Dragons' Frizell to face Newcastle in NRL

Jun 24, 2017 - 5:52 AM St George Illawarra star Tyson Frizell will back up from a brutal State of Origin to face Newcastle in the NRL as the Dragons try to arrest their mid-season slump.

Frizell needed a pain-killing injection to overcome a rib injury and line up for NSW in their heartbreaking loss to Queensland on Wednesday.

But Dragons coach Paul McGregor said the imposing forward will play in Sunday's match at UOW Jubilee Oval.

And fullback Josh Dugan will also take the field, giving the Red V a major boost after back-to-back losses to Parramatta and Canterbury.

"They've got some bumps and bruises as you'd expect after a physical game on Wednesday night, but they're right to play," McGregor said.

Frizell's contact with Johnathan Thurston's shoulder effectively ended the Queensland superstar's season.

Just four days after clipping a future immortal's wings, Frizell is set to cause more damage at club level.

"He's pulled up as you do after Origin games, a little bit mentally fatigued as much as you are physically," McGregor said.

McGregor believes Frizell not featuring heavily in the second half of game two was a tactical ploy from Blues coach Laurie Daley.

"I think it was the rotation that Laurie was using. He played 55 minutes straight there. He moved from the back row into the middle.

"I think that's just the plan they had. Certainly if he was needed, Tyson was ready to go back on."

The Dragons' clash with the lowly Knights shapes as a perfect chance to fire up their attack, which has struggled in recent weeks after a blistering start to the year

"We spoke about the importance of our back five starting our sets to give us a bit of momentum early in the tackles and getting the ball a bit quicker than we have been in the previous couple of weeks," McGregor said.

STATS THAT MATTER

* Newcastle have conceded at least 20 points in all but two games this year

* In the Dragons' past seven matches they have scored 16 points or more twice compared to seven from their first seven games

* Josh Dugan has scored eight tries against the Knights in his past 11 matches

Source: Fox Sports Stats

Source: AAP