Dragons v Bulldogs: NRL Saturday Preview

St George/Illawarra Dragons earned positive wins over both the Sydney Roosters and South Sydney Rabbitohs in the Witzer Pre-Season Challenge and they will be eager to build on those performances in their NRL season opener against the Canterbury Bulldogs on Saturday.

The Dragons finished two points outside the top eight last season and will be determined to get off to a positive start this year in their bid to make the finals.

Canterbury came on leaps and bounds last year to finish sixth at the end of the regular season before being edged out 24-22 by Manly Sea Eagles in the elimination finals.

The Bulldogs will provide the Dragons with a good early acid test to see how they could shape up this season.

St George/Illawarra Dragons v Canterbury Bulldogs betting preview

Fresh faces giving Dragons some bite

Evident from their pre-season games, the arrival of new boys Clint Gutherson, Val Holmes and Damien Cook certainly seems to have given the Dragons more edge in attack.

Scoring 13 tries across their two games against the Roosters and Rabbitohs, coach Shane Flanagan will have taken plenty of positives from those outings, especially with halves Lachlan Ilias and Kyle Flanagan working well together.

The Dragons, who are 2.25 underdogs on Saturday, have a poor record against the Bulldogs, but Canterbury have tended to be slow starters.

Bulldogs look to hit the ground running

As mentioned, Canterbury have not been fast starters in recent years but they can look back on a positive record against the Dragons.

Winning four of their last five meetings with the Dragons, the Bulldogs have had the better of their Sydney rivals of late.

Marcelo Montoya’s return after four seasons away with the New Zealand Warriors will come as a boost for the Bulldogs and he’s 2.25 in the anytime tryscorer market this weekend.

The Bulldogs were one of the big success stories in the NRL last season and Cameron Ciraldo’s side are 1.65 to make a winning start to 2025.

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St George/Illawarra Dragons v Canterbury Bulldogs odds

St George/Illawarra Dragons - 2.25
Canterbury Bulldogs - 1.65

View the full market and more odds for St George/Illawarra Dragons v Canterbury Bulldogs on site.

This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.