The South Sydney Rabbitohs will need everything to go right as they fight for the minor premiership, but it’ll be a tough task when they travel north to play the desperate Brisbane Broncos. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 7:50pm (AEST).
The Rabbitohs come into this game understrength, with backline injuries leaving them without Alex Johnston and Greg Inglis, who continues his recovery.
Dane Gagai will make the move to fullback, with the experienced utility back needing to slot straight in and spark the South Sydney outfit alongside Adam Reynolds and Cody Walker in the halves if they are to overcome Brisbane.
Yet, it hasn’t been the halves and spine leading the way for Souths this year. It’s been their forward pack, let by the Burgess brothers who have laid the platform for Damien Cook to roll out of dummy half and ensure their attack has been firey.
Combine it with a strong defensive effort and will not to concede points, it’s little surprise they have won 11 of their last 13, although a loss to the Roosters last week may put a spanner in the works.
They didn’t have 17 players for the duration of that game though and while their form isn’t quite at the level it was when they won nine straight, it’s not far away.
The biggest thing the Broncos appear to have going for them is their record over the Rabbitohs, which has seen them win all of the last five and 27 of 37 in total.
The pressure is starting to build on Wayne Bennett’s men. While the off-field coaching rumours continue to circulate, the Broncos have lost two matches on the hop against bottom four sides the Bulldogs and Cowboys.
While it’s hard to take a great deal from the Queensland derby given ladder position never seems to matter, the loss the previous week to the Bulldogs was a major concern.
Their issues in defence and in creating enough points across the park reared their head again and if the Broncos are to win tonight, they need their forwards to match it with the Rabbitohs, to control the ruck and hope Anthony Milford and Kodi Nikorima pull something out of the bag for 80 minutes in the halves.
Prediction
Brisbane have the record and the home ground, but their form is somewhat unpredictable and given Souths game has been based on a dominant forward pack, not having their backline shouldn’t bother them too much.
Rabbitohs by 8.
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Worlds Biggest
Guest
Thought the forwards went overall, Sammy was a bit quiet however it was this group that got them back in the game. Perhaps there might be a concern or two however confident they will hit form in the Semi’s with a full compliment of players .
stevesyd
Roar Rookie
With a full roster less Doughi they will win 3 and that includes the week off after week 1.
stevesyd
Roar Rookie
Of no concern. Move on.
Zavjalova
Roar Rookie
Tigers message to the Rabbitohs - "Thanks for nothing you bunch of useless flogs".
BA Sports
Roar Guru
I was okay with the ruling that as the player caught the ball on the inside of the block runner - so to the law that is correct and I am happy with that as a blanket rule as it limits the grey or subjective nature of the decision. The baffling part of it was the call came from the pocket ref. Replay showed the exchange took place about 15m in from touch and the pocket ref was in the middle of the field There was no way he would have been able to see that - but good luck to them, they got it right....
Matt P
Roar Rookie
I think they ruled it as a shepherd. Sometimes I wonder if they've just decided to refer to everything as an obstruction now. My issue with it is that if running behind your man is a black-and-white offense, it shouldn't matter whether it's caught on the inside or outside; there were much more NFL-like block plays last night where they caught the ball on the outside. But like I said, it wasn't a terrible call, and it didn't make any difference in the end. SIms was a little lucky to not be penalised, but that was hardly a howler either. You're allowed to jostle with your shoulder, the only thing that would've gone against him was the slight bump right at the end. But again, Souths got the ball back that set anyway, did it really matter?
JohnB
Guest
Doesn't there have to be an obstruction? Seemed bizarre to me they didn't even seem to look for that, and no replays looking at that issue that I saw, once they'd (quite correctly) decided the pass was caught on the inside - but surely that in itself is not the be-all and end-all. Maybe there was obstruction but I didn't see it, and isn't that where you should start? The non-penalty on Sims' stupid obstruction of Reynolds remains a worthy contender for least explicable call of the night/round/month.
BA Sports
Roar Guru
The forwards were awful for 50-60 minutes last night. Other than George, none of them played well enough or had any sustained impact on the game. You are right, you need to peak in the Finals, but it isn't a switch you can just turn on. They were trying to win all three games and they won 1 of them. You need to find a way to win. They will most likely get a second chance in the Finals as a Top 4 team and that may help them, but I would think there is cause for a little concern if I were a bunny
Worlds Biggest
Guest
That’s the thing though right, you need to hit your peak in the Finals which is still a few weeks away. By your logic Souths couldn’t hit there straps in these past 3 weeks so they’re in trouble ? I beg to differ, they were terrific against the Storm and very gallant against the Roosters, could have pulled it out at the end in a game the Chooks should have won comfortably. Last night wasn’t good enough granted but Siebold will be reasonably buoyant by what he has seen the last 3 weeks overall. The forwards were good last night and with a full backline compliment, they are still very much a contender.
Haz
Guest
...Mum, Jack skipped his vitamins again.
Haz
Guest
Ok, I'm off to get a storm, rabbitoh and rooster doll. Then a million sewing pins. Who knows a good voodoo priest?
