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Only three rounds remain and it’s rivalries galore as the two grand final combatants go at it for the second time this year, while the Broncos attempt to put an end to a six-year hoodoo against the Storm on Friday night.
It’s set to be an emotional time in Townsville when the Cowboys play on home soil for the first time since the sudden passing of their premiership mentor Paul Green, and they’ll be keen to honour their late coach with a victory over the Warriors.
Elsewhere, the Cronulla Sharks will attempt to put an end to a horror record on the northern beaches, where they are winless since 2008, while the Sydney Roosters will bid farewell to regular rugby league at the SCG when they play host to the Wests Tigers.
Here is your preview to Round 23.
Rabbitohs vs Panthers
After at first struggling to adapt to life after Wayne Bennett, Adam Reynolds and Dane Gagai, the Bunnies are hitting form at the right time, winning six of their last seven matches to move up to fifth place on the ladder and give themselves a good shot of breaking into the top four.
Jason Demetriou’s side were good in attack, as they were in defence, as they shut out the Parramatta Eels 26-0 on their home turf at Commbank Stadium last Friday night, with Latrell Mitchell the best on ground as he continues his impressive comeback from injury.
They will need to bring their A-game to Accor Stadium for the visit by the Penrith Panthers, who will head west on the back of being blanked 16-0 by the Melbourne Storm in their own backyard last Thursday night.
Injuries and suspension have hit the reigning premiers hard; without their starting halves in Jarome Luai and Nathan Cleary, as well as Dylan Edwards being a late withdrawal, the Mountain Men were held scoreless at home for the first time since 2015.
Already the Panthers have repeated the dose on the Rabbitohs earlier this year with a win at the foot of the mountains, but the Bunnies’ recent strong form will be hard to ignore here.
Prediction: Rabbitohs by six points.
Cowboys vs Warriors
It has been a tough few days for the Cowboys, whose 2015 premiership winning coach Paul Green died suddenly in the week leading up to their clash against the Roosters at the SCG.
While Jason Taumalolo admitted after their 32-18 loss to the Chooks that Green’s death “rattled the side”, from the footballing perspective they were outplayed and, in the words of current coach Todd Payten, the side “got taught a lesson in finals football”.
Now the northerners must prepare themselves for what stands to be an emotional occasion when they return home to Townsville for their home clash against the Warriors, where a tribute to the 49-year-old is surely in the works.
The Kiwis, whose season has taken a turn for the worse since Shaun Johnson booted them to golden point glory against the Cowboys earlier this year, recorded a crushing 42-18 win over the Bulldogs last Friday night to give their fans some glimmer of hope for 2023.
The match was still in the balance at 24-18 with ten minutes remaining but three tries in the final six minutes saw the Warriors power away to their biggest win since they thrashed the boys from Belmore 40-6 in the opening round of 2019.
It also moved them well away from wooden spoon contention, four points above the Titans and Wests Tigers.
But back at home after a tough few days, North Queensland should bounce back with a big win.
Prediction: Cowboys by 18 points.
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
Broncos vs Storm
If there is ever a perfect time for the Brisbane Broncos to put an end to a six-year hoodoo against the Melbourne Storm, it’s this Friday night.
Much has been spoken about the Broncos’ dismal record against the Storm, whereby they haven’t beaten the southerners since 2016 and haven’t beaten them on home soil since 2009.
However, the main outlier remains the 2006 grand final, which the men from Red Hill won against a side that nobody at the time knew had illegally been assembled.
To the present, and after two straight losses saw them tumble out of the top four, Kevin Walters’ side righted the ship with a 28-10 win over Newcastle at home, a win that was built on strong defence.
The win saw them move up to sixth on the ladder and kept alive their chances of a top-four spot.
Craig Bellamy’s men are on the road for a second consecutive week, after shutting out the Panthers last Thursday night. It has put to the side any doubts over the Storm’s premiership credentials following four straight losses prior to that win.
But while Melbourne have dominated most of their rivalry against the Broncos, the home side will rise to the occasion and claim victory in front of their fans at Suncorp Stadium.
Prediction: Broncos by eight points.
Eels vs Bulldogs
One of the game’s great rivalries lights up again on Saturday afternoon, with the Bulldogs making the short trip west to Parramatta to face an Eels side that will be seeking redemption on two fronts.
The first is that Parra will be attempting to reverse their 34-4 loss from Queen’s Birthday, a result coach Brad Arthur described as “embarrassing”.
The second is that they’ll be attempting to resuscitate their finals hopes after being blanked by the Rabbitohs last Friday night, continuing the club’s inconsistent season.
