The South Sydney Rabbitohs have lost three of their past four matches and now take on a Manly Sea Eagles outfit shooting for seven straight victories. Join us for live scores and commentary from 7.30pm AEST.
Greg Inglis and John Sutton have both been named to face Manly tonight in a massive boost for the Rabbitohs.
Manly disposed of the Warriors 27-12 last week and are playing like a team that expects to be still competing for the premiership come October.
Big game players Brett and Glenn Stewart, Jamie Lyon, Daly Cherry-Evans, Keiran Foran, David Williams and Steve Matai are all firing at the right time of the season and will be difficult to stop for South Sydney tonight.
The Rabbitohs toiled hard against Melbourne last week but lacked the clinical edge in attack to trouble the Storm when they got in good field position.
If Inglis and Sutton do remain sidelined, it remains to be seen if Adam Reynolds, Luke Keary and Issac Luke can do enough in the key positions to secure the Rabbitohs an unlikely win tonight.
Prediction
If Inglis and Sutton are absent, the Rabbitohs just lack the x factor needed in attack to hurt a Manly defence that has been very solid this season.
That doesn’t mean that the Rabbitohs won’t be competitive. They do possess a great pack and will still make Manly work very hard for victory.
Against Melbourne, South Sydney managed to dominate large periods of the second half thanks to the strong work of a pack led admirably by representative stars Ben Te’o, the Burgess brothers and Chris McQueen.
While Manly love to play a physical game, South Sydney certainly possess enough muscle upfront to win the arm wrestle against the Sea Eagles.
Manly’s backline however holds a significant advantage on form over the Rabbitohs and it is in this area where the match should be decided.
The Sea Eagles backline is wonderfully in tune at the moment, with the Stewart brothers, Williams, Lyon, Cherry-Evans, Matai, Foran and Taufua all playing very well.
The result of tonight’s contest will largely hinge on whether or not Inglis and Sutton take the field for the Rabbitohs.
A full strength South Sydney line-up has already shown that they can beat the very best this competition has to offer, as evidenced by the Rabbitohs terrific 20-12 victory over Manly at Brookvale Oval back in round 7.
In short, South Sydney are every chance of stopping Manly right in their tracks, but only if Inglis and Sutton are present on the paddock.
Rabbitohs by four.
KK
Guest
NRL should come down hard on deliberate attempt to injure - Lima should be out for twice as long as it take Watmough to recover. Souths should also distance themselves from this - this is not the first incident of this type from their squad.
KK
Guest
Video ref decisions should be explained. The Matai try, the Broad not-out in the Ashes and two inexplicable decisions in last years semi- between the Cowboys and Manly just to name a few. Tell us how you made the decision.
I'mastormtrooper2
Guest
Manly won the first half fair and square ... South Sydney won the second half, because GI and Reynolds stepped up to the mark ... Not sure what would have happened if GI had left the field after he fell to the ground grasping his knee ??? Perhaps the Minor Premiership may be sorted, 3 weeks out - As of today, it's the Rooster's, Rabbits, Manly or Storm and more points up for grabs for teams from 1st to 12th, before the top 8 are decided ... The Premiership Title is wide open ... Come the finals, I'm hoping for and beiieve there will be a good mix of teams from NSW, QLD, VIC, ACT AND NZ ... Whether my team, the 2012 Premiers, (how soon people forget), makes the GF and or wins again is up to them ... All I can do as a fan is wish, hope, pray and know they will give their best ... The Mighty Storm Men !!! :-)
V.O.R.
Guest
A couple of contributors showing their true colours on here tonight. Everyone should be able to have their opinion on this forum without being ridiculed by those that didn't have things go their way. I agree with nayfo that Manly are not yet showing us that they are an 80 minute team. Always strong in the first half but have faded out on many occasions this year. A lot of talent at Brooky but finals mentality this is not.
Damn Straight
Roar Rookie
*achieve
vero
Guest
bunnies had it all over manly at the 60mins mark
des' right hand
Guest
Pfff roosters supporter ay haha the roosters have been manlys whipping boy for years blind Freddy was sacked after a manly beatdown... You had to buy three guns to compete... Donkeys
Statler and Waldorf
Roar Guru
refs making mistakes and claims the 'the powers to be want souths in the GF' are two different things. one thing is certain in League (and lots of sports) - the losers whinge about the refs and the winners don't care I don't care.
Liatrevlis
Guest
Forward passes ? knock ons ? bud all the fans ask for is balance and consistency , there was no balance tonight and its not just Manly , when the Roosters played Canberra was there balance in the policing of the ruck ? NO , those penalties tonight got the bunnies out of a lot of trouble , it gave them field position something the rabbits couldn't do on there own , it's not the loss that's hard to swallow its the fact the refs played a huge part in it !!
Liatrevlis
Guest
No ! It was Henry perenara ! he shot JFK and Manly ! unlike poor JFK , Manly will live to fight another day !! but seriously do you think that the refs played well ? there's nothing wrong with being beaten , there's plenty wrong when the refs influence the decision !!
nayfo
Guest
I laugh how people on here claim the game is rigged, if your team won tonight all you would be saying is how good your team is and bagging the opposing sides fans but because your team lost you come out and whinge. Sure the refs make bad decisions but there not the ones who miss tackles, throw forward passes or knock on get over it and enjoy the game otherwise go follow another sport.
Statler and Waldorf
Roar Guru
conspiracy theories?? did the NRL shoot JFK as well?
Nathan of Perth
Guest
Onya Bunnies - only got to watch the second half, but knew they could do it =D
eagleJack
Guest
Yeah but as I said yesterday the result for tonight's game means nothing in the grand scheme of things. Both are entrenched in the Top 4 and will be there when the whips are cracking Manly will take a lot from that. No doubt the refs had an influence but credit where credit is due. Souths stopped a number of try scoring opportunities through sheer desperation. That's a sign of a good side. But I reckon the Manly dressing room will be buoyant.
Liatrevlis
Guest
It's "hole " !! who cares who you support it's your stupid mindless comments that have drawn you criticism !! not very intelligent are you !!
des' right hand
Guest
Please EJ don't say that like they had a chance we owned them all over the park straight outmuscled them owned shut the gate... They made 19 meters in both there first two sets... Then the shmutts in pink stepped up.. shayne hayne man of the match!
nayfo
Guest
Touch a nerve did I champ. Just for your information I actually follow the roosters and cant stand either souths/manly. I was just making a comment like everyone else. Crawl back into your whole you wood duck.
Haz
Guest
I reckon the difference between the sides was the coaching. Maguire has got Merritt and Inglis shutting down Manly's right-edge defence. Three times, Manly would have scored against any other team, but got sidelined or held. And they exploited the up-and-in defence on the right edge too, as Gus Gould kept pointing out. Taufua could have done more to keep his inside man in play... just watched and threw his hands up when Horo and Matai got put over touch.
Haz
Guest
You called it. Hayne gave a couple of penalties to Lyon at the death, just to even up the score.
Liatrevlis
Guest
Everyone that plays the bunnies faces exactly the same pathetic refs that always favour the rabbits , it's becoming very obvious that the powers that be want Souths in the GF ,