SOUTHS
Just when it looked like Souths were about to hit top gear, they had there momentum slowed last week when as warm favourites, they were defeated by the Melbourne Storm 27 – 14.

It was South’s fourth consecutive loss at home this year and the Bunnies will be happy to travel to Remondis Stadium this week as away from home, their won their last four.

The indifferent recent form and slow start to the season sees the one-time premiership favourites now tenth on the ladder and in desperate need of some consistency.

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Unlike the previous two weeks, there were beaten out of the block by Melbourne last week who led 20 – 4 at halftime and had the experience to close out the game, forcing the Rabbitohs to make six goal-line drop-outs during the match.

The Rabbitohs halves pairing of John Sutton and Adam Reynolds, who were touted as the Origin hopefuls at the start of the year, will both be out for big games.

Winger Nathan Merritt will drop back to fullback to cover for Inglis who, along with Ben T’eo and Chris McQueen, are in Qld’s Origin camp.

SHARKS
The Sharks came within two points of registering only their third win of the season last week when nudged out by the Tigers 22 – 20.

The Sharks put themselves in a winning position in the second half and had established a 18 – 10 lead but with winning being a rare occurrence out at Remondis this year, they were unable to shut out the West Tigers who sealed the game with two quick tries in the 57th and 62nd minute.

It continued a frustrating run of narrow losses at home for the Sharks who in there previous games a home; have lost to Sydney and Penrith by 6 and 4 points respectively.

They’re edging closer to a win but a raft of required changes for this game and coming up against a strong Rabbitohs side (on paper at least), the Sharks will head into this game as long-shots.

Todd Carney, Anthony Topou and Beau Ryan are out with injuries. Paul Gallen and Luke Lewis are in camp with the Blues for Origin with the good news for the Sharks being the return of former Tiger’s pair Blake Ayshford and Chris Heighington.

HEAD TO HEAD
These two sides have established a win-loss sequence in six games over the past three seasons with the victorious team on each occasion being the home-side.

However Souths should be able to break the pattern here with a good win. They need to bounce back immediately and get their season going again as there will not be too many chances to do so on the other side of the Origin series.

They’ll have too many guns up front for the Sharks and whilst their backline misses their biggest weapon in Greg Inglis, there should still be plenty of ammunition to account for the Sharks.

The Sharks are at there best when playing at home but with several key players missing their best effort should be accounted for.

Odds Comparison:

Cronulla Sharks	3.25	3.20	3.40	3.20	3.25	3.25
South Sydney Rabbitohs	1.36	1.36	1.33	1.36	1.36	1.36

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

Teams:

Sharks:
Michael Gordon, Sosaia Feki, Blake Ayshford, Ricky Leutele, Jonathan Wright, Daniel Holdsworth, Jeff Robson, Siosaia Vave, John Morris, Bryce Gibbs, Tinirau Arona, Wade Graham (c), Chris Heighington. Interchange: Isaac De Gois, Sam Tagataese, Tupou Sopoaga, David Fifita, Michael Lichaa

Rabbitohs:
Nathan Merritt, Alex Johnston, Dylan Walker, Kirisome Auva’a, Joel Reddy, John Sutton, Adam Reynolds, George Burgess, Apisai Koroisau, David Tyrrell, Kyle Turner, Ben Lowe, Sam Burgess. Interchange: Cameron McInnes, Bryson Goodwin, Jason Clark, Luke Burgess