Canterbury Bulldogs v St George Illawarra Dragons
ANZ Stadium
Monday 4pm
The Bulldogs will be fresh off a bye while the table-topping Dragons are fresh off a 42-6 walk in the park against local rivals Cronulla.
It remains to be seen which is of more benefit but the big bye round in Round 11 saw three out of eight teams losing their Round 12 match against a team that played Round 11.
The Bulldogs will welcome back their Origin contingent after being without four NSW representatives and injured captain James Graham in an indescribable 41-34 nailbiting win over the Raiders in Round 11.
They have captain James Graham (knee/concussion) back at prop and Origin quarter Trent Hodkinson, Josh Morris, Josh Jackson and David Klemmer also back. Sam Kasiano goes to the bench and Antonio Kaufusi, Danny Fualolo and Tyrone Phillips are out of the side along with injured centre Tim Lafai, with Moses Mbye shifting to the three quarter line.
The Dragons were the only team other than the Roosters to really come out strong after a week off with the bye, trouncing the Sharks 42-6. Gone are the days we can say the Dragons have the best defence and worst attack in the league after 74 points in their last two games pushing them up to 12th-most points scored but first on the ladder with the best differential.
They have just one change from last week with Joel Thompson back from a hamstring injury, pushing Will Matthews to the pine and Jake Marketo to 18th man.
