Saturday 8th September, AAMI Stadium
The second final sees Melbourne Storm who finished 2nd on the ladder, host the South Sydney Rabbitohs (3rd). The latter of the season has been a mixed one for the Storm. From round sixteen they lost five matches in a row but have been slowly rediscovering their best form over the past month registering hard earned victories over fellow finalists Brisbane and Cronulla before, at their most recent outing, scoring a comprehensive win over the West Tigers (26-6). Since 2003, the Storm have participated in the finals and with big game players Cooper Cronk, Cameron Smith and Billy Slater in their line-up, there are probably be the best equipped side for finals football. Finals experience isn’t as common to the Rabbitohs though, South Sydney is taking part in the finals for the first time since 2007. This is off the back of a stellar season for the boys from Redfern who have gone about their business under new coach Michael Maguire in good style having only lost consecutive matches twice this season. One of those occasions occurred recently in rounds 23 and 24 where the recorded losses to finalists, Sea Eagles (23-6) and Sharks (20-7).
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The Storm has not produced their best in recent weeks however have still found a way to secure victories. This is a sign of a good team and, with their extensive finals experience, expect that they’ll find an extra gear now it is required. The Rabbitohs have been good all year and the fact that they finished third overall in the competition wasn’t by luck. Their forwards, led by Sam Burgess and David Taylor have proven a handful for most sides and the Rabbitohs will be best suited utilising their advantage here before going wide to the likes of Inglis, Merritt and Everingham – the trio having scored 40 tries between them this season. Earlier this year in round 2 it was the Storm (24-10) and that continued their dominance over their opponents who have only beaten the Storm once (16-14 in Round 10, 2010) since 2006 however, this is the best the Bunnies have gone in a long time. It’ll be close. If Souths can handle finals footy and get the upper hand in the forwards they have the strike power to ask questions the Melbourne Storm defence but you know Melbourne will produce more often than not on the big stage.
MELBOURNE STORM 1-12 @ $2.85