The NRL’s biggest traditional rivalry will be on show with a spot in the biggest game of the year on the line as the Sydney Roosters take on the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Moore Park in the second preliminary final.
This is the dream match-up for the NRL, and anything less than a sell-out at Allianz Stadium will be pretty poor on part of the two clubs.
A Saturday night fixture with a spot in the big dance on the line after both sides finished the season in the top four.
Scriptwriters wouldn’t have done it any better themselves.
The Rabbitohs will be full of confidence as well after getting out of trouble in a nailbiter against the St George Illawarra Dragons last weekend.
Adam Reynolds rose to the occasion as the hero for South Sydney, scoring all of their points including a try and not one, not two, but three field goals from Adam Reynolds to get them over the line.
While they will ride the wave of momentum out of the game, they are going to be bruised and battered.
Not even counting for the off-field controversy which has struck the club in the last week or two, they have had two commanding finals games, while the Roosters have had a week off.
Their first clash against the Storm, where they lost by a point, could end up proving to be the difference between firing on all cylinders during the final 20 minutes of this game and not.
Adam Reynolds of the Rabbitohs (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)
It showed last week. They never got out of first gear during the first half, with recovery from the Storm clash, even with an eight-day turnaround, clearly a hard thing to come by. And not just physically, but mentally, although that side will be gone after the nailbiter last week.
The physicality of the match against the Dragons, the need to come back at the death – it’ll tell on the Bunnies this week against a Roosters side who have had two even weeks off since their qualifying final win over Cronulla.
What we saw last week was the key being their forwards rolling, quick play the balls and Damien Cook’s influence. The difference between South Sydney’s first and second half was night and day, so they need to take the lessons from the comeback on more than one occasion into this match.
The tri-colours have their own issues to deal with given suspensions, but they will be confident.
After claiming the minor premiership and finishing the season strongly, they came out against the Sharks and got away with the win.
Sydney Roosters’ Cooper Cronk
In truth, maybe they shouldn’t have. The Sharks squandered opportunity after opportunity throughout the contest and allowed the Roosters to win through their own poor play.
That’s not a knock on the Roosters though, who defended their own line admirably and found ways to run up points with key players James Tedesco and Cooper Cronk both playing strong roles.
Their forward pack held its own against the Sharks as well, and will need to again as they take on the might of the Rabbitohs, whose forwards have gotten them to the position they are in, exceeding all expectations placed on them at the beginning of the season.
Overall record:
Last meeting:
Last five:
Record at venue:
Record in finals:
Last finals meeting:
Sydney Roosters
1 James Tedesco, 2 Daniel Tupou, 3 Mitchell Aubusson 4 Joseph Manu, 5 Blake Ferguson, 6 Luke Keary, 7 Cooper Cronk, 8 Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, 9 Jake Friend (c), 10 Siosiua Taukeiaho, 11 Boyd Cordner, 12 Isaac Liu, 13 Victor Radley
Interchange: 14 Lindsay Collins, 15 Zane Tetevano, 16 Nat Butcher, 17 Ryan Matterson, 18 Sean O’Sullivan, 19 Matt Ikuvalu, 20 Paul Momirovski, 21 Sitili Tupouniua
Latrell Mitchell is out. It’s a huge blow for the Roosters, with Mitchell Aubusson set to take over in the centres. All due respect to Aubusson, but he isn’t on the same level as Mitchell.
With that being the case, the dangerous Victor Radley comes into the back row and youngster Nat Butcher joins the bench.
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
Interchange: 14 Hymel Hunt, 15 Cameron Murray, 16 Jason Clark, 17 Dean Britt, 18 Braidon Burns, 19 Mark Nicholls, 20 Tevita Tatola, 21 Connor Tracey
No changes again for the Rabbitohs. Question marks loom over George and Tom Burgess, but all reports suggest they will be right to play.
George Burgess looks set to line up for the Rabbits.
Can the Roosters win without Latrell Mitchell?
Latrell Mitchell being suspended is a double-edged sword for the Chooks.
Not only do they lose his wonderful attacking ability, instincts and hard running on the edge, but they lost his goalkicking.
He isn’t the best in the competition, but he has become very serviceable in a department where the Roosters don’t have much back-up this season.
At this stage, it would appear either Sio Siua Taukeiaho or Blake Ferguson will take up kicking duties, and while both can, you wouldn’t want to see them having to slot one from the sideline under pressure late in the game.
Goalkicking aside, the Roosters are going to struggle without Mitchell to score points. He has been excellent this season, making countless linebreaks, throwing offloads and scoring plenty of tries.
