tristan Sailor.
On debut, Sailor was particularly impressive out the back and will be determined to keep the number one jersey for the remainder of the season — leaving Coach Paul McGregor with an interesting decision to make around his team's spine.
Both sides will name their 21-man squad for the Round 24 clash at 4:00pm AEST on Tuesday before providing an updated 19-man squad at 4:05pm AEST on Saturday.
Final team lists will be confirmed one hour prior to kickoff (3:05pm, Sunday).
Match: Dragons v Wests Tigers
Round 24 -
home Team
Dragons
15th Position
away Team
Wests Tigers
9th Position
Venue: Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
