South Sydney Rabbitohs
12
Match Complete
Sydney Roosters
26
| 75 |  | J. Suaalii | ||
| 74 |  | S. Walker | ||
| 69 | | B. Smith | ||
| L. Ilias | | 57 | ||
| M. C. Kam | | 55 | ||
| 46 | | J. Suaalii | ||
| 44 | | J. Tedesco | ||
| 37 | | F. Pauga | ||
| 26 |  | J. Suaalii | ||
| L. Ilias | | 20 | ||
| C. Murray | | 19 | ||
| 7 | | C. Allan |
| 2 | Tries | 5 | ||
| 2 | Conversions | 2 | ||
| 0 | Penalty Goals | 1 | ||
| 0 | Field Goals | 0 |
Finals football is on the line as arch rivals South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Sydney Roosters face off at Sydney Olympic Park. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 8pm AEST.
The season of winter 2023 was anything but enjoyable for the Rabbitohs, winning a mere four out of 10 games. With assistant coach/club legend Sam Burgess leaving the club with finals football on the line, plenty of whispers have come out of Heffron Park.
Whether that has impacted the playing group will be seen on matchday. With Latrell Mitchell’s brain fade causing him to be suspended, Blake Taaffe is tasked with the role of leading the attack from fullback.
The Roosters are mounting a late season charge, having not lost a game for over a month. Sam Walker impressed in his NRL return from injury and will be given the responsibility of steering the Roosters to victory.
Skipper James Tedesco returns from a head knock and is named at fullback. Despite picking up a hamstring injury against the Tigers last week, Joey Manu was named in the centre but has been ruled out with Corey Allan in as cover. Jared Waera-Hargreaves is suspended for the rest of 2023 and early 2024, which sees Fletcher Baker promoted to start at prop.
Prediction
Based on form and skill, the Roosters should win and win comfortably. But who cares about form in a derby? That too when the loser will miss out on finals football. Ultimately, this game will be won on which team can keep their cool. Neither team would want a repeat of sin bin Sunday.
But it could boil over very quickly as the Rabbitohs have a point to prove and may let emotion get the better of them. Roosters by 6
Game information
Venue: Accor Stadium, Sydney
Kickoff: 8pm AEST
TV: Fox League, Nine
Stream: Kayo Sports, 9Now
Odds: Rabbitohs $1.65, Roosters $2.25 – odds via PlayUp
Rabbitohs: 1. Blake Taaffe 2. Alex Johnston 3. Isaiah Tass 4. Campbell Graham 5. Izaac Tu’itupou Thompson 6. Cody Walker 7. Lachlan Ilias 8. Tevita Tatola 9. Damien Cook 10. Shaquai Mitchell 11. Keaon Koloamatangi 12. Michael Chee Kam 13. Cameron Murray 14. Jai Arrow 15. Tallis Duncan 16. Hame Sele 17. Davvy Moale 18. Taane Milne 19. Jed Cartwright 20. Peter Mamouzelos 21. Daniel Suluka-Fifita 22. Dean Hawkins
Roosters: 1. James Tedesco 2. Daniel Tupou 3. Billy Smith 18. Corey Allan 4. Joseph Manu 5. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii 6. Luke Keary 7. Sam Walker 8. Fletcher Baker 9. Brandon Smith 10. Lindsay Collins 11. Siua Wong 12. Nat Butcher 13. Victor Radley 14. Sandon Smith 15. Egan Butcher 16. Terrell May 17. Angus Crichton 19. Naufahu Whyte 20. Drew Hutchison 21. Fetalaiga Pauga 22. Dylan Napa
Poss
Roar Rookie
He sure is Birthday suit I hold my breath everytime he goes in for a tackle so scared he'll get hurt...The little guy is fearless... I just don't think Robbo gives him enough praise for the amount of work that he does...Victor also played really well.. :thumbup:
Slammin_Sam
Roar Rookie
Yeah right....
Brendon Waldron
Roar Pro
It's a gift and a curse...
