Here is all you need to know about the St George Illawarra Dragons' revised 2020 Telstra Premiership draw.
The Lowdown
Teams they play twice
Bulldogs, Sharks, Roosters, Titans, Raiders.
Teams they play once
Wests Tigers, Panthers, Warriors, Sea Eagles, Rabbitohs, Eels, Broncos, Cowboys, Knights, Storm.
Day-by-day breakdown
Thursday - 2 games, Friday - 6, Saturday - 5, Sunday - 6, Monday - 1
The restart
Paul McGregor's men get eased in (as much as that's possible) with three of four games upon resumption against bottom-eight sides from last year, starting with the Warriors at Gosford and Bulldogs at Bankwest.
Five key match-ups
Rabbitohs (Round 12, Venue TBC): St George Illawarra looked to have pulled off an upset against Souths in round 19 last year to keep their slim finals hopes alive. Then the Rabbitohs regained the ball from a short kick-off and snatched the win on full-time. The bitter memories from that game may well be in the minds of the Dragons when they next meet Wayne Bennett's men. The famous clubs will again lock horns in round 12 in their only meeting of the regular season.
Roosters (Round 7, Bankwest Stadium; Round 13, Venue TBC): Sadly the enforced shutdown means no Anzac Day clash but meetings between these clubs are still special and with two meetings against last year's premiers the Red V desperately need to earn some points against the Roosters to ensure 2020 is more successful than 2019.
The best are coming back
Knights (Round 19, Venue TBC): Last season's heavy loss to the Knights in Mudgee in round 10 has been labelled the moment St George Illawarra's campaign fell away. Avenging that thumping will go some way to exorcising any remaining demons and with the only meeting coming in round 19 it will be critical if the Dragons are still in the finals hunt.
Bulldogs (Round 4, Bankwest Stadium; round 10, Venue TBC): The Dragons' two biggest wins in an otherwise poor 2019 both came against Canterbury, which would have been enjoyable given the history between the clubs. But Canterbury now seem to be on the up, so these matches could be tight.
Sharks (Round 5, Campbelltown Stadium; round 11, Venue TBC): Beaten twice by "little brother" Cronulla in 2019, St George Illawarra have ample motivation to turn the tables. The local derby went to the Sharks both times last season but the Red V need to turn that around if they want to be contenders this season.
It's game on
Toughest stretch
Rounds 12-16. Just past the mid-point of the season the Dragons face five of last year's top eight in consecutive weeks, including premiers Sydney Roosters. Broncos aside, the other four teams (Rabbitohs, Roosters, Sharks and Eels) went 8-0 against the Dragons in 2019.
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