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The NRL semi-finals will get underway on Friday, September 14 at 7:40pm (AEST). This is The Roar‘s guide to everything you need to know about both matches this weekend.
Date: Friday, September 14
Kick-off: 7:40pm (AEST)
Venue: Allianz Stadium, Sydney
TV: Live, Fox League and Nine Network
Online: Live, Foxtel App, Foxtel Now, 9Now, NRL Digital Pass
Betting: Sharks $1.65, Panthers $2.25
Overall record: Played 90, Sharks 49 wins, Panthers 38 wins, 3 draws
Last meeting: Round 18, Sharks 24 defeated Panthers 12 at Panthers Stadium
Last five: Sharks 5, Panthers 0
Record in finals: Never played
Referees: Ashley Klein, Adam Gee
Cronulla Sharks
1 Valentine Holmes, 2 Sosaia Feki, 3 Josh Dugan, 4 Ricky Leutele, 5 Edrick Lee, 6 Matt Moylan, 7 Chad Townsend, 8 Andrew Fifita, 9 Jayden Brailey, 10 Matt Prior, 11 Luke Lewis, 12 Scott Sorensen, 13 Paul Gallen (c)
Interchange: 14 Kurt Capewell, 15 James Segeyaro, 16 Aaron Woods, 17 Jayson Bukuya, 18 Jesse Ramien, 19 Ava Seumanufagai, 20 Joseph Paulo, 21 Kyle Flanagan
Penrith Panthers
1 Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, 2 Josh Mansour, 3 Waqa Blake, 4 Tyrone Peachey, 5 Christian Crichton, 6 James Maloney, 7 Nathan Cleary, 8 Trent Merrin 9 Sione Katoa, 10 Reagan Campbell-Gillard, 11 Villame Kikau, 12 Isaah Yeo, 13 James Fisher-Harris
Interchange: 14 Tyrone May, 15 Moses Leota, 16 Corey Harawira-Naera, 17 James Tamou, 18 Wayde Egan, 19 Jack Hetherington, 20 Kaide Ellis, 21 Tyrone Phillips
After surging into September on the back of four-straight wins, many backed the Sharks as the side to beat in the race for the premiership.
Yet the Roosters did just that last Saturday, with Cronulla ruing missed opportunities in the 21-12 defeat.
Compounding the defeat was the news that they would be without key forward Wade Graham for not only Friday’s game but for the rest of the finals series after the second rower tore his ACL.
Meanwhile, one of the most intriguing matchups of the entire finals series will take place on Friday night when James Maloney and Matt Moylan face off.
Both players were traded during the offseason with the Panthers opting for Maloney’s experience and game management over Moylan’s flair.
And they appear to have made the right choice after the unflappable five-eighth guided them to a comfortable 27-12 win over the Warriors.
Date: Saturday, September 15
Kick-off: 7:40pm (AEST)
Venue: ANZ Stadium, Homebush
TV: Live, Fox League and Nine Network
Online: Live, Foxtel App, Foxtel Now, 9Now, NRL Digital Pass
Betting: Rabbitohs $1.28, Dragons $3.70
Overall record: Played 30, Dragons 17 wins, Rabbitohs 13 wins
Last meeting: Round 10, Rabbitohs 24 defeated Dragons 10 at ANZ Stadium
Last five: Rabbitohs 3, Dragons 2
Record in finals: Never played since merger between St George and the Illawarra Steelers in 1998
Referees: Gerard Sutton, Ben Cummins
South Sydney Rabbitohs
1 Alex Johnston, 2 Campbell Graham, 3 Greg Inglis, 4 Dane Gagai, 5 Robert Jennings, 6 Cody Walker, 7 Adam Reynolds, 8 Tom Burgess, 9 Damien Cook, 10 George Burgess, 11 John Sutton, 12 Angus Crichton, 13 Sam Burgess (c)
Interchange: 14 Hymel Hunt, 15 Cameron Murray, 16 Jason Clark, 17 Dean Britt, 18 Braidon Burns, 19 Matt Nicholls, 20 Tevita Tatola, 21 Connor Tracey
St. George Illawarra Dragons
1 Matt Dufty, 2 Nene Macdonald, 3 Zac Lomax, 4 Tim Lafai, 5 Jordan Pereira, 6 Kurt Mann, 7 Ben Hunt, 8 James Graham, 9 Cameron McInnes, 10 Leeson Ah Mau, 11 Tyson Frizell, 12 Tariq Sims, 13 Jack de Belin
Interchange: 14 Jeremy Latimore, 15 Hame Sele, 16 Blake Lawrie, 17 Luciano Leilua, 18 Jason Nightingale, 19 Jai Field, 20 Euan Aitken, 21 Jacob Host
After snapping a three-game losing streak in style with a 51-10 win over the Tigers, Souths suffered a heartbreaking 29-28 defeat at the hands of Melbourne and now face the possibility of limping out of the finals race in straight sets.
It would be an incredibly disappointing end to what has been a very promising season for the Rabbitohs under rookie coach Anthony Seibold.
While the loss was certainly not the result he was hoping for, Seibold can take confidence out of the fact that his side very nearly toppled the Storm on their home turf.
What he will be looking for is a more polished effort from his big men, who were error-prone and ill-disciplined in the loss.
He will also want to make sure his team don’t make the same mistake Brisbane did and underestimate the Dragons.
Despite losing six of their last nine games to end 2018, the Red V proved that the finals are a completely different competition by thumping the Broncos 48-18 on Sunday afternoon.
It was a massive effort for Paul McGregor’s men, who had been heavily criticised all year and had not won at Suncorp Stadium in their last 10 attempts.
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