What a difference two weeks make!
Back-to-back wins for both the Dragons and Wests Tigers the past fortnight sets up a mouth watering clash at WIN Stadium on Sunday to conclude round eight.
It wasn't too long ago both clubs, players and coaches were under pressure with heavy losses to start the year.
The Dragons' ANZAC day win over the Roosters was clinical to start before they rolled up their sleeves and defended their way to victory.
The Wests Tigers' wins have come off the back of Jackson Hastings' return from with the former Super League playmaker bringing a confidence to the side that has been lacking in recent years.
Both sides have played each other on 40 occasions for an even 20-20 split.
The Wests Tigers got both wins in last year's contests, including a 16-8 win at WIN Stadium, and are searching for their third straight win for the first time since 2018.
The Rundown
Team news
Dragons: Jack Bird (arm) is out with Talatau Amone starting at five-eighth. Jayden Sullivan is the new man on the interchange. Josh McGuire takes the place of Jaydn Su'A (ankle) in the back row.
Tautau Moga (illness), Tyrell Sloan and Cody Ramsey were among those who dropped out of the squad.
Wests Tigers: Asu Kepaoa is the new winger with Ken Maumalo dropping out with a knee injury. Kepaoa plays his first game since round six last year after a ruptured ACL and then a torn pectoral muscle in pre-season.
Starford To'a comes in for Daine Laurie (knee) at fullback with Oliver Gildart and Luke Garner listed in the centres. Kelma Tuilagi returns to the back row after missing last week's win due to illness with Alex Seyfarth shifting to the interchange bench. Jacob Liddle keeps his spot at hooker.
Key match-up
Ben Hunt v Jackson Hastings: The influence in the results of late has come down to both these blokes, who if they weren't on the field the past two weeks we'd be telling a different story. Hunt starred for the Dragons on ANZAC day in a player of the match performance while Hastings has brought a calmness to the Wests Tigers and eased pressure on Luke Brooks. Hunt is engaging the defensive line more than any other player in the competition with 61 efforts while Hastings has produced 692 kick metres in the last fortnight.
Stat attack
The Wests Tigers completed at a highly impressive 95%, the best of any side this year, in their win over the Rabbitohs last week. Their 46 out of 48 completed sets drained the Rabbitohs in the end, who ended up completing at less than 70% for the night. The Dragons have equally improved with their handling in recent weeks and showed against the Roosters they're not afraid to get tackled on the last if it means they're turning the ball over in the opposition red zone.
Story first published on NRL.com
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