Super League Round 12 Preview

While St George peep into the top-five, Fraser Park broke through for their first win of the year against Liverpool last week and have secured a string of impressive recent results ? enough to ensure every opponent will need to be on their game.
The sides share two wins a draw each from five league meetings, although Fraser Park are yet to beat the Saints at home.
Mount Druitt Town Rangers will need to lift the intensity when they tackle Granville Rage at Garside Park on Saturday night (7.30pm). After a bright start to their campaign, the Rangers have fallen away to be third from the bottom and under siege from Fraser Park. The Rage, however, are starting to put together some good football to start their rise up the ladder to be just outside the top-five. Interestingly, despite Granville winning two and drawing one of four encounters, they are yet to beat Mount Druitt at Garside.
Champions Bossy Liverpool have it all to do ahead of them if they are to avoid relegation a year after winning the title, and they face stiff opposition against Sydney University at Hensley Athletic Field on Saturday night (7.30pm). Uni could probably be further up the table but will have to buck history to get on top of Bossy, with Liverpool winning three and drawing three of their league fixtures since 2005. In what seems to be the statistic of the round, Uni are yet to beat Bossy at home.
Central Coast Lightning have a tough ask to beat Macarthur Rams at Lynwood Park on Saturday night (7.30pm). The Lightning were well beaten by Spirit 7-1 in their last game, while Macarthur used the weekend washout to rest key player Daniel Fogarty, who was knocked out against Rockdale the week before. Central Coast do have runs on the board, having beaten the Rams twice in four league meetings, including a 1-0 win at Lynwood the last time they met in July 2007.
Highflyers Spirit FC meet PCYC Parramatta Eagles in a top-three blockbuster at Melita Stadium on Sunday afternoon (3pm kick-off). Few would have predicted Spirit?s incredible entry into Super League as they sit equal to lbeaten 2008 grand finalists Parramatta midway through the regular season. To prove it has been no fluke, Spirit boasts the best attacking record of any team and have lost just twice all year. The match will also feature no less than 20 goalscorers this season (11 Eagles, nine from Spirit).
Fifth-placed Northern Tigers host frontrunners Rockdale City Suns at Mills Park on Sunday afternoon (3pm). While Rockdale have steadily improved their game and position on a weekly basis, the Tigers have shown some inconsistency. Remarkably, however, they are well within sight of the competition leaders and will use a dominant history over Rockdale to push for an upset victory. The Suns are yet to beat the Tigers in five league tries, Northern claiming a tight 2-1 win to go with four draws.

-By Daniel De Nardi