The first game on Friday for NRL Round 26 is between South Sydney Rabbitohs and Sydney Roosters. The opening bounce is set to commence at 7.45pm with the game to be played at ANZ Stadium. The favourite for the match is home team South Sydney Rabbitohs. View our preview and teams for the game between South Sydney Rabbitohs and Sydney Roosters.
South Sydney Rabbitohs $1.55 vs Sydney Roosters $2.45 at Sportsbet Australia get a $250 FREE BET on this match
South Sydney Rabbitohs $1.55 vs Sydney Roosters $2.45 at Luxbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match
Odds Comparison by NRL Odds:
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| South Sydney Rabbitohs | 1.55 | 1.60 | N/A | 1.60 | 1.55 | 1.62 |
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Sydney Roosters
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2.45 | 2.35 | N/A | 2.35 | 2.45 | 2.33 |
Preview:
They NRL could not have planned it better.
A real grand final atmosphere will surround this game as 1st takes on 2nd – Sydney v Roosters, with the winner set to claim the Minor Premiership for 2013.
After a dramatic and worrying start last week against the lowly ranked West Tigers, South Sydney found themselves trailing by 18 – 0 after only fourteen minutes.
Although the first fourteen minutes would not have pleased South’s Coach Michael Maguire, the way the Rabbitohs went about responded to the situation would have.
They were calm under pressure and scored two late tries in the first half and one within the first seven minutes of the second half to hit the front.
Two late tries in the final ten minutes, blew the margin out to 14 points (32 – 18).
Even though it was a win, it was far from Souths’ best performance of the year but should serve as a reminder to them, that now is not the time to be concentrating on the coming weeks. The focus has to be clearly on what is in front of them – especially the week.
The once indestructible Sydney Roosters have slumped to two surprise losses in as many weeks.
In round 24, as short priced favourites, they were defeated by Sharks 32 – 22 and last week, against an under-manned Titans outfit, and again at prohibitive odds, the Roosters suffered an eight point loss (30 – 22).
It appears to be Roosters defensive, the aspect of their game that has been so rock solid all year, failing them in recent weeks. Cronulla and the Titans have been the only teams all season to have registered 30 points or more against Sydney.
In fact, outside of the above two teams, the 20 point mark has only been surpassed by four opponents of the Roosters this year.
They need to get back to basics and muscle up in defence – especially here against the large Souths forward pack.
When the two sides last met in the opening round of this year’s competition, Souths won well 28 -10.
That was the first time in the last four matches between these two foundation clubs that the winning margin was greater than four points.
Would expect to see a winning margin back to close to that mark here with the Bunnies finishing on top.
Teams:
South Sydney Rabbitohs:
Greg Inglis, Nathan Merritt, Bryson Goodwin, Dylan Walker, Dylan Farrell, John Sutton, Adam Reynolds, Luke Burgess, Issac Luke, Roy Asotasi, Chris McQueen, Ben Te’o, Sam Burgess. Interchange: Luke Keary, Jeff Lima, George Burgess, Tom Burgess, Jason Clark, Matt King
Sydney Roosters:
Anthony Minichiello, Daniel Tupou, Michael Jennings, Mitchell Aubusson, Shaun Kenny-Dowall, James Maloney, Mitchell Pearce, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Jake Friend, Sam Moa, Aidan Guerra, Sonny Bill Williams, Frank-Paul Nuuausala. Interchange: Daniel Mortimer, Isaac Liu, Dylan Napa, Tinirau Arona
Dark days spurring Souths skipper Sutton
On the cusp of delivering South Sydney their first major trophy in more than 40 years, Rabbitohs captain John Sutton hasn’t forgotten the dark times when wooden spoons were the norm.
Souths will battle it out with arch-rivals Sydney Roosters for the minor premiership on Friday night – an honour the Rabbitohs have not earned since 1989 – when Sutton was just four.
There was no prize to show for the minor premiership back then, with the JJ Giltinan Shield only awarded to the regular season champion from 1997.
Prior to that the massive shield was handed over to the premiers – an image only the oldest of Souths fans can recall with any fondness.
Through good times and bad, the Rabbitohs have been judged on the run of outs since 1971 – Sutton desperate for the current crop to leave their mark.
“We’re just trying to create our own little history here by just wining games,” Sutton said.
“It’s great to be a part of the club at the moment.”
Great times indeed, with the Rabbitohs set to compete in back to back finals series for the first time since 1986-87.
But things didn’t always look this good for the Rabbitohs, or Sutton.
The club collected the wooden spoon in two of his first three seasons.
He played one finals game in his first eight seasons with the club.
By contrast, halves partner Adam Reynolds has known nothing but success since bursting onto the scene last year, having won 35 of the 50 top grade games he has played.
It took Sutton 105 games – almost six seasons – to win his 35th game.
“To be captain and winning games – when I first started there were a couple of wooden spoons here and there, it wasn’t the best of years,” Sutton recalled.
“But since Madge (coach Michael Maguire) has come along, he’s changed the culture around and it’s just great to be a part of this.
“I’m just looking forward to the next few weeks of footy – it’s going to be exciting.”
Asked if he had to remind some of his newer teammates about just how far the club has come, Sutton said:
“Most of the boys who’ve been around footy a long time sort of know where the club’s been and how it used to be.
“Since Madge has come along it’s pretty much done a full 180.”
Even Reynolds, who wasn’t even born the last time the Rabbitohs were minor premiers, is aware of the journey the club has been on.
“The club wasn’t going too well at a stage there,” Reynolds said.
“The fans stuck loyal, it’s just good to reward them these days.”
And the players too, but Sutton isn’t getting caught up in the hype.
He knows the JJ Giltinan Shield would be nice, but it is the newly renamed Provan-Summons premiership trophy the club really wants.
“It is a big game, we’re not going to deny that,” Sutton said of Friday night’s ANZ Stadium blockbuster.
“But like we’ve been doing all year, we just have to concentrate on what we have to do here at Souths.
“Our preparation has to be spot on this week – the Roosters have had a couple of losses lately, I’m sure they’re going to be coming out fired up.”