St. George Illawarra Dragons vs Melbourne Storm prediction and odds: NRL 2023 Round 25

Fifth place plays sixteenth this Saturday night in the NRL as the St. George Illawarra Dragons host the Melbourne Storm. Will we see an upset of epic proportions? Read on for our Dragons vs Storm predictions.

These odds from Ladbrokes were correct at the time of writing.

St. George Illawarra Dragons vs Melbourne Storm – Match Predictions

Who will walk away victorious on Saturday evening? Here are our top predictions ahead of the Dragons vs Storm this Saturday:

Storm to Win 1-12 

Last week, the Melbourne Storm delivered an absolute rout of the Canberra Raiders, putting away their top eight rivals 48-2. This week, the Storm face cellar-dwellers St. George Illawarra–surely they’ll dish out another hiding, right?

Not so fast. We say that this match will be far tighter than the bookies are picking. While the Dragons have only won one of their past five matches, they’ve been right in every contest, losing by only a score or two. In fact, the last time they lost by more than 12 points was way back in June. 

Even though the Storm are looking good, it’s one thing to get yourselves up for a big clash against a rival side; it’s another to come out and blow away a team you’re expected to beat.

Both Teams to Score 16+

Again, despite the Dragons being cellar-dwellers in 2023, they’ve maintained a healthy ability to score tries. Of their 21 matches this season, only four times have they been held to a score lower than 16 points.

For Melbourne, that number is the same, with four scores lower than 16 points. Given that the Storm scored 48 points last week, they should have no trouble making 16 against the Dragons–and we say their opponents will have a few tries in them too, making this a sharp bet.

St. George Illawarra Dragons vs Melbourne Storm preview

Heading into this match, here’s a look at how both teams’ seasons have gone so far in the NRL 2023:

St. George Illawarra Dragons

The Dragons have zero hope of making the playoffs in 2023, sitting one spot off the bottom with five wins from 21 matches. However, they’d dearly love to bag another win here to ensure there’s no chance of them finishing in the bottom spot. The side’s most recent win came against the West Tigers in July.

Melbourne Storm

The Storm have maintained a reasonably low profile this year, without being noticeably poor. However, they’re just beginning to round into form, as their 48-2 win over the Raiders last week indicated. With 13 wins from 21 games and currently sitting in fifth place, the Storm are well poised to nab a top four finish and head into the playoffs ready to make a deep run.

St. George Illawarra Dragons vs Melbourne Storm head to head

These two sides have met 40 times in the NRL, with Melbourne leading 28-11, and the sides sharing one draw. Their most recent encounter saw the Storm win 42-6 in May 2022.

• Date and time: Saturday 19 August, 10:35 am GMT
• Venue: WIN Stadium, Wollongong, Australia
• How to watch: Sky Sports