New Zealand Warriors vs St. George Illawarra Dragons Prediction: An easy match for Warriors at home

The New Zealand Warriors and the St. George Illawarra Dragons will battle it out at Mt. Smart Stadium in Auckland. The New Zealand Warriors are in excellent form heading into this contest, while the St. George Illawarra Dragons are having significant difficulty winning matches.

The New Zealand Warriors have been victorious in their last three matches, extending their winning streak to six games in a row against weaker opponents. They prevailed in their most recent match against the Manly Sea Eagles by a score of 29-22, despite playing in an underwhelming manner once again, just like they did in their previous two matches against the Wests Tigers and the Gold Coast Titans. The New Zealand Warriors are currently being compared to the squad that won the minor premiership in 2002, but they still have a long way to go before thy can be considered a huge side this season. The New Zealand Warriors are currently in third place in the National Rugby League with 36 points after playing in 22 matches. They will be entering into this clash with that record. The single change that Andrew Webster has made for this match is to substitute Jackson Ford for Josh Curran in the starting lineup.

It seems as though the form write-ups for the St. George Illawarra Dragons are always talking about the same game in which they had the match by the horns but failed to maintain their hold when it mattered the most. In their most recent game, the St. George Illawarra Dragons had the Melbourne Storm on the verge of defeat during the first half of the game; however, they blew a 14-point lead before halftime and ended up losing 28-38. The only silver lining is that despite being underdogs, they were able to cover a point spread of 14.5 and win against the handicap for the fourth game in a row. Zac Lomax will replace Max Feagai in the starting lineup for this match, while Max Feagai will drop back to the bench.

The New Zealand Warriors have been dominant at Mt. Smart Stadium in 2023, winning six of their eight games there. Additionally, the New Zealand Warriors have won their last two games at Mt. Smart Stadium by a score that was greater than 16.5 points in either of those games. In four of their previous five encounters, the St. George Illawarra Dragons have finished the first half with a score that is greater than 6.5 points. In round 17, the New Zealand Warriors defeated the Dragons with relative ease, winning by a score of 30 to 0. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak scored four tries in the victory. The Dragons had won the previous three games between themselves and New Zealand, but the win for the Warriors in round 17 has given them the edge in the head-to-head matchup 4-3 since 2019.

This week, I expect the St. George Illawarra Dragons to cover the spread. However, I anticipate a change in luck for the St. George Illawarra Dragons as well as a change in form for the New Zealand Warriors. In round 17, the Wahs cruised to an easy victory over the St. George Illawarra Dragons, and I anticipate a similar outcome this week with New Zealand covering as 16.5-point favorites. However, the St. George Illawarra Dragons will start the game with a lot of enthusiasm, which is why I believe they will score more than 6.5 points in the first half of the match. As Dallin Watene Zelezniak is gunning for the try-scoring title this season, I am betting on him to score many tries against the competition's weakest left-side defense.