As for the Bulldogs, they’re looking to bounce back after copping a 42-16 hiding from the Warriors in New Zealand, the result ensuring they remained winless across the ditch since 2012.
Predictions: Eels by 16 points.
(Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
Sea Eagles vs Sharks
With their finals hopes all but over, the Sea Eagles can only rely on a historically strong home record against the Sharks as they look to salvage something out of a wasted season.
The Silvertails headed up to the Gold Coast thinking they would simply get the job done against a Titans side that were running last on the ladder, only to severely pay the price for underestimating their opponents, suffering a 44-24 defeat.
It was not the way Des Hasler would’ve wanted to mark his 300th game in charge of the club, which has come across two separate stints on either side of coaching the Bulldogs between 2012-17.
While Manly will only play for pride in the final three weeks, the Sharks are chasing a double chance for the first time since 2018.
The men from the Shire cruised to a 36-12 win over Wests Tigers in Tamworth, the result seeing them solidify their place in the top four and reinforcing themselves as one of the most improved teams of season 2022.
Craig Fitzgibbon’s side are on the road once again, this time heading over the Harbour Bridge to a venue which has proven to be a graveyard for the club over half a century, having not won on the northern beaches since 2008.
When the teams last met, in Round 7, the Sharks ran away with a convincing 34-22 victory and despite their 14-year winless run at Brookvale Oval, the visitors should come away with the points.
Prediction: Sharks by 12 points.
Roosters vs Wests Tigers
Rugby league will bid adios to the SCG when the Sydney Roosters play the Wests Tigers in what’s expected to be the iconic ground’s farewell match before the former team moves back into the newly rebuilt Allianz Stadium next month.
Last week saw an emotion-charged win over the Cowboys, the Chooks honouring former player and assistant coach Paul Green pre-match, before impressive performances up front by Matt Lodge and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves.
The win saw Easts complete a clean sweep over the Queensland clubs this season, that being their fifth win from as many matches against the Cowboys (twice), Broncos (twice) and Titans in 2022.
Next in the firing line are the Tigers, who have dropped their past two matches since upsetting the Broncos to drop to last place on the ladder on points differential, leaving them at risk of picking up their first wooden spoon as a merged entity.
A week after a comeback against the Knights fell short, the Tigers were outclassed by a superior Sharks outfit in a home game that they took to Tamworth.
The joint venture cannot wait for the season to end and if they do finish in last place it would be the first wooden spoon for the Western Suburbs part of the merger since 1999, and on the Balmain end since 1994.
Prediction: Roosters by 24 points.
Dragons vs Titans
The Dragons look set to miss finals for a fourth straight year while the Titans come in having recorded their biggest win for the year but first since Round 10.
Despite a best-on-ground performance by Ben Hunt, the Dragons went down to the Raiders 24-22 in what was a reverse of their Round 16 meeting, in which the Red V were lucky to escape with victory after a ruck infringement at the death.
Meantime, the Titans put an end to a ten-game losing streak, which saw them drop to the bottom of the ladder on points differential, by ending the Sea Eagles’ finals hopes.
Many fans would’ve been wondering why their side hasn’t turned up with this kind of form all season, their side having dropped back to old habits which has coach Justin Holbrook at risk of being shown the door.
But despite their big win last week, I can’t see the Titans making it two in a row against the Dragons in Wollongong.
Prediction: Dragons by four points.
Knights vs Raiders
Not only are the Knights coming off another demoralising defeat, their captain Kalyn Ponga has hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons after being caught in a pub toilet with teammate Kurt Mann.
This came after the Knights suffered a 28-10 loss to the Broncos in Brisbane, a result which has serious questions over Adam O’Brien remaining in the coaches’ box at McDonald Jones Stadium past this season.
Currently sitting third-last on the ladder, the Novocastrians can officially avoid the wooden spoon if they beat the Raiders on Sunday, but that is dependent on the Titans and Tigers also dropping their Round 23 matches.
The Green Machine have Ricky Stuart back on deck following his enforced week-long suspension for the comments he made about Panthers five-eighth Jaeman Salmon two weeks ago, but it was a case of no Sticky, no worries as they edged out the Dragons at home last Sunday.
They had led 18-6 at halftime and extended their lead to 24-6 before being forced to withstand a furious comeback to win 24-22.
While the result keeps their faint finals chances alive, they remain a game and considerable percentage adrift of the eighth-placed Roosters.
Prediction: Raiders by eight points.
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