Monday has one NRL match with the last game for Round 11 is between Cronulla Sharks and South Sydney Rabbitohs with the opening kick to commence at 19:00 local time. The game is to be played at Remondis Stadium with the favourite for the match being South Sydney Rabbitohs. View our NRL live scores, odds and results for the game between Cronulla Sharks and South Sydney Rabbitohs.

Where and when : Remondis Stadium, Monday May 26, 19:00

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.

Previews :

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.

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

News : 

The age old debate that Queensland are too long in the tooth to extend their dynasty will only fire up their veterans, ex-Maroons flyer Willie Carne says.

And Carne believes NSW will feel the backlash most via the men most likely to cop the brunt of criticism – Justin Hodges and Brent Tate.

Hodges – 32 on Sunday – was picked for next week’s State of Origin opener in Brisbane armed with just a handful of NRL games after an eight-month recovery from achilles surgery.

He will be nursed through the camp to be primed for his 19th Origin on Wednesday night.

And Tate – already 32 – only declared his Origin availability in late April after surprisingly being named 18th man for the trans-Tasman Test.

Age has not wearied the pair – but critics might see things differently as they prepare to line up against Sydney Roosters duo Michael Jennings and Daniel Tupou.

Centre Jennings is six years younger than Hodges and has explosive speed off the mark that would worry even his wiley opposite number.

And the 195cm Tupou – a remarkable 10 years younger and 10cm taller than Tate – possesses an aerial threat unseen since Queensland’s code-hopping Israel Folau.

Yet ex-Maroons flyer Carne – who played 12 Origins in the early 1990s – believed Hodges and Carne’s potential weakness would be their greatest strength.

“I just think having a crack at them about their age will just fire them up even more,” Carne told AAP.

“And you can’t buy or train that experience.”

Carne said he had been amazed by Hodges’ return to form after witnessing former Broncos teammate Tony Currie suffer the same serious injury.

“He has surprised me how well he has come back. I remember Tony Currie suffered an achilles injury and I know how daunting it is to come back from,” he said.

“I don’t think you can question Justin Hodges’ selection.

“I think he is in the best form I have seen him in.

“And he doesn’t need to train like a whipper snapper any more.

“He knows what he is doing. Let him manage himself the way he wants – it seems to be working for him.”

On Tate, who has overcome three knee reconstructions, Carne added: “He’s another who amazes me.

“I can’t get over how fast he still is, considering what he has had to overcome – it’s a credit to him.”

Tate and Hodges are part of a whopping seven-strong contingent in the Queensland team who are 30 or older.

That group also happens to boast some of the world’s best players including skipper Cameron Smith, Billy Slater, Johnathan Thurston and Cooper Cronk.

The team’s average age is just over 28.

But Tate was left scratching his head over the critics’ fascination with age.

“I am mindful of the team moving forward. But some of those guys are the best players in the game,” he said.

“If they’re doing the job, I don’t see why there’s such a fuss made about it, to be honest.”