St George Illawarra will look to continue their march towards the minor premiership on Thursday night – with or without their representative stars.
All 12 Dragons who took part in the NRL’s stand alone representative round last weekend are available for selection against struggling Parramatta in Wollongong.
The top of the table Dragons take on the Eels who are bottom of the pile heading into round 16. St George Illawarra would ordinarily be raging hot favourites but uncertainty over their rep stars could see the Dragons name a weakened team.
The Dragons State of Origin quartet of Tyson Frizell, Paul Vaughan, Jack de Belin and Ben Hunt have just a four-day turnaround after their battle at ANZ Stadium on Sunday night.
But St George Illawarra also face the prospect of Gareth Widdop, James Graham and Leeson Ah Mau playing on the back of a flight from the US after featuring in the Denver Test for England and New Zealand on Sunday.