Dragons vs Raiders Prediction: 9/2 shot says St George go down fighting

The NRL Premiership’s magnificent league leaders, the Canberra Raiders, are gunning for a 10th consecutive victory on Saturday when they head to WIN Stadium in Wollongong to take on the St George-Illawarra Dragons (17:30 local, 08:30 BST).

After cruising to wins over the Parramatta Eels and Newcastle Knights, scoring 40-plus points on both occasions, many will be expecting them to brush aside the Dragons too. My Dragons vs Raiders predictions are here, along with full team news and Betfred’s match odds.

Dragons vs Raiders Odds

Whenever a table-topping club comes into view you’re going to find they’re prohibitively priced in the money line, and the Raiders are 4/11 to win the match, implying a 73.3% probability of the Green Machine rolling on towards a top-four berth.

The Dragons, though, are an attractive 9/4 to win on home soil, while the draw can be picked up at 20/1.

Looking at the handicap markets, the Raiders are giving up 7.5 points in the standard two-way field. In that scenario Ricky Stuart’s side are 5/6 and the Dragons 20/21.

Team News

Shane Flanagan makes a sole change from the Dragons side which scored 32 points in defeat against the North Queensland Cowboys eight days prior, with Michael Molo brought in for the injured Jaydn Su’A. The back-rower is the victim of a knee injury.

The Raiders have Seb Kris back following concussion protocols, so he starts in place of Simi Sasagi, who is named among the interchange options.

Noah Martin, who was a sub last week against Newcastle, is out of the 17 as a result of Kris’ return.

Rugby League Odds

Raiders by 1-12 points @ 2/1

It would be tempting for anybody to lump on the Raiders and go big. They are the outstanding side in the competition in 2025, have just beaten two sides of similar standing to the Dragons with four or five scores to spare, and the momentum they have built up running into the back-end of the season is scary.

But this is still a Raiders side which will concede points, despite their record of just three losses all year. Just once have they kept an opponent down to fewer than 10 points, and that was back on the opening night against the New Zealand Warriors in Las Vegas.

Indeed, 10 of their 16 wins have come in with margins of 1-12 points, and I can see the same being true here.

They’re a class outfit but are not without their lapses. And a 2/1 price represents a 33.3% implied probability as opposed to the 52.6% reality of how their games have turned out so far.

Dragons between 17.5 and 20.5 points @ 9/2

The 44-18 win over the Knights last week was the 13th time in 2025 that the Raiders have conceded 18 or more points.

Meanwhile, the Dragons have scored 18+ on 15 occasions, despite recording only six wins, and their last half-dozen matches (W1, L5) have all seen them register 18 or more.

So I think the Dragons are well capable of breaching the Raiders defence at least three times. And while I’m not ready to throw my weight being them grabbing 22+, I see real value in this bracket.

It gives us two even scores which, all things being equal, are our best bets. And I can well see an eventuality where the home side score 18 or 20 in a losing effort.

That 9/2 looks a great price to get on.

You can read all our latest Rugby League Betting Tips at our dedicated Betfred Insights Rugby League content hub.