Eels v Dragons: Chance to play spoiler; Clinging to eighth
The Dragons missed a golden opportunity to cement a spot in the eight when they fell to the Sharks at home and they will need to guard against complacency when they face an Eels outfit capable of piling on plenty of points.
With games against the Eels and Raiders to come and a two-point buffer over a pack of chasers, the Dragons are still in the box seat to claim eighth spot but another slip-up could prove extremely costly.
After taking the Panthers to the limit in Round 23 and making the Broncos work overtime to subdue them last weekend, the Eels have shown they're not about to go down without a fight.
Regardless of the result of this match, the Eels' Round 27 clash with the Tigers will decide the wooden spoon, but the blue and golds can take plenty of momentum into that game by upsetting the Red V this weekend.
For Shane Flanagan's Dragons the equation is simple - win their last two games and they play finals for the first time since 2018. That should be more than enough motivation to ensure they finish the year strongly and don't let the Broncos, Dolphins, Knights or Raiders run them down.
Match: Eels v Dragons
Round 26 -
home Team
Eels
16th Position
away Team
Dragons
8th Position
Venue: CommBank Stadium, Sydney
Match broadcasters:
- WatchNRL
Stat Attack
- The Eels have won five of their past seven games against the Dragons.
- The Dragons have won their last seven games against teams sitting outside the top eight.
- The Eels have lost their last four games at CommBank Stadium.
- Dragons winger Christian Tuipulotu has scored eight tries in his past eight games.
- Eels winger Maika Sivo requires one try to reach his century of NRL tries.
Stats supplied by David Middleton, League Information Services, author of the official annual of the NRL.