He has fast become one of the best centres in the game, illustrated by his Origin debut earlier this year, and without him, they lose a vital cog in the machine.
Latrell Mitchell of the Roosters (Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)
The Rabbitohs forwards are busted – can they get back up?
While the Bunnies forward pack came good during the second half against the Dragons last week to keep their season alive, there are plenty of signs they are absolutely busted.
They played well against the Storm, but dropped ball, sloppy defence and some lazy running have been trends over the fortnight – and it’s one they must buck against the Roosters.
Sam Burgess is the key. He has to put aside every thing that’s happened off the field in the last week and just go. Run hard, offload, not make errors and lead the way in defence, getting off the line quickly and putting pressure on the Roosters attack.
Taking time away from players like Tedesco, Keary and Cronk will be vital, so their line speed has to be good from the get-go. That’s going to add to the fatigue problem, but if they can’t do that for 80 minutes, get up in the Roosters face and cause the attack hell, there will be problems to pay for on the scoreboard come the end.
South Sydney have to play from in front
If there was a trend which was negative during Cooper Cronk’s time at the Storm, it’s that they often struggled to win games from behind.
It was due to the intense structure they played with under coach Craig Bellamy.
Now, don’t get me wrong, Cronk is a great player, but his ability still lies with being able to control the heck out of a game and shut it down once his team is in a winning position. There are examples to the contrary, but he isn’t known for his ability to be spark teams into scoring quick points.
The Roosters do have players – James Tedesco comes to mind – who can lead that charge, but if they get in front by any significant distance or any score in the final 20 it’s over.
The Rabbitohs, for that reason, must start the game strongly and put Trent Robinson’s side under the pump from the get-go. They need to get out there, score early tries, throw the ball around, ensure the fatigue battle evens up with the Roosters doing a lot of tackling and try to run a score up in the first half.
Do that, and the Roosters game plan could be thrown into disarray.
I’m not saying the men from Bondi can’t come from behind, but I’m most certainly saying they won’t be easy to catch if they get in front.
Cooper Cronk of the Roosters passes the ball. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)
James Tedesco could break this game wide open
Tedesco is an x-factor player, but more than that, he has proven himself to be a big-game player.
You only need to look at his short, yet building State of Origin career to understand the influence he can have on a team when the pressure is being applied.
Every time he has stepped onto the park for the Blues, he has risen to the occasion. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to rate any of his Origin games to date with anything under a seven out of ten.
That’s a staggeringly good record for a young guy at fullback, one of the toughest positions to play.
What was impressive in their preliminary final against the Sharks was the way he was constantly popping up in support play and combining with Cooper Cronk. It’s not on the same level, but dare you say it, the level was Billy Slater-esque.
He and Slater are vastly different players, but with size, pace, acceleration and a bit of form, Tedesco could send Souths backwards and out of the competition in a real hurry.
James Tedesco of the Roosters (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
That Rabbitohs left edge needs a blinder
The Rabbitohs have been dangerous on the left-hand side of the park all season long. It’s obviously no secret at this point that they score a majority of their points there, and yet, last week, they couldn’t breach the Dragons line down that side of the ground despite trying all night.
Now, that could be a problem if they can’t do so against the Roosters.
While the Dragons were similarly playing busted and struggling to run up the other end and score points without Gareth Widdop, the Roosters may have no such problems in racking tries up.
If the Rabbitohs can’t get their left edge to work, to get Greg Inglis and Robert Jennings with space to move and early ball on the back of Cody Walker and Alex Johnston, they are in some real trouble here.
Even without Latrell Mitchell, I just can’t see the Roosters being beaten.
They have had the all-important week off, and while there have been times they have been unconvincing this season, they won’t lose if they have the lead with 20 minutes to go. I suspect they will be in that position as well, with the Rabbitohs likely to struggle with fatigue if the Roosters can play this at a fast pace.
With Tedesco and Cronk’s combination improving week on week, they will be too strong in both attack, and their defence should be able to hold the Rabbitohs well enough.
Of course, Damien Cook and the left edge could still have something to say, but in the end, an extremely successful season for the Rabbitohs given pre-season expectations will come to the end as the Roosters and Storm play the grand final next week.
Roosters by 8.
Date: Saturday, September 22
Kick-off: 7:40pm (AEST)
TV: Live, Fox League 502, Nine Network
Online: Live, Foxtel app, Foxtel now, 9Now, NRL Digital Pass
Betting: Roosters $1.83, Rabbitohs $2.00
Referees: Ashley Klein, Adam Gee
Don’t forget to tune into The Roar for our comprehensive live coverage and highlights of the big game from 7:40pm (AEST).
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