Coming off consecutive away losses to Parramatta and last Monday night to Newcastle, meaning the Cowboys are still yet to win away from home this season, the North Queensland side will not be able to return to Townsville quick enough for this clash against the Rabbitohs.
Whilst both recent losses were by small margins, the Cowboys did have their chances in each match but away from home, for some unknown reason, are just not as effective – in attack especially.
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At home the Cowboys average close to 30 points per game whereas on the road it’s half that at 15 points a game.
The Cowboys have won their last five at home by margins of 13+, four of those victories coming against top eight sides so they can turn it around quickly here but they’ll have to.
They sit in eleventh spot on the ladder, two wins outside of the eight and need to get back to winning form here, especially with their next two games scheduled being away fixtures.
Robert Lui comes into the side for Ray Thomas and will slot in at five-eight with Johnathan Thurston starting at halfback.
Co-captain Matt Scott is out replaced by Scott Bolton.
RABBITOHS
South Sydney continued their strong form with a comfortable 32 – 10 win over the West Tigers in round 14.
It was the Rabbitohs fourth win on the trot, their sixth from the past seven matches and eighth victory of the season by 13+ points.
The bye last week as allowed Origin representatives Greg Inglis, Ben T’eo and Chris McQueen a week of recuperation and all have been named in the squad for this match.
The Rabbitohs are ticking over nicely at the minute with one of the most formidable forward packs in the competition giving their smart backline plenty of opportunities to post points.
They’ve averaged 28 points per game in their last four victories whilst even more pleasing is that they’ve only conceded a total of 38 points in the same period of time.
HEAD TO HEAD
The Cowboys have won the last two clashes in Townsville, both by big margins but they’ve been the only victories for them in the past ten clashes since 2007.
The Rabbitohs will head into this clash fresh and at near full strength whilst the Cowboys will be under pressure in need of a win and with Matt Scott and Brent Tate missing, this game weigh’s heavily in favour of the Rabbitohs despite the impressive home record this season of the Cowboys.
Teams:
COWBOYS: Michael Morgan, Curtis Rona, Matthew Wright, Kane Linnett, Antonio Winterstein, Robert Lui, Johnathan Thurston, Scott Bolton, Rory Kostjasyn, James Tamou, Ethan Lowe, Jason Taumalolo, Tariq Sims. Interchange: Anthony Mitchell, Glenn Hall, Ashton Sims, John Asiata.
RABBITOHS: Greg Inglis, Nathan Merritt, Kyle Turner, Kirisome Auva’a, Alex Johnston, John Sutton (c), Adam Reynolds, George Burgess, Issac Luke, Dave Tyrrell, Chris McQueen, Ben Te’o, Sam Burgess. Interchange: Apisai Koroisau, Jason Clark, Ben Lowe, Thomas Burgess.
