Saturday’s second NRL Round 16 match is between Nth Queensland Cowboys and South Sydney Rabbitohs with the opening kick to commence at 19:35 local time. The game is to be played at 1300 Smiles Stadium which see’s away team South Sydney Rabbitohs hold favouritism in the market. View our NRL live scores, odds and results for the game between Nth Queensland Cowboys and South Sydney Rabbitohs.

Where and when: 19:35 | Saturday 28/06/2014 @ 1300 Smiles Stadium

Preview:

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.

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.

News:

Fremantle midfielder David Mundy is adamant his unresolved contract status won’t grow into a distraction, saying he’ll weigh up football and family factors before making a final call on his AFL future.

Mundy is at the peak of his powers and will be in hot demand if he decides to test the market as a restricted free agent at the end of the season.

Family ties could persuade the 28-year-old Victorian to finish his career at a Melbourne-based club on a lucrative three or four-year deal.

AFL great Jason Dunstall said Mundy would be a perfect recruit for Richmond, who have endured a spectacular fall from grace since finishing fifth last year.

But Fremantle remain in the box seat to retain his services. Not only is the club in premiership mode, but Mundy’s wife is a West Australian.

However, complicating matters is the uncertainty surrounding Nat Fyfe’s new deal.

Fyfe has already declared he wants to stay at Fremantle, but the terms of his contract are yet to be nutted out.

Mundy is likely to wait until Fyfe’s deal is sorted before making a call on his own future.

“I’m fairly comfortable with where it’s at and I’m happy for my football to do the talking at the moment,” Mundy said on Tuesday.

“I know my management team are working hard behind the scenes for me. I’m confident in time a resolution will come.

“There’s lots of factors that go into the decision – football orientated and family orientated.

“All of that is being weighed up at the moment.”

Mundy, the No.19 pick from the 2003 national draft, will notch his 200-game milestone in Saturday’s western derby against West Coast.

The 192cm midfielder has built a reputation for being a big-game performer, tallying 28 possessions and seven clearances in last year’s grand final loss to Hawthorn.

Ruckman Aaron Sandilands said Mundy’s tireless work at the stoppages and classy ball use was a major weapon.

“Ninety-nine per cent of the time he gets to the right spot and makes my job look easy,” Sandilands told the Fremantle website.

“I love having him under my feet and hopefully he’s got quite a few more games left in him.”

The fourth-placed Dockers are riding high following five straight wins.

Utility Matt de Boer has recovered from a knee injury and is pushing for a recall, while Anthony Morabito is also in the selection mix following yet another classy WAFL display.