Matchday Details
Sunday March 1 – 3:30pm (AEST) – Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas
📺 Broadcast: Nine / Fox League / Kayo
Referee: Name | Bunker: Name
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
1. Connor Tracey, 2. Jacob Kiraz, 3. Bronson Xerri, 4. Stephen Crichton (c), 5. Marcelo Montoya, 6. Matt Burton, 7. Lachlan Galvin, 8. Max King, 9. Bailey Hayward, 10. Samuel Hughes, 11. Viliame Kikau, 12. Jacob Preston, 13. Jaeman Salmon, 14. Kurt Mann, 15. Sitili Tupouniua, 16. Harry Hayes, 17. Josh Curran, 19. Sean O’Sullivan, 20. Jake Turpin, 21. Enari Tuala, 22. Jonathan Sua, 23. Alekolasimi Jones
St George Illawarra Dragons
1. Clinton Gutherson (c), 2. Christian Tuipulotu, 3. Moses Suli, 4. Valentine Holmes, 5. Setu Tu, 6. Kyle Flanagan, 7. Daniel Atkinson, 8. Emre Guler, 9. Damien Cook, 10. Toby Couchman, 11. Luciano Leilua, 12. Jaydn Su’A, 13. Hamish Stewart, 14. Hame Sele, 15. Josh Kerr, 16. Blake Lawrie, 17. Ryan Couchman, 18. Lyhkan King-Togia, 19. David Fale, 20. Jacob Halangahu, 21. Mathew Feagai, 22. Tyrell Sloan
Match Preview
Canterbury-Bankstown and St George Illawarra enter 2026 with contrasting ambitions as they get their turn in Las Vegas.
While the Bulldogs finished third in 2025, late-season injuries saw them join Canberra in a “straight sets” finals exit, losing to Melbourne and Penrith. Though the development under Cameron Ciraldo is promising, the Bulldogs need to convert their potential into finals wins if they want to be a genuine premiership threat.
The Dragons’ 2025 can be summed up by one stat: they lost 10 games by eight points or less to finish 15th. They’ll always be in the fight, but whether they can convert those close losses to wins is the bigger question. Two of those losses were against Canterbury: 28-20 (round 1) and 20-18 (round 20). Though the Dragons could feel hard done by in the second game: they trailed 16-8 at half-time and took the lead with two tries in four minutes (Moses Suli and Sione Finau). They defended that 18-16 lead for 20 minutes before a Galvin pass to Jethro Rinakama sealed the win for Canterbury.
Both sides enter 2026 with new-look halves combinations: Matt Burton/Lachlan Galvin for Canterbury and Kyle Flanagan/Daniel Atkinson for St George Illawarra. After all the drama from last season, Galvin should be ready to remind everyone he’s not just a human headline and will have Burton’s experience to help him (with Burton recovering from a hamstring scare in the Pre-Season Challenge). Even if it takes time for new combinations to gel (and while they wait for Leo Thompson to return), the Bulldogs will be happy playing more conservative footy until things click: the Bulldogs won 11 of their first 13 games last year and only conceded 232 points (17.8 points a game). While Reed Mahoney is a big loss, Bailey Hayward replaced Mahoney as starting hooker towards the end of last season, so he should be the regular 9 from here. Marcelo Montoya returns from an ankle injury.
There’s more doubt over Atkinson and Kyle Flanagan. Atkinson is relatively inexperienced, with just 36 NRL games for Melbourne and Cronulla-Sutherland. He played 16 games in 2025 (15 off the bench) and didn’t play any of Cronulla’s finals games. Kyle Flanagan continues to be the whipping boy for the Dragons’ woes, which is either fair or unfair depending on your POV. Kade Reed got plenty of people excited after his performance in the Dragons’ Pre-Season Challenge win over Newcastle, but he’s unlikely to challenge Flanagan yet. Maybe in a few years, but not right now. The Atkinson-Flanagan dynamic could be one of the enduring storylines of this season: after a mix of halfback and five-eighth last season, Flanagan will play 6 and Atkinson 7 (despite Atkinson mainly playing five-eighth at the Sharks). Will this be the halves combination going forward? Will they switch? And – if the Dragons’ season goes south – will Shane Flanagan axe Daniel or Kyle to send a message? Josh Kerr (ankle), Hame Sele (head knock) and centre Val Holmes (shoulder) are named despite injury/concussion issues. Former NZ Warrior Setu Tu makes his NRL debut.
Both sides had mixed Pre-Season Challenge results: the Bulldogs’ 28-0 win over Newcastle with a full-strength side (including Burton and Galvin in the halves) looked promising, while the 34-30 loss to North Queensland was with a mostly lower grade team. The Dragons’ win over Newcastle was followed by the Charity Shield loss to South Sydney.
While both sides will need time to bed in their new halves combinations, the Bulldogs look more stable, more powerful, and will be motivated by their poor finish to 2025. The Dragons may try to lock the Bulldogs into a grind, but Canterbury should have too much class.
Prediction
RLZ Tip: Bulldogs by 8
Bold call: Burton to ignite “could he play in the NFL?” speculation among commentators with a big general kicking game against the Dragons.
