NRL Round 20 South Sydney Rabbitohs v St George-Illawarra Dragons Preview

There is another blockbusting clash that will take place on Saturday night but will unfortunately not seen by every Rugby League fan, because of extremely poor planning by the free-to-air broadcaster. But fans will not be deterred. Both clubs have amazing support and their will be a great atmosphere out at ANZ Stadium, so if you're around, try to get there. The Rabbitohs are still flying high since their amazing Monday Night Football victory over their bitter rivals, the Roosters. But they now have a few tough issues to contend with. They are missing a few key players through either injury (suspected) and suspension so all of a sudden things are becoming tough for the Rabbits to maintain their Top 4 spot. But the Dragons haven't exactly been setting the world alight. They got home against the Sharks, who were down on strength, but they were missing a few players themselves. Jamie Soward was out of the clash with a hamstring injury and his replacement, Kyle Stanley was injured in the opening minutes and is now out for the remainder of the season. But this clash will be won and lost in the forwards. Both teams have monster forward packs who will want to assert their dominance over one another early and this could set us up for a very fiery game. But as the Dragons have been criticised in recent weeks for their lack of flair in attack and their dwindling defence, their coach Steve Price threw a verbal barrage at anyone who wanted to listen in the press conference after the win over the Sharks. More than anything, it sounded like a coach who was fed up with the comparisons that are made between him and his mentor Wayne Bennett, and just wanted his side to forget Bennett and listen to him. Instability within the sheds could be the undoing of the Saints but if they can get it right against a team who has a very short turn around, they could get two wins on the trot to keep their minimal semi final hopes alive. But they are also facing a team that is extremely high on confidence, believing in themselves and playing under a great structure set aside by rookie coach Michael Maguire. This game is going to be great viewing and could have a bigger impact than any other game this weekend on the makeup of the Top 8 come Monday Night.

South Sydney Rabbitohs

The Rabbitohs have named Isaac Luke, but after the outcome of the judiciary hearing on Wednesday night into his tackle on Shaun Kenny-Dowall, he has been ruled out for 3 weeks. Perhaps there is a few positives in this situation with it now meaning that Luke will be very fresh come the semis and he will also have minimal "carry over points". His place will probably be taken by Nathan Peats and there could be another utility added to the bench. Greg Inglis has also been named but there is definitely an injury cloud hanging over him after he appeared to injury it on MNF, but if you re-watch the last try in that game, he was one of the players who was near Luke when he threw the pass to Reynolds. Meaning that he would've covered around 100m to get there at a very quick pace. Bunnies fans will be hoping that he plays because he is definitely an enigma of the game. Scarily, he seems to be getting better with each game. The same can be said for Reynolds who appeared to injure his ankle. They're two key players that the Rabbits can ill-afford to lose in this game and if they're late withdrawals, it'll be posted on my twitter feed. Apart from that, as they have done all season where possible, the Rabbitohs have named a relatively unchanged lineup. But to cover for the possible changes this week they have named an extended bench that will required two players to be omitted prior to kickoff. 

St George-Illawarra Dragons

The Dragons have named the same starting team that took got a win over the Sharks, with the only changes coming to the bench. These changes include Jeremy Latimore dropping out of the side and Jack de Belin named to play. Two players have to be omitted from the extended bench but de Belin did play last week against the Sharks as a late inclusion. Having the same team will be great for the Dragons as it promotes consistency and then moving Soward back into 5/8 will also act for the good of the team. If they can get their forwards to win the battle up front, Soward and Hornby will look to get the ball out to their wingers who can finish. Coach Price has persisted with the move of Nightingale at fullback as he believe Morris is better suited to the wing and he may be right. Morris played a fantastic game for NSW and if the mail is true, the strong Dragons left side will be aiming to regain some form that saw them dominate the right hand side defences of a lot of opponents under Wayne Bennett.

Recent History

Overall = Rabbitohs 5 - Dragons 14

Last 5 games = Rabbitohs 2 - Dragons 3

At ANZ Stadium = Rabbitohs 1 - Dragons 4

Odds
TAB Sportsbet = Rabbitohs $1.60 Dragons $2.40
Centrebet = Rabbitohs $1.60 Dragons $2.40
Sportsbet = Rabbitohs $1.60 Dragons $2.40
Betfair = Rabbitohs $1.67 Dragons $2.44

Verdict
This appears to be a very tough game to choose. If they Rabbitohs are at full strength (minus Isaac Luke), they'll be hard to stop. But if a few key players pull out prior to kick off, it could be the Saints who prevail in this clash. That makes tipping extremely hard for the punters. But you can only go on the information that you have and that is that Souths will only be missing Luke through suspension. The Saints will be desperate though yet they have failed to show anything that can have fans rushing to back them in this game.

Suggested Bet
Rabbitohs 1-12 @ $2.85


First Try Scorer = Nathan Merritt @ $8 - He is on the opposite side of Dragons defensive rock, Matt Cooper and he can find a try line. He is the best person to find the line in any game. So even consider last try ($8).


Be specific = Souths 1-6 @ $5.25 - This could be a close game and if I am predicting it will be 1-12, then why not try to make a few more dollars off a specific margin. Just for note, 7-12 is also @ $5.25.


Good luck!
Scooby
@scoobystips