BA Sports
Roar Guru
Agree on Burgess - 5 errors last week and only 8 ineffective runs last night. He was wearing big strapping on his leg, but emotionally he didn't seem in the game with no big hits or runs at crucial times. Agree on Cody Walker as well. He was awful last night. 3 errors and dropped a couple more balls backward - and then walked around after dropping a ball while it was still live. Showed no energy or enthusiasm what so ever. Souths are in some trouble if you ask me. Fine it wasn't their strongest backline - though Burns had a good game. But it wasn't like they were a bunch of debutants. 94 games between the three quarter line, plus a SOO player with a 150+ games at fullback and their regular halves - They had enough cattle to be competitive. And yes they have had a tough three weeks (Storm, Roosters, Broncos) but that is Finals football. If you can't play to peak form three weeks in a row then you can't get through to the Grand Final and win.
Nat
Roar Guru
Fair assessment. Roberts is the Broncos Latrell Mitchell, some games he'll hardly get a mention and the next he'll explode. One area he has improved dramatically is his defence. Not too many tries come down his side of late and he is using pace to compensate for Nikorima who seems to be over reading plays.
Nat
Roar Guru
For me a big part was when Reynolds got hurt. His ball playing was very limited by that much strapping. Haven't seen the replay but his slight of hand nearly responsible for most of their tries.
Gray-Hand
Guest
The rocks and diamonds performances by the Broncos are a leadership and experience issue. They have a ton of talent, and that means that if they get out in front they can stay there by doing what comes naturally, but if things start to go wrong they don’t Individually have the experience to make the right decisions to adapt to the situation, or to trust their processes as the situation may require. An inexperienced team can compensate for that with a smattering of strong leaders but the Broncos have lost a lot of their most leaders players either due to retirement (Parker) or injury (Gillett, McCullough) or general loss of form that diminishes the status of a leader (Thaiday and Boydd). Their halves also just aren’t the type of game managers that can halt the momentum of an ascendant opposition either with pin point kicking or by reliably producing solid and safe sets of six that get the ball back down the other end of the field and thereby minimising the attacking opportunities on the return.
Mycall
Guest
I can't understand how Fafita wasn't penalised for tackling the defenders. It was definitely an obstruction!
The Barry
Roar Guru
I think Seibold will give them time away. I think that’s what this weekend has been about. Putting the foot down all the way from the Melbourne game would be super tough to maintain in a pretty even comp. Souths stormed back into it once they stopped making silly errors but took their foot off the throat by starting again. I really like Walker and I think he should be at the least in the origin discussion but he’s very much a front runner. Even with their energy down a bit I think with their normal backline they win last night.
Fish
Guest
The Broncos forwards were good last night. They have that mobility to move big packs around. They did this well. The refs had a very relaxed 10m most of the game which benefitted Brisbane more than Souths, as it allowed stuff all for Cook to capitalise on. I thought Milford was great last night but his opposite was poor. Cody Walker had a night where everything he did was a secret. Souths definitely missed their players out with injury. Perhaps Bennett fed the boys a fair sausage at his infamous BBQ? They were certainly a different side last. Bennett and his Magic Sausage! ??
Worlds Biggest
Guest
Bazza, as soon as the Broncos lost last week this game worried me, as you mentioned they are rocks n diamonds. Win last week and they may not have shown up with the same intensity in first half hour. The Bunnies were always going to be up against it having two very tough games previous. Obviously missing 5 backs is very challenging to overcome. When the Broncos are in a mood, they can beat anyone and were excellent for parts of last night. Souths are a resilient bunch this season, to level it up at 18-18 was impressive, just a shame they lost concentration to stay in the battle. Thought the forwards played well as did Gagai apart from a costly dropped ball at 18 each. Hopefully Reyno is OK, need him fit and back in form. Also hope Siebold gives the players the weekend off to freshen up after 3 very tough games.
The Barry
Roar Guru
I think this has been an intriguing time of year. No one has really put their hand up to say “we’re the front runners you need to beat us to win this comp” Souths looked like doing that and the Roosters are probably as close as we have. Souths were due for a bit of a letdown because they’ve had a couple of physically and mentally draining games on the run but Seibold will want to get them back up quickly. Mojo is an ethereal, fickle quality that can’t just be switched on and off. They played like a side that has had their 3/4 line decimated and the replacements had never met. Are any of Inglis, Johnston, Graham or Jennings back soon? Is Sam Burgess carrying an injury, is his body busted by the way he’s played or is he holding back from the finals? He looks like he’s playing well within himself at the moment. Broncos are the ultimate rocks and diamonds team. A lot of teams are week to week. The Broncs do it ten minutes x ten minutes. When they’re on a roll their forwards are dynamic and carrying the ball ferociuosly, Milford and Nikorima are toying with the defence. Backs are flashy. When they’re off, their heads are down and they’re looking around to see who’ll save them, lucky to get 30 metre sets. They can beat any team on their day but it’s tough imagining them stringing four complete performances together on the hop in September.