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South Sydney Rabbitohs
36
Match Complete
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
16
| A. Johnston |  | 79 | ||
| 77 |  | R. Garrick | ||
| 76 | | R. Garrick | ||
| 73 | | T. Trbojevic | ||
| J. Paulo | | 59 | ||
| B. Taaffe | | 51 | ||
| C. Graham | | 50 | ||
| 44 | | R. Garrick | ||
| 43 | | R. Garrick | ||
| J. Paulo | | 37 | ||
| B. Taaffe | | 30 | ||
| C. Walker | | 28 | ||
| B. Taaffe | | 23 | ||
| A. Johnston | | 22 | ||
| B. Taaffe | | 13 | ||
| C. Walker | | 12 |
| 7 | Tries | 3 | ||
| 4 | Conversions | 2 | ||
| 0 | Penalty Goals | 0 | ||
| 0 | Field Goals | 0 |
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The preliminary finals get underway tonight when the South Sydney Rabbitohs take on the Manly Sea Eagles at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 7:50pm (AEST).
We are well and truly at the business end of the season now. Win tonight and a grand final awaits; lose, and it’s a case of so close, but yet so far.
With the exception of possibly Wayne Bennett, no one saw the Rabbitohs’ qualifying final win over the Panthers coming. While we knew that Souths have loads of attacking flair, it was their defence which won them the match and secured a home preliminary final – crucially, on the other side of the draw to minor premiers the Storm.
It’s hard to single out anyone in what was a great team performance. However, George Burgess, coming off the bench, made twice as many metres as any Penrith forward; and Cameron Murray got through a mountain of defence, whilst his quick play the balls repeatedly had Penrith’s defensive line under pressure.
With the benefit of the week off, Souths have the luxury of picking the same 17, all rested and ready to go.
After being thrashed by the Storm in week one of the finals, the Sea Eagles dealt out a hammering of their own with a 42-6 win over the Roosters last Friday night.
Daly Cherry-Evans and Tom Trbojevic were back to their best, but it was all off the back of a dominant Manly pack. Sean Keppie had the game of his life and Taniela Paseka, off the bench, simply couldn’t be stopped at times.
Once that happened, the holes started to appear in the Roosters and Manly were away.
The Sea Eagles have also named the same 17.
Prediction
The big question in this one is whether the Rabbits can repeat their defensive efforts from the first week of the finals.
If they can, they will minimise the impact of Cherry-Evans and Trbojevic.
On top of that, they will be sending plenty of attack to the Sea Eagles’ right edge, which has proved a weakness in recent games.
This will be tight, but the benefit of the week off will prove to be a large advantage.
South Sydney Rabbitohs by 6
Kick-off:7:50pm (AEST)
Venue: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
TV: Channel Nine, Fox League
Online: Kayo Sports, Foxtel Now, Foxtel GO, NRL Live Pass
Betting: Rabbitohs $1.71, Sea Eagles $2.18 (odds via PlayUp)
South Sydney Rabbitohs
1. Blake Taaffe 2. Alex Johnston 3. Dane Gagai 4. Campbell Graham 5. Jaxson Paulo 6. Cody Walker 7. Adam Reynolds (c) 8. Mark Nicholls 9. Damien Cook 10. Tevita Tatola 11. Keaon Koloamatangi 12. Jaydn Su’A 13. Cameron Murray
Bench/Reserves: 14. Benji Marshall 15. Jacob Host 16. Thomas Burgess 17. Jai Arrow | 18. Taane Milne 19. Patrick Mago 20. Braidon Burns 21. Jed Cartwright
Manly Sea Eagles
1. Tom Trbojevic 2. Jason Saab 3. Brad Parker 4. Morgan Harper 5. Reuben Garrick 6. Kieran Foran 7. Daly Cherry-Evans (c) 8. Josh Aloiai 9. Lachlan Croker 10. Martin Taupau 11. Haumole Olakau’atu 12. Josh Schuster 13. Jake Trbojevic
Bench/Reserves: 14. Dylan Walker 15. Karl Lawton 16. Sean Keppie 17. Taniela Paseka | 18. Toafofoa Sipley 19. Moses Suli 20. Curtis Sironen 21. Tevita Funa
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