Rugby Exclusive

www.iasbet.com – Where and When: Saturday 8 November, Hisense Arena, 7.30pm (AEST)

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Past Three Head-to-Head
Gold Coast Blaze 90-107 South Dragons, Round 3 2008.
Gold Coast Blaze 127-116 South Dragons, Round 12 2007.
South Dragons 79-99 Gold Coast Blaze, Round 9 2007.

Season Series
Dragons 1-0

Current Standings
Dragons 8-2 (first), Blaze 1-10 (10th)

The Gold Coast will head into Saturday night’s clash against the top-of-the-table South Dragons with some confidence after finally breaking through for their first win of the season on Wednesday against the Townsville Crocodiles

Shane Heal was influential in his side’s win over the Crocodiles, dropping 26 points.

The 38-year-old will be keen to perform well once again against his old side and help keep the Blaze’s slim finals hopes alive.

It may be top versus bottom but the South Dragons are far from unbeatable.

The Dragons got out of jail against Sydney in round seven – they trailed early in the final term before Nathan Herbert sparked his team into action, scoring 13 of his 19 points in the last quarter to inspire his side to an 11-point win.

The last time these two sides met at the Gold Coast Convention Centre in round three, the Dragons had six players in double figures with Boomer Mark Worthington leading the way with 20 points.

Expect the Blaze to be more competitive now than they were earlier in the year against the ladder leaders given that they have finally gotten the monkey off their back but the Dragons have too many scoring options for Brendan Joyce’s men to contain.

The Gold Coast are certainly capable of causing an upset but the Dragons depth should prove to be the difference in what will be a closer contest than the ladder position of both sides suggests.

Money on a Dragons’ win by 1-10, offering $2.85 is worth a punt.