NRL 2024: Luciano Leilua puts target on Stephen Crichton ahead of blockbuster Dragons vs. Bulldogs clash

Ahead of one of the most anticipated clashes of the season between the Dragons and Bulldogs, a St George Illawarra enforcer has raised the stakes by putting a target on the back of Canterbury captain Stephen Crichton.

Luciano Leilua and Stephen Crichton. Picture: NRL Photos

Luciano Leilua wants to “give it to the Bulldogs” and the St George Illawarra forward has put a target on the back of one particular Canterbury star, skipper Stephen Crichton.

The centre has emerged as Canterbury’s most significant recruit in years and has been a driving force behind the club’s finals resurgence.

It’s the reason Leilua and the Dragons will target Crichton, a three-time premiership winner, in Saturday’s sellout blockbuster at Kogarah in a bid to keep their own finals hopes alive.

“It’s going to be loud on the weekend but just have to make sure we give it to the Bulldogs,” Leilua said.

“We’ll do some video today (on Crichton) so ask me again on the weekend (how to stop him).

“I’ve been watching him, he is a gun and a freak. He’s been a top centre for a while.

Luciano Leilua has put a target on the back of Stephen Crichton ahead of their meeting this weekend. Picture: Jason McCawley/Getty Images

“I think we have to attack his legs and hope for the best. Honestly, try to get him out of the game, that’s all you can do man.”

While the Bulldogs appear finals bound for the first time in eight years, the Dragons are clinging onto eighth spot in a congested race to September.

But knocking off ladder leaders Melbourne last weekend at AAMI Park, for the first time in 25 years, has injected a new-found confidence into Shane Flanagan’s men.

“I think the boys now are starting to believe it and that’s all that matters. Once we believe it, we can start winning,” Leilua said.

“I know how big of a game it is. Looking at the ladder, that’s the best thing that has happened to the club right now, every game means something.

Stephen Crichton has been a key figure in the renaissance of the Bulldogs. Picture: Jeremy Ng/Getty Images

“I think in the past, the last couple of years have been hard but all the boys now know every game means something.”

A win against the Bulldogs, and a fast finish to the season with victories against the Gold Coast, Cronulla, Parramatta and Canberra could springboard the Dragons as high as fourth on the ladder.

It’s the reason Flanagan is expecting his players to approach Saturday’s game with the intensity of a finals match.

“It’s going to be fire,” Leilua said.

“We’ve got to get involved first before the crowd, we’ve got to get the crowd into it.

“Some boys can be like ‘it’s just another game’ but I don’t look at it as just another game.

“If you do, you think you are just going to go out there and do your normal thing. The game, it means something.

“When we run out to warm up, the boys will understand it’s a big game.”

The highly-anticipated clash will also shape as the perfect finals preparation for the Dragons, given the likes of Tyrell Sloan, Jacob Liddle, Francis Molo, Christian Tuipulotu and Ryan Couchman have never experienced the intensity of a finals match.

“It’s going to be a high-intensity game. When you’re playing for that and the atmosphere, that’s what the finals are,” Couchman said.

“We do have a few players who haven’t played finals, and we also have a lot of experience in our side too.

“It could ready you for finals footy down the track, big games like this.”

Belief is high among the St George Illawarra Dragons after defeating the Storm in Melbourne. Picture: Josh Chadwick/Getty Images

The Dragons have not featured in the finals since 2018 and many pundits predicted a last – place finish for Flanagan’s outfit.

Like Flanagan, Dragons players have heard the detractors and are out to prove the naysayers wrong, starting against the Bulldogs.

A lot of people had us to run last this year and it was all rubbish internally,” Couchman said.

“We never believed that, we always believed that we can do something this year and it is showing.

“We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, there is still a lot of footy to be played, there are five games to go and they are all pretty important.

“We all heard the predictions that we were going to run last and writing us off, but internally we always believed.”

Originally published as NRL 2024: Luciano Leilua puts target on Stephen Crichton ahead of blockbuster Dragons vs. Bulldogs clash