South Sydney coach Michael Maguire has backed young hooker Api Koroisau to fill the huge void left by hooker Issac Luke’s suspension for Sunday’s NRL grand final.
Luke is serving a one-match ban for a lifting tackle on Sonny Bill Williams and will sit out Souths’ first chance of winning a premiership in 43 years.
Fiji international Koroisau has scarcely played a full 80 minutes in his 13 NRL appearances and although Maguire admitted he’ll have to tinker with his tactics to deal with the loss of Luke, he backed the Penrith-bound youngster to rise to the occasion.
“Api has done a great job when he’s come into the team and he’s been mentored by Issac so we know we have a quality player coming into the side,” Maguire said.
“We’ve got our plan and processes in place and he’ll slot in and away we’ll go.”
Koroisau filled in for Luke earlier this season when he was sidelined with a shoulder injury but split the role with fellow youngster Cameron McInnes.
McInnes was recovering from an ankle injury towards the end of the season but impressed during his stint in the side earlier in the year and is seen as Luke’s long-term successor.
However, Maguire ruled out the possibility of dropping a forward from his bench to accommodate two hookers.
“We’ll see how the games goes, but what you see here today is what you’ll get,” Maguire said at the grand final lunch for the two teams in Darling Harbour.
The loss of Luke is a definite headache for Maguire who was giving little away when asked about contingency plans to give Koroisau a spell on the sidelines for what is going to be a fearsome battle between two sets of powerful forwards.
With no other player with experience of playing hooker at his disposal, Maguire may be forced into switching five-eighth Luke Keary to dummy-half and moving John Sutton into the halves.
Chris McQueen, a former winger, did fill the role very briefly during Koroisau’s debut in round four against Canberra and is also an option that could be explored.
“It depends on how the game pans out,” Maguire said.
“We’ll obviously have a few things in place … we have options there but we’ll see how we go.”
Sunday’s game will be the last for Sam Burgess before he heads to play rugby in England, capping off a superb five years in the NRL.
Burgess, who finished third in Tuesday’s Dally M Medal voting behind joint winners Jarryd Hayne and Johnathan Thurston said he’d not thought about anything else apart from going out on a high not in the build up to Sunday.
“The clock has been ticking down all year I guess,” Burgess said.
“But this week has been cracking and I’ve been able to spend some good quality time with the team and I’ve really enjoyed it.
“I am pretty relaxed, it’s been good around our place, we have a good mixture of young and old and I am somewhere in the middle.
“We’ve got some great lads around and it’s been very easy and brought us closer together.
South Sydney Rabbitohs v Canterbury Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium 7.20pm
Head to Head: Bulldogs 78 Souths 67 Drawn 4
Last clash: Round 24 2014 – Souths 21 Canterbury 14 at ANZ Stadium
Tab Sportsbet: Souths $1.42 Bulldogs $3.00
FootyTAB: Canterbury +8.5
The Rabbitohs are 80 minutes away from ending 43 years of pain and claiming a 21st premiership. Victory over Canterbury would cap off a tumultuous four decades for the self-appointed Pride of the League. But in their way stand a teak-tough Canterbury side coached by one of the modern-day greats in Des Hasler who is saddling up for his fifth grand final in eight years. Both teams look set to be without their starting hookers with Issac Luke suspended for Souths and Michael Ennis struggling with a foot injury for the Bulldogs. But it’s in the forwards where this game could be won. The last time these sides met the Rabbitohs scraped home 21-14, but they were not impressive and James Graham and Co really tested their fearsome pack. Souths are well-equipped to get the job done and better served in attack with Greg Inglis, Dylan Walker, Adam Reynolds and Lote Tuquiri all in good form. But it would be folly to write off a Hasler side. The last time a team was fancied so highly to win a grand final was Parramatta in 2001 but their red-hot run of 10 straight wins was ended cruelly by Newcastle. Souths coach Michael Maguire keeps playing down the significance of history, but the pressure of expectation will be massive.
Key: Greg Inglis. Loves the big stage and is a proven performer when it matters. If he has big game, Souths will win.
Tip: South Sydney.
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