After 26 gruelling rounds of NRL action, the finals are finally upon us and tonight’s contest between the South Sydney Rabbitohs and Melbourne Storm should provide fans with a fantastic opening to what should be a high quality finals series. Join us for live scores and commentary from 7.45pm AEST
The Rabbitohs were ambushed by the Sydney Roosters last week and need to improve considerably if they are to defeat a Melbourne Storm side that has won its past six matches against the Redfern based club.
The Storm once again enjoyed a stellar season, finishing in third position on the back of yet another strong start to the season.
Despite struggling during the back end of the year, the reigning premiers once again approach finals footy as one of the teams to beat.
Despite losing the race for the minor premiership, the Rabbitohs have also enjoyed terrific success this year, finishing inside the top four for the second successive season.
With a home preliminary final on the line tonight, expect both Melbourne and South Sydney to give their all tonight in a contest that should go down to the wire.
Prediction
The last time these two teams played at ANZ Stadium, the Storm managed to secure a tough seven point victory back in round six in arguably one of the games of the season.
It was probably Melbourne’s best win of the year, given how well they played against a previously undefeated Rabbitohs outfit away from home.
If the Storm are to win tonight, they will have to replicate the sort of intensity that allowed them to beat the Rabbitohs back in round 6.
On that occasion, Cooper Cronk was the star of the show, setting up two tries before scoring a field goal that allowed the Storm to secure victory.
South Sydney will be well aware of the danger that Cronk represents, so expect the home side to really rush up in defence in a bid to unsettle the Storm halfback.
Of course, the performances of superstars Billy Slater and Cameron Smith will also have a huge say on whether Melbourne can secure a home preliminary final.
If Slater and Smith are allowed to dictate terms tonight, Melbourne will most likely play at their best, and if they do, the Rabbitohs are going to have a real tough time defending a Storm attack that can run like clockwork.
For South Sydney to win tonight, they have to take a leaf out of Manly’s book and look to outmuscle Melbourne upfront.
Over the past fortnight, the Storm have really struggled to dominate upfront against the Sea Eagles and Titans.
When Melbourne find themselves outmuscled, they tend to lose a lot of direction in attack and this in turn leads to a lot of handling errors.
With this in mind, the performance of forwards such as Ben Te’o, the Burgess brothers and Chris McQueen will be crucial for the Rabbitohs tonight.
If South Sydney can just focus on playing direct and winning the territory battle, then the likes of Greg Inglis, John Sutton, Adam Reynolds and Issac Luke may just have enough of a platform to shine in attack.
With both teams fairly evenly matched, the result of tonight’s contest will largely come down to whether or not Melbourne’s supreme attacking spine is allowed to click.
If the Rabbitohs can keep Slater, Cronk and Smith quite, they will win. If not, Melbourne will once again find themselves one game short of yet another grand final appearance.
Storm by 6
Dan747
Guest
yeah they need new refs they cant accept two clear tries, definitely disgraceful. if they were accepted it would have been a completely different game
Dan747
Guest
yeah everything was against storm including the refs not accepting to clear tries.
Dan747
Guest
the two tries that were disallowed should have been allowed, there was nothing wrong with either of them.
john badseed
Guest
ANZ the worst place for a stadium in the world. Took my boy to the SOO- i live 10 mins from Central station and all up it took seven hours to get to the game by train, watch the game and get home again. Had "premium" seats... behind the posts.... and had to watch anything past half way on the video screen. Done get me started on the cost. That's why Sydney fans have learnt it's better to watch the game from the comfort of your local and why they won't travel to ANZ.
Tee-Bonez
Guest
Bunnies are on fire!
spiderfish
Guest
current technology like peptides
belrose eagle
Guest
it sez we didn't play in a comp with 4 teams for 60 years
Ret
Guest
Semi finalists only 4 times since 1971? Please do a little research before posting such crap.
pete
Guest
luke had another great game, he is going so well for a little bloke.
stormtrooper4
Guest
Well whatever you wanna say about last night you can't escape the fact that it was a low quality game from both sides, i think they both would have lost to any other top 4 side last night. I see this loss as a chance to play an extra match and find better form because if Storm repeat last night's performance then they are not going to make the Grand Final anyway. Souths supporters should't get too excited from what i saw last night, Most of their tries came from blatant mistakes by the storm that no other top 4 side will make.
aaron
Guest
how can you hate a team you are a bitter person
just too good last night ;)
Guest
sorry guys, but south sydney just exucuted better last night and the storm & media have no excuses, they had their chance but south sydney were just the better team last night
Tiebreaker
Guest
You mean where Inglis got "stretchered off" for diving in his own tackle. You have to be a mug if you try and give me an example of a player milking for a penalty. Everyone new that Christian Inus tackle on Greg Inglis was milked and Richie Faaosos were no different. Both Greg Inglis and Josh Reynolds are masters at using their momentum and diving head first. No, a better example would be like when Bradley Clyde recklessly took off Wille Carnes head and ended his career, yet stayed on the field. Or like when Marcus Bai and Stephen Carney accidentally ended Jarrod McCrackens career yet stayed on the field. Undermining a leaping player may look accidental but it is premeditated and if it goes wrong it can be like a spear tackle from 6 feet in the air. The defender must put his arms around the attacking player in the act of making a tackle. Undermining a leaping player in a contest is a disgraceful act.
peeeko
Roar Guru
agree Johnno, very poor effort. strange considering how good souths crowds have been this year- I think its below their average?
Spider fish
Guest
Johnno we beat news ltd in the courts.
Spider fish
Guest
Drills holes in Manlys defence all day long.
Spider fish
Guest
If its not nice to watch then find something else and stop complaining. It's the whinging as much as anything else that's ruining the game. There has been wrong ref decisions in league since day 1. Like thunder said , suck it up. Lets face it your never going to be happy.
Brendan
Guest
We all want it. Saying the game is rigged is getting yawn worthy though
Brendan
Guest
You mean a similar broken neck to the one Inglis nearly got twice in 1 game from Faaoso who didn't get sent off for 2 deliberate acts as opposed to 1 accidental knock? Yep ok buddy
Brendan
Guest
Farrell had a try disallowed for the same thing against the Roosters. Not sure how protected that was??