UPDATE: St George Illawarra Dragons' Jason Nightingale has been ruled out of this Saturday night's clash with an ankle injury. He didn't play against Parramatta last Saturday because of the injury.
Nightingale was selected at fullback to replace Josh Dugan on NSW duties.
Dragons coach Paul McGregor is yet to name a replacement.
St George Illawarra Dragons need to re-ignite their fire when they tackle North Queensland Cowboys in the round 17 NRL action at 7.30pm on Saturday, July 4, at WIN Stadium, Wollongong.
The Dragons have had a lean patch in recent weeks with losses to Canterbury, Sydney Roosters and Parramatta. They are fourth on 20 points.
The Dragons are without Josh Dugan and Trent Merrin (NSW, Origin III), Dylan Farrell (back), Jack de Belin (knee), Joel Thompson (hamstring) and Tyson Frizell (back).
Jason Nightingale switched from wing to fullback.
The 190-game veteran, who has crossed for 85 career tries, has played several times in the No.1 jersey previously.
Dragons coach Paul McGregor has named an 18-man squad with one to be omitted one hour before the 7.30pm kick-off.
The Cowboys will be without Jonathan Thurston, Ryan Morgan, Matt Scott (Queensland, Origin III) and James Tamou (NSW, Origin III).
Dragons coach McGregor has bolstered the squad for the remainder of the year before the June 30 deadline and signed Gold Coast Titans forward Mark Ioane and prop Luke Page from Canberra for the rest of 2015. The Leader understands Ioane could be a shock starter.
Dragons captain Ben Creagh said the team needed to revert to the formula that worked well for them before their three-game losing streak.
‘‘To be honest, I think we went away from the style of footy that we were playing at the start of the season that was winning us games,’’ Creagh told Fairfax Media.
‘‘We were playing tough, grinding footy and I think the past couple of weeks with some of our attack, we've been throwing the ball away at crucial times.’’
The Cowboys have won 13 games and the Dragons 12 since they began playing each other in 1999.
However, the Dragons have won 10 games to six at their home venues: Kogarah Jubilee Oval and WIN Stadium, Wollongong.
Can the Dragons lasoo the Cowboys?
