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St George Illawarra Dragons vs Penrith Panthers NRL Tips - Panthers to dismantle Dragons heading into finals

Andrew Hendrie

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Last updated: Thu 04 Sep 2025 10:06

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Andrew Hendrie 04 Sep 2025

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St George Illawarra Dragons vs Penrith Panthers expert predictions for Saturday's NRL Round 27 game
Kick off is at 3.00pm AEST at WIN Stadium
Panthers backed for a 13+ win over a Dragons side who have shut up shop for 2025
Casey McLean has scored eight tries in his last six games & looks good value for another four-pointer here
Preview, expert analysis, stats, team news & best bets

St George Illawarra Dragons vs Penrith Panthers NRL Tips

St George Illawarra Dragons vs Penrith Panthers, NRL Round 27 - Expert Prediction

The Panthers are primed to snap a three-game losing run heading into the finals, with their big guns back on deck as they prepare to face the slumping Dragons to kick off Super Saturday at WIN Stadium.
St George Illawarra Dragons vs Penrith Panthers, NRL Round 27 - Expert Prediction
St George Illawarra Dragons vs Penrith Panthers Round 27 Cheat Sheet
Head To Head
St George Illawarra Dragons Form Analysis
St George Illawarra Dragons Team News
St George Illawarra Dragons Team List
Penrith Panthers Form Analysis
Penrith Panthers Team News
Penrith Panthers Team List

Penrith's hopes of a top four finish were dashed with heartbreaking back-to-back golden point defeats to the top two in Melbourne and Canberra, resulting in Ivan Cleary opting to rest 16 players last week in the loss to Canterbury. Now, if the Panthers are to make it a historic five straight premierships, they'll have to do it from outside the top four - but, if there's ever a team that's going to it, it would be the four-time defending premiers.

I expect the Panthers to make a statement of intent here. They certainly won't want to be going into the finals on the back of a four-game losing streak, while the Dragons have been awful over the last few weeks and have packed it in for the year. I'm backing the Panthers for a 13+ victory and their brick-wall defence to return and restrict the Dragons to Under 17.5 total team points. Casey McLean has emerged as one of the best young centres in the NRL and he can cross for another four-pointer on Saturday afternoon.

Panthers have won seven of the last eight meetings between the teams
Dragons have lost seven of their last nine games
Dragons have been kept to 10 points or less in two of their last three games
Panthers have kept their opponents to Under 17.5 points in five of their last eight games - note that they were extremely unlucky in this regard over the last three weeks, with golden point tries vs Storm & Raiders pushing their team totals to 22 points, while they played their reserve grade side last week
Four of the Panthers' last five wins were by 13+ margins
Dragons have lost their last two games by 16 & 40 points
Casey McLean has scored eight tries in his last six games and was the first tryscorer when these two teams last played

St George Illawarra Dragons vs Penrith Panthers Round 27 Cheat Sheet

Dragons vs Panthers Rd 27 Cheat Sheet

Head To Head

This will be the first meeting between the teams this season. Penrith have won seven of the last eight encounters, including a crushing most-recent 46-10 victory in Round 21 last season.

St George Illawarra Dragons Form Analysis

Another disappointing season for the Dragons.

Shane Flanagan's side showed what they're capable of at various stages and have actually beaten four of the current top eight teams this year.

However, they simply don't have the class in the halves, with Kyle Flanagan again under immense scrutiny, especially with Lachlan Ilias playing well in the NSW Cup.

It's all gotten a bit too much for the Dragons in recent weeks, with the team going down 14-10 to the Warriors before a crushing 40-0 defeat to South Sydney. St George Illawarra also lost a shootout 40-24 with Manly at home last week.

St George Illawarra Dragons Team News

Despite a run of losses, Flanagan has named the same 17 players who went down to Manly for their final game of the season.

St George Illawarra Dragons Team List

1. Clinton Gutherson

2. Christian Tuipulotu

3. Hayden Buchanan

4. Mathew Feagai

5. Tyrell Sloan

6. Lyhkan King-Togia

7. Kyle Flanagan

8. Emre Guler

9. Damien Cook

10. David Klemmer

11. Jacob Halangahu

12. Jaydn Su’A

13. Jack de Belin

Interchange

14. Jacob Liddle

15. Luciano Leilua

16. Hame Sele

17. Loko Jnr Pasifiki Tonga

Reserves

18. Ben Murdoch-Masila

19. Corey Allan

20. Lachlan Ilias

21. Michael Molo

22. Blake Lawrie

Penrith Panthers Form Analysis

Ultimately, the Panthers' slow start to the season has cost them a top four finish and not even a nine-match winning streak has been able to propel them into that crucial double chance finals spot.

It would have been a superhuman effort, even for the four-time reigning premiers - and the Panthers were extremely close to pulling it off, with two freakish golden point tries from the Storm and Raiders handing them back-to-back defeats.

Resigned to his team's fate, Ivan Cleary made the call to rest basically his entire first grade team last week, which saw the Panthers go down 28-4 to the Bulldogs.

Penrith are now confirmed to finish either seventh or eighth and will have an away elimination final next week.

Penrith Panthers Team News

Most of the big guns are back for the Panthers, including Nathan Cleary, Dylan Edwards and Isaah Yeo, but Liam Martin and Brian To'o - who have both been nursing injuries all year - have been given another week off.

Penrith Panthers Team List

1. Dylan Edwards

2. Thomas Jenkins

3. Izack Tago

4. Casey McLean

5. Paul Alamoti

6. Blaize Talagi

7. Nathan Cleary

8. Moses Leota

9. Mitch Kenny

10. Lindsay Smith

11. Scott Sorensen

12. Luke Garner

13. Isaah Yeo

Interchange

14. Brad Schneider

15. Liam Henry

16. Isaiah Papali’i

17. Matt Eisenhuth

Reserves

18. Daine Laurie

19. Mavrik Geyer

20. Riley Price

21. Luron Patea

22. Jaxen Edgar

Verdict

St George Illawarra Dragons v Penrith Panthers

The Panthers will be keen to get a win under their belt before the finals and this looms as the perfect game - the Dragons are done for 2025 and reeling after three straight defeats.

Penrith are tipped for a big 13+ win and to keep the Dragons Under 17.5 team points, while Casey McLean is backed for another try.

Panthers 13+

Margin

$1.75 - 3 Units

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