Friday third NRL Round 8 match is between Brisbane Broncos and South Sydney Rabbitohs with the opening kick to commence at 8:00pm. The game is to be played at Suncorp Stadium which see’s home team South Sydney Rabbitohs hold favouritism in the market. View our NRL live scores, odds and results for the game between Brisbane Broncos and South Sydney Rabbitohs.

Where and when: Friday, Apr 25, Suncorp Stadium, NINE, 8:00pm

Odds Comparison:

Brisbane Broncos	2.03	2.00	1.95	2.00	2.03	2.05
South Sydney Rabbitohs	1.82	1.83	1.87	1.83	1.82	1.80

All odds are subject to change. Odds listed are correct at the time of the latest update.

Despite narrow losses to the in-form Parramatta and Titan outfits leading into last week’s game against Newcastle, who had only secured two victories from their six matches this season, the Broncos started at lucrative odds last week and delivered, winning comfortably by 32 – 6.

As they have done so regularly this year, the Broncos scored first and early when Second-rower Alex Glenn crossed in the 15^th minute.

The Broncos ran in five more tries, the last three inside the final fifteen minutes of the match, to record their fourth win of the season and fifth spot on the ladder.

What would’ve have pleased coach Anthony Griffin was his side’s goal-line defence. On four occasions, the Broncos held up Knights up over the line and recorded an impressive 12 try-saves for the match.

The Broncos have been competitive in each game this year and with three narrow losses, none by more than seven points, their current 4 – 3 winning record could easily read better still.

Halfback Ben Hunt continues his dynamic form for the Broncos with Corey Parker leading the way in the forwards with his off-loads creating plenty of opportunity for supporting players.

The South Sydney Rabbitohs, after putting together two much needed wins together over the Dragons and Panthers in round 5 and 6 respectively, had their form tested last week when they faced off against the Bulldogs.

In a tight contest, the Rabbitohs produced a strong first half performance with limited personal due to several injuries, and led 8 – 0 at halftime.

They continued to hold the Bulldogs at bay and led 14 – 8 with fifteen minutes to go before the effort started to take its toll and the Bulldogs, as they do, began to wear their opponents down.

A converted try to Bulldog Corey Thompson levelled the scores in the final minutes of the match and it was the Rabbitohs who had the first opportunity to break the deadlock when in field goal position however, poor communication saw them ran the ball on the last and turn it over.

The Bulldogs on the other hand, who have been in winning form and won their past two games by producing late field goals, knew the drill all too well and took their first chance to slot a field goal successfully, recording a 15 – 14 win.

It was a tough effort by the Rabbithos who not only had a limited roster during the match, but were also missing George Burgess and Ben Te’o, both of whom return for this clash. Despite losing and in a painful manner, there were plenty of positives for the Rabbitohs to take out of the match.

The two sides only met once last year and it resulted in a 26 – 12 win to the Rabbitohs, their first win in four matches against the Broncos. Each of those four games has ended in total match scores of either 32 or 38 points.

This will be a great clash and no surprise to see the market a close won. The Bronocs have won their last two games as outsides (Dragons and Newcastle) and will give this a mighty shake.

With the Rabbitohs naming a close to full strength squad though and building momentum nicely over the past month, the just might extend the losing home record of the Broncos to 1 – 3

Teams:

Brisbane Broncos:
Ben Barba, Daniel Vidot, Jack Reed, Justin Hodges (c), Dale Copley, Josh Hoffman, Ben Hunt, Josh McGuire, Andrew McCullough, Martin Kennedy, Alex Glenn, Corey Parker (c), Matt Gillett. Interchange: Ben Hannant, Corey Oates, Jarrod Wallace, Jake Granville, Todd Lowrie
Ins: Todd Lowrie
Outs: None
Other unavailables: Sam Thaiday (calf, round nine), Jordan Kahu (knee, indefinite), Mitchell Dodds (knee, season), Ashley Taylor (shoulder, round 18)

South Sydney Rabbitohs:
Greg Inglis, Nathan Merritt, Dylan Walker, Kirisome Auva’a, Bryson Goodwin, John Sutton, Adam Reynolds, George Burgess, Apisai Koroisau, David Tyrrell, Kyle Turner, Ben Te’o, Sam Burgess. Interchange: Cameron McInnes, Jason Clark, Chris McQueen, Luke Burgess, Joel Reddy, Ben Lowe, Joe Picker
Ins: George Burgess, Ben Te’o, Joel Reddy
Outs: None
Other unavailables: Issac Luke (shoulder round 10), Thomas Burgess (foot, indefinite), Luke Keary (pectoral, mid-season)

News:

Finally comfortable in Brisbane’s No.1 jersey, Ben Barba may yet don another number on his back in Friday night’s NRL clash with South Sydney after pivot Josh Hoffman broke down at training.

Hoffman left the Thursday session early with a suspected Achilles strain – an injury scare not only felt in the Broncos camp but also New Zealand ahead of the looming trans-Tasman Test.

And Australia also received some food for thought when Broncos coach Anthony Griffin again did not consider Test backrower Sam Thaiday (calf).

Griffin would not rule out Hoffman for the Suncorp Stadium clash but the Kiwi playmaker appeared at long odds after lasting just 20 minutes before collapsing at training.

“He’s had some soreness there for a few weeks,” Griffin said.

“We will have to wait until we get a scan to clear him of an Achilles injury and we’ll work back from there.”

Griffin said Barba was in the mix to wear the No.6 jersey barely a week after breaking the shackles as Brisbane fullback in last round’s 32-6 win in Newcastle.

Barba – who ended his try-scoring drought last round – seemed the obvious choice at pivot after alternating on-field roles with Hoffman this season.

Lachlan Maranta comes into the squad and is likely to slot into a reshuffled backline at wing with Dale Copley at centre and Justin Hodges at fullback.

“In attack he gets a lot of second receiver ball anyway with the way he plays, we will sort through it,” Griffin said of Barba.

Brisbane may have a replacement for Hoffman but Kiwi selectors will be scratching their heads before naming their Test team on Sunday.

Hoffman had loomed as their No.6 following injuries to Manly playmaker Kieran Foran (knee) and Thomas Leuluai (groin).

Griffin hinted Australian selectors may also make some tough calls after admitting he didn’t know whether Test incumbent Thaiday and veteran centre Hodges (Achilles) would be right to play in Friday week’s trans-Tasman Test in Sydney.

Thaiday will miss a second straight game while Hodges has just returned from an eight-month layoff.

But Griffin kept his fingers crossed for Broncos backrower Matt Gillett to break into the line-up.

“(Australia coach) Tim (Sheens) normally sticks with what works in the past and they have just won a World Cup,” he said.

“But he (Gillett) is certainly putting performances out there that have put him in the frame.”