The only man to go close to shutting down Greg Inglis in the past month admits Canterbury face a tough ask doing likewise on Saturday night.
Inglis has emerged as the hottest player in the NRL since being switched to fullback for South Sydney – the representative star a key reason the Rabbitohs will be shooting for a fifth straight win against the Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium.
The only match Inglis hasn’t dominated in recent times was State of Origin I – when NSW and Bulldogs centre Josh Morris did a tremendous job to keep him in check.
But that was with Inglis shifted back to the centres with Billy Slater Queensland’s first-choice No.1 – and Morris concedes keeping him quiet from fullback poses far more questions.
“Bringing it back in broken play, that’s where he’s at his best,” Morris said.
“Coming back from fullback, if he can get the ball on the full and bring it back with a head of steam, he’s a hard man to stop.”
Morris laughed off claims he had the secret limiting Inglis, whose only telling impact in Origin I was his controversial try late in the contest.
“You’ve got to try and shut down his time – you don’t want him to get a wind up and get that long fend out,” Morris said.
“The less time he has the ball in his hands, the better for us.”
With the Rabbitohs on a roll and the Bulldogs having won three of their past four, Saturday night’s clash shapes as a test of both side’s finals credentials.
The Rabbitohs are in fourth spot on 16 competition points, with the Bulldogs two points behind and still looking to make a statement against a high-ranking opponent.
“We’ve spoken about that. We had the losses to the Storm and Manly – they were sitting above us,” Morris said.
“We’ve got to start winning those games – come September, they’re the games that you need to win.”