The Dolphins look to consolidate their first-ever finals berth travelling down to WIN Stadium where a loss for the home side can almost guarantee them the 2026 wooden spoon.

Read Full Previews

Matchday Details

Friday, 31 July 2026 – 6:00pm AEST – WIN Stadium, Wollongong
📺 Foxtel / Kayo
Referee: Kieren Irons | Senior Review Official: Grant Atkins

St George Illawarra Dragons: 1. Clinton Gutherson, 2. Setu Tu, 3. Mathew Feagai, 4. Valentine Holmes, 5. Tyrell Sloan, 6. Daniel Atkinson, 7. Kyle Flanagan, 8. Loko Jnr Pasifiki Tonga, 9. Damien Cook (c), 10. Toby Couchman, 11. Dylan Egan, 12. Hamish Stewart, 13. Ryan Couchman, 14. Jacob Liddle, 15. Luciano Leilua, 16. Josh Kerr, 17. Jacob Halangahu, 18. Moses Suli, 19. Lyhkan King-Togia, 20. Emre Guler, 21. Christian Tuipulotu, 22. Jacob Webster

Dolphins: 1. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, 2. Jamayne Isaako, 3. Jack Bostock, 4. Herbie Farnworth, 5. Selwyn Cobbo, 6. Kodi Nikorima (c), 7. Bradley Schneider, 8. Thomas Flegler, 9. Jeremy Marshall-King, 10. Francis Molo, 11. Connelly Lemuelu, 12. Kulikefu Finefeuiaki, 13. Morgan Knowles, 14. Kurt Donoghoe, 15. Max Plath, 16. Tom Gilbert, 17. Felise Kaufusi, 18. Ray Stone, 19. Jake Averillo, 20. Brian Pouniu, 21. Tevita Naufahu, 22. Isaiya Katoa

Match Preview

Fresh off the bye and responding well from their 66-0 flogging at Redcliffe in Round 19, by comfortably beating the Cowboys in Round 20, the Dolphins simply have to beat the last-placed Dragons or risk falling into a battle for their first ever finals spot. A win keeps them in the race for the top four too, and in the conversation for genuine title contenders, which at their best they most certainly are.

St George Illawarra have turned the corner form-wise in the last month or so, beating the Tigers and with competitive losses to Canberra, Newcastle, and the Warriors. But then losing at home to the Gold Coast last weekend by 38-18 halted that momentum and means that if they do lose to the Dolphins that wooden spoon confirmation is one week closer.

They’re not without a chance though. If it is a match based purely on the team lists, there’s no way the Dragons can keep up with the star-studded Dolphins line-up. But the Dolphins do have weak spots against certain teams that have big forwards and play a little more aggressively, as per their record against Newcastle of six straight losses, their usual poor results against the Roosters, and indeed against the Dragons away from home, where the Dolphins have lost both visits.

But if you’re looking to compare the attacking firepower of both sides, it’s heavily lopsided to the Dolphins. Where the Dragons have Valentine Holmes in the twilight of his fine NRL career, you have arguably the best centre in the game in Herbie Farnworth and one of the NRL’s brightest prospects in Jack Bostock (who returns from concussion). Bostock’s return and the backline returning to full strength means Tevita Naufahu makes way: he has done a very good job filling in, highlighting the Dolphins’ improved squad depth. The backline is so good that there’s no room for Jake Averillo in the starting line up, as he returns from a hand injury.

Whilst Clint Gutherson has had a wonderful NRL career, he has struggled to have the same kind of impact that the Dolphins fullback Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow has had in recent seasons, and the same could be said for the Dolphins wingers, who are the perfect mix of almost flawless reliability in Jamayne Isaako and the star impact of Selwyn Cobbo. In fairness, the Dragons’ wingers are more closely matched to the Dolphins than other positions.

On paper the halves is somewhere the Dolphins aren’t as far ahead, but that could all change if Isaiya Katoa returns from injury this weekend. He has been named on the extended bench, although the general feeling is he is a week away. Brad Schneider does a fine job substituting for Katoa, but the Tongan international is someone special and the Dolphins need him fit and firing for their finals charge.

Another key piece of team news is the return of Ray Stone to the bench. The cult hero has missed a few weeks through a shoulder injury, which must have been serious given his tolerance for receiving and serving pain. It’s probably no coincidence that the Dolphins lost 66-0 in his absence, so if the game does become a more conservative grind, then it increases Stone’s chances of getting more minutes from the bench and boosting Dolphins’ fan morale.

Stone aside, the Dolphins bench also consists of quality and versatile forwards Kurt Donoghoe, Max Plath, Tom Gilbert, and Felise Kaufusi, just to highlight the gulf in players and form between these teams at the moment and at their best, as the Dolphins bench has current Origin players.

Dean Young was recently appointed full-time to coach the Dragons going forward (not a bad reward for turning around the performances somewhat if not the results), and has made a small change to bench order, but is giving the same team as last weekend a chance to redeem themselves against another Queensland team at home.

That Queensland opposition angle provides one of the more obscure form stats ahead of this game. The Dragons have won six in a row against Queensland sides at WIN Stadium. That’s one of a few stats that favours the home side – St George Illawarra have won four of their last five at WIN Stadium on a Friday and won both games against the Dolphins in NSW.

The Dolphins’ trip to WIN Stadium is just their third away game in Sydney to a Sydney team in 2026, but it has been a rewarding travel for them in 2026, with two wins from their two games so far in 2026. Friday form is hot and cold for the Dolphins though: they have won their last three Friday games and conceded exactly 10 points in all three games, although all of those games were at Suncorp Stadium. But then the Dolphins have also lost all three away games in Sydney vs Sydney teams on a Friday.

Another notable debut for this match is referee Kieren Irons, who gets his first game in charge as a referee. He has been a touch judge for 75 NRL games and been a regular official in the NSW Cup for 180 matches.

Prediction

RLZ Tip: Dolphins by 20.
Full Round 22 tips → /nrl-round-22-predictions-2026/
Bold call: A hat-trick for Herbie Farnworth.

Want to try your hand at writing match previews?
We’re always looking for new rugby league contributors to share their thoughts on upcoming NRL games.
No experience needed — just strong opinions and a love of the game
👉 Get started here

Subscribe to our weekly tips

We'll send you our weekly predictions once they're posted to Rugby League Zone!

No spam, you can cancel at any time.

Previous articleNRLW Team Lists Round 5 2026 (Magic Round): Full Squads, Ins & Outs for Every Club
Next articlePanthers vs Raiders Preview (Round 22, 2026): Team News, Team Lists & Prediction
Shannon Meyer
http://www.thegurgler.com/
X

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

1 COMMENT

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here


This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.