South Sydney coach Michael Maguire will wrestle with the makeup of his final lineup for Saturday night’s NRL elimination semi-final against Canberra until Friday.
Maguire on Thursday admitted he was still undecided over several elements in his team, which will be aiming to break a 25-year finals win drought.
Central to his concerns are how the backline will line up following the loss of centre Matt King to a broken arm, and whether hooker Issac Luke should be moved into the starting team.
Maguire is facing significant outside pressure to promote New Zealand international Luke from the interchange bench.
After starting at hooker in 16 of 18 games to start the year the 25-year-old was dropped to reserve grade for the Rabbitohs’ round 25 clash with Parramatta for on and off-field performance.
Luke returned to team, albeit on the bench, for their past two clashes.
But Maguire chose to stick with youngster Nathan Peats in the No.9 jersey when the side was picked on Tuesday.
When quizzed on whether Luke could force his way into the starting lineup for the ANZ Stadium clash, the ever-cagey Maguire said: “We’re making decisions for the team and what’s right for the team. That’s all in front of us, those decisions.”
Of equal concern will be who to match against Raiders strike weapon Blake Ferguson, who outlined his star potential with a two-try performance in last week’s victory over Cronulla.
Impressive rookie Andrew Everingham has been named at left centre, but on Thursday was practising on the right wing during a kicking drill with five-eighth John Sutton.
During that drill the versatile Chris McQueen, named on the bench where he has been used as a second-rower, was collecting bombs on the left flank.
Everingham, who has scored 15 tries in his debut year, played four games at centre during the middle of the year but was unable to deliver a four-pointer.
Another option would be to promote centre Shaune Corrigan, named on an extended bench, as a defensive option to limit Ferguson’s effectiveness.
Maguire acknowledged the need to blunt Canberra’s attack on the edges and said he would explore all options.
“They’ve got exciting players out wide and they’ve got a big forward pack,” Maguire said.
“… We’re always looking at our squad and I’m always (after) the right thing by the team.
“I talk to the senior players and we’re focused about making sure we get the best team out there on the park.
“I’m very lucky that I’ve got a very big squad and everybody’s very, very keen to get out there.
“We’re still making decisions and we’ll come up with our final 17 (on Friday).”
One move Maguire was quick to rule out was anything that involved taking Greg Inglis from fullback, where he has been a revelation this season.
Inglis is an experienced centre at club, State of Origin and international level, but won’t be shifted from the back.
“GI has played at fullback for us and that’s where he’s staying,” Maguire confirmed.
