Round 22 is set to kick off with a real taste of finals football as the 2nd placed South Sydney venture to Melbourne to take on the fourth placed Storm.
Melbourne put two losses and a difficult State of Origin period well and truly behind them last week by defeating Canberra at Canberra stadium – the first team to do so all year, by a massive 68-4.
The Storm were back to their ruthless best with six individual try-scorers, running in a combined tally of twelve tries.
The Storm returns to AAMI Park for their first home game in three weeks, a venue where they possess a strong winning record of 7-1-1.
South Sydney has been dealt two surprise losses in the past month, firstly to St. George in Golden Point time and last week, when taking on the North Queensland Cowboys in Townsville 30 – 12.
It was Souths heaviest loss of the season and as they head into this game, their third successive interstate trip, they’ll miss the strike power of Greg Inglis and playmaking capabilities of John Sutton who is out with a sprained ankle.
Add to the mix Melbourne’s impeccable head-to-head record over Souths having won nine of the past ten, including a 17 – 10 win back in round 6 of this year, and the Storm look hard to beat.
TIP: STORM 13+
Odds comparison by NRL Odds:
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| Melbourne Storm | 1.35 | 1.36 | 1.30 | 1.36 | 1.35 | 1.38 |
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South Sydney Rabbitohs
|
3.20 | 3.20 | 3.65 | 3.20 | 3.20 | 3.20 |
Teams:
Melbourne Storm:
Billy Slater, Sisa Waqa, Will Chambers, Maurice Blair, Mahe Fonua, Brett Finch, Cooper Cronk, Jesse Bromwich, Cameron Smith, Bryan Norrie, Kevin Proctor, Ryan Hoffman, Ryan Hinchcliffe. Interchange: Jason Ryles, Tohu Harris, Jordan McLean, Kenneath Bromwich, Slade Griffin
South Sydney Rabbitohs:
Nathan Merritt, Dylan Farrell, Bryson Goodwin, Dylan Walker, Matt King, Luke Keary, Adam Reynolds, Sam Burgess, Issac Luke, George Burgess, Chris McQueen, Ben Te’o, Ben Lowe. Interchange: Nathan Peats, Jeff Lima, Roy Asotasi, Thomas Burgess
