Friday’s NRL 2018 Finals Week 1 match is between Melbourne Storm and South Sydney Rabbitohs. The opening kick is set to commence at 19:50 local time with the game to be played at AAMI Park, Melbourne. The home team Melbourne Storm are the favourites for the match.
View our preview and teams for the game between Melbourne Storm and South Sydney Rabbitohs.
When: 19:50 | Friday 07/09/2018
Where: AAMI Park, Melbourne
Preview:
This is a great game to start the final series with two very different, yet affective teams.
Melbourne love to strangle you out of the contest whereas the Rabbitohs will look to outplay you.
They are excellent at combining size and speed.
I love the pace in which they play and then the likes of Damien Cook and company joining in makes them hard to beat.
For Melbourne, I feel they’re on the slide and I don’t say that disrespectfully, however their performances over the last month has them with only two wins over bottom eight sides.
One of those wins was a get out of jail card v the Titans.
One thing however, is they are the best through this time of year so they’ll be extremely hard to beat.
The other factor to consider is the injuries they are carrying and September requires you to be fit and playing well.
Billy Slater will be a huge inclusion for them.
The challenge for the Storm will be stopping the flow and momentum off the Burgess boys.
If they can do this, they are a big chance.
I keep thinking back to the game in which Souths came from behind to run them down and feel they won’t be spooked at all.
KEY BATTLE: Storm leaders v Rabbitohs leaders
Look for the big name players to really battle it out, Greg Inglis and Sam Burgess will be leading that along with Billy Slater and Cameron Smith.
The Verdict
I’m tipping an upset and think the Bunnies will win.
The Rabbitohs have a 11-5-1 (67.6 percent) line record playing as an away team after travelling 251 to 750 kms since 2012.
Unibet Odds:
Melbourne Storm at $1.80
South Sydney Rabbitohs at $2.04
Odds:
Tip: Melbourne Storm at $1.80
Value Tip: First Try Scorer: Josh Addo-Carr at $9.00
More Info:
Teams:
Melbourne Storm:
1 Billy Slater, 2 Suliasi Vunivalu, 3 Cheyse Blair, 4 Curtis Scott, 5 Josh Addo-Carr, 6 Cameron Munster, 7 Jahrome Hughes, 8 Jesse Bromwich, 9 Cameron Smith, 10 Tim Glasby, 11 Felise Kaufusi, 12 Joe Stimson, 13 Dale Finucane
Intechange: 14 Brandon Smith, 15 Christian Welch, 16 Tui Kamikamica, 17 Kenny Bromwich
Reserves: 18. Ryan Hoffman 19. Brodie Croft 20. Sam Kasiano 21. Sandor Earl.
South Sydney Rabbitohs: 
1 Alex Johnston, 2 Campbell Graham, 3 Greg Inglis, 4 Dane Gagai, 5 Robert Jennings, 6 Cody Walker, 7 Adam Reynolds, 8 Tom Burgess, 9 Damien Cook, 10 George Burgess, 11 John Sutton, 12 Angus Crichton, 13 Sam Burgess
Interchange: 14 Hymel Hunt, 15 Cameron Murray, 16 Jason Clark, 17 Dean Britt
Reserves: 18. Braidon Burns 19. Tyrell Fuimaono 20. Tevita Tatola 21. Matt McIlwrick.
NRL News:
Suspended centre Will Chambers has been helping Melbourne youngster Curtis Scott prepare for Friday night’s NRL final by playing the role of Souths powerhouse skipper Greg Inglis in training.
Chambers will miss the qualification final at AAMI Park in the last match of a three-game ban but Scott said the Test centre had been doing all he could to ensure a Storm win.
“It probably helps a bit that Will is suspended so he can be GI (Inglis) at training,” said Scott, who will be shifted to the Storm’s right side to replace Chambers.
“He always helps me but this week I’ve been pulling him aside more than I usually do and have been saying, ‘Get that big fend up for us please mate so I can get used to it’.
“He’s really handy for all the outside backs in the side.”
The 20-year-old said he too had played the role of Inglis – in the backyard as a kid – and had always looked up to the NRL star who became a Storm great by playing 117 games between 2005-2010.
But he wouldn’t be digging out any footage of those matches before Friday night.
“I probably won’t be watching his highlight reel before the game that’s for sure,” Scott said.
“He’s done so much in the game and he’s someone I’ve looked up to as a young fella, trying to mimic him in the backyard.”
In their final round loss to Penrith the Storm missed the finishing prowess of athletic winger Suliasi Vunivalu, but the Fijian is back for the Rabbitohs after recovering from a hamstring issue.
Key men Billy Slater and Cameron Munster also return with Scott saying the team had put the disappointment of missing out on the minor premiership behind them.
“Everyone was a little bit down in the dumps looking at the review but once we got out of there we had to look at our next job and all the boys are past that now and are really excited for the finals,” he said.
