The Dragons have well and truly come back to earth after their heady four-game win streak had them in the upper reaches of the eight and the talk of the town.
St George Illawarra's winning run had been built on the back of their forwards out-muscling opposing packs but the Warriors flipped that script on its head in round six before Sam Walker and the Roosters blew the Dragons away on Anzac Day.
Anthony Griffin has plenty of work ahead of him to reignite that bully boy spark.
But as difficult as that assignment may be his counterpart Michael Maguire faces a challenge of another magnitude following Wests Tigers' ignominious collapse after a strong start against Manly.
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The rundown
Team news
Dragons: In a positional switch announced an hour before the match, Josh McGuire will start at lock with Tyrell Fuimaono to come off the bench. Jackson Ford is the 18th man.
Ben Hunt will return from a leg injury. Dragons coach Anthony Griffin has shifted Jack Bird back to the centres after last week's five-eighth experiment.
Max Feagai will play his first game of the season with Jordan Pereira and Mikaele Ravalawa missing through suspension.
Kaide Ellis replaces Adam Clune on the bench. Poasa Faamausili was the other player to drop out of the extended squad 24 hours before kick-off.
Dragons fullback Matt Dufty has scored 13 tries in 14 games at WIN Stadium.
Wests Tigers: Wests Tigers centre James Roberts has been ruled out of Sunday's clash with the Dragons, with Zac Cini to make his debut for the club.
Tommy Talau will start at centre with Cini to line up on the wing. Michael Chee Kam will be the 18th man.
Zane Musgrove and Tom Amone also dropped out of the squad 24 hours before kick-off.
Wests Tigers have won three of their past four games against the Dragons.
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Key match-up
Matt Dufty v Daine Laurie: Laurie has been one of the high points of Wests Tigers' season. While other problems have emerged around him, Laurie hasn't needed very long to make the No.1 jersey his own for years to come. On his day Dufty is a match-winner, he just needs to make those days come around with greater regularity.
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Stat attack
Wests Tigers play-makers Luke Brooks and Adam Doueihi will have to get their kicks away quickly with the Dragons (three, tied with Penrith) and second-rower Tariq Sims (two) leading the league in charge-downs.
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