The Dragons remain winless heading into Round 5 and a piece of unwanted history is staring them in the face on Easter Saturday.

Since the joint venture was formed in 1999 and they made a grand final in their debut season, St George Illawarra has never started a season 0-5.

If Shane Flanagan’s men are to get on the board for 2026 they will need a vastly improved showing than the one they delivered last Sunday on the Gold Coast.

The stats sheet showed 31 missed tackles and 11 errors in the 22-14 loss to the Titans and a repeat of those numbers would see the lethal Cowboys attack put them to the sword.

After a sluggish start of their own, the Cowboys rallied to down the Titans in Round 3 before taking the massive scalp of the Storm on the back of brilliant displays by Jake Clifford, Scott Drinkwater, Braidon Burns and Jason Taumalolo.

Team News

Dragons: Former Panther David Fale comes on to the wing and is set for his Dragons debut after scoring four tries in four games in NSW Cup. Lyhkan King-Togia will step into the No.6 jersey as Kyle Flanagan recovers from a concussion suffered in last week’s loss to the Titans. Moses Suli is on track to return in the centres, while Toby Couchman is also back on deck after missing the Round 4 defeat due to concussion. No changes to the 19 in Friday’s 24-hour update, with Kade Reed the man to remain in the extended squad. 

Cowboys: Centre Tom Chester is set to come straight back onto the starting side in his return from suspension, with Zac Laybutt moving to the interchange as a result. North Queensland are a settled side as they chase a seventh-straight win over the Dragons. The Cowboys also remain 1-19 after the squad was trimmed to 20, Kai O’Donnell remains in the reserves. 

Stat Attack

The Dragons have lost their last eight NRL games.
The Cowboys have won their last six games against the Dragons.
The Dragons are aiming to avoid a 0-5 start for the first time in the joint venture’s history.
Cowboys halfback Tom Dearden has scored five tries in his last three games against the Dragons.
Dragons winger Christian Tuipulotu has scored five tries in his last five games at Jubilee Stadium.

Stats supplied by David Middleton, League Information Services, author of the official annual of the NRL.