Pickett
Roar Rookie
Rellum I know you don't like Easts, but you need to read the rule book. That was a clear 3 on 1 strip.
Stormy
Roar Rookie
You have a long memory, Brendon.
Stormy
Roar Rookie
He's good now. Will be a brute when he muscles up.
mushi
Roar Guru
The main thing, and resident analyst Mike pointed this out, is he’s always tried. He gets to the point of attack early so even if bounced it disrupts. I firmly believe he was dropped because he stopped playing like Sam Walker. His last two games prior to being dropped (and then injured) his problem was he looked skittish. He threw a short ball intercept in his last game when his trademark three man cut out was on. He’s come back being the live wire. Him playing like that imagine SOO with Munster, walker, Walsh and ponga somewhere
Nathan Absalom
Roar Guru
For Souths, there was nothing wrong with their effort in defence, but it should be asked where it's been the last six or eight weeks? Confidence in their attacking structures is shot and while they may not have got the rub of the green tonight, they are nowhere near contenders at the moment. On the other hand, they could do no worse than look at where the Broncos are after a similar end to their season last year. They need time to make adjustments to their attack, Ilias needs to improve his kicking game dramatically and they need to go back to enjoying the game. I also think that when you make the prelim or grand final so many years in a row, a conservatism creeps into your approach where you don't want to take the risk of going backwards, but you need to take that risk to win a premiership. And from that, Souths have stagnated while others have overtaken them. So I think, all in all, it's not the worst thing to miss the finals. And besides, I can spend more time with my new friend, horse racing!
Ghosthound
Roar Rookie
Yeeeeaaaaahhhh…sure :shocked:
Brendon Waldron
Roar Pro
Saw how the Broncos finished last year to how they are going now, Bunnies to bounce back in 2024. Commiserations to the Souths fans, except for those couple in particular who criticised me for even daring to suggest the Broncos just might go further than the Rabbitohs this year...
Ghosthound
Roar Rookie
I guess letting Sam Burgess go early was the right decision after all for Souths :silly:
Luke S
Roar Rookie
GO COWBOYS!
Phil
Roar Rookie
Commiserations to Souths fans, you're team wasn't good enough, beaten by the better side. Both teams missing big name players but Easts handled it better especially in the halves. Keary and Walker outplayed their counterparts which was the difference. A special mention to Billy Smith who played a cracker of a game.
Arnab Bhattacharya
Roar Guru
Well then. That was an exhausting, but enjoyable double header to call. Thank you for joining the live blog everyone. I will be back tomorrow for Panthers v Cowboys and Dragons v Knights. This is Arnab Bhattacharya signing out. Goodnight.
Luke S
Roar Rookie
Well done Roosters to give themselves a chance to play finals football but from the commentary on Fox Sports, you'd think they'd won the Minor Premiership and are already into the Grand Final! Shame about Souths collapsing out this season, but I'm sure the commentators won't slag them off like they did when the Broncos failed to make finals last year.
Stormy
Roar Rookie
Nothing is impossible - Good Luck!
jimmmy
Roar Rookie
Alfie Langer is the best example I can remember. When he stated he looked like he was still at primary school. When he finished he looked like a little brick out house.
Ghosthound
Roar Rookie
‘Stripping motion’ includes pushing the ball out deliberately in a 3 on 1 tackle
Arnab Bhattacharya
Roar Guru
The Roosters will need one of the Cowboys or Raiders to lose in order to play finals football. To have had that performance without Manu and Tupou will boost the Chooks confidence massively. As for the Rabbitohs, that may have been the biggest choke in NRL regular season history. To have gone from being premiership favourites and be in the top two after round 11 to missing out on finals football altogether is embarrassing for their standards. Plenty of questions to ponder at Heffron Centre for 2024.
Renegade
Roar Guru
No finals for Souths… who would’ve predicted this? :stoked: Roosters in, long odds a month ago! The fall of Robbo and Teddy is as much a furphy as the false dawns for the bunnies premiership in May.