St George Illawarra coach Wayne Bennett has cleared the way for Mark Gasnier to make his first start since his return to the NRL with rookie centre Kyle Stanley to be rested for Friday night’s clash with South Sydney at ANZ Stadium.
Named on the bench for the second straight game since rejoining the Dragons, Gasnier looms as the obvious option after Bennett deemed 19-year-old Stanley needed a break after shouldering a heavy load in recent weeks.
Just who lines up on the left side of the attack alongside Brett Morris remains in doubt, with Gasnier and NSW centre Beau Scott both more accustomed to the right edge.
While the Dragons will be keen to rejoin the winners’ circle after a last-start loss to Penrith, it’s a more desperate Rabbitohs who could drop out of the top eight with another loss.
It’s why coach John Lang was still lamenting the one that got away some days after the loss to arch-rivals the Sydney Roosters – when a last-gasp penalty helped their local rivals snatch an 18-14 win.
“I was particularly disappointed that we couldn’t close it out – we fought so hard to get to the position we were and it was disappointing not to be able to finish it off,” Lang said, knowing a win would have left them fourth on the ladder.
“I thought the game the other night was a semi-final type game … I thought we were the better side and when we had that lead with about five minutes to go we should have been able to nail them and we didn’t and we’ve done that a few times over the season now.
“It’s a bit of an experience thing.”
While Lang bemoaned his side’s play in the clutch, he had nothing but praise for Beau Falloon’s effort filling in for injured Kiwi Test hooker Issac Luke.
Falloon scored an early four-pointer against the Roosters and is set to play an important role as the Rabbitohs look to keep pace with the finals contenders until Luke’s return from a dislocated shoulder in three weeks.
“He’s a really good player Beau and sitting behind Issac he doesn’t get many opportunities,” Lang said.
“Beau’s not going to be able to do some of the things Issac will do – there’s not many better dummy half runners in the game than Issac in my opinion.
“He’s one of the very top in the game but Beau’s just a good player – he’s a strong defender, he’s got a good pass out of dummy half, out of dummy half he picks his times.”
Despite Luke’s absence the otherwise full-strength Bunnies appear to have the edge up front given the Dragons will run out without their first choice props Michael Weyman (suspension) and Dan Hunt (Achilles injury).
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