Saturday has three NRL matches with the third game for Round 21 is between Nth Queensland Cowboys and South Sydney Rabbitohs with the opening kick to commence at 7.30pm local time. The game is to be played at 1300SMILES Stadium with the favourite for the match being South Sydney Rabbitohs. View our NRL live scores, odds and results for the game between Nth Queensland Cowboys and South Sydney Rabbitohs.
WHERE AND WHEN: 1300SMILES Stadium, 7.30pm
[iframe_loader width=”690″ height=”300″ src=”https://sportsnews.com.au/nrl/match.php?id=1903″]
Opening odds comparison:
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| Nth Queensland Cowboys | 3.20 | 3.65 | 3.40 | 3.65 | 3.20 | 3.22 |
|
South Sydney Rabbitohs
|
1.35 | 1.28 | 1.33 | 1.28 | 1.35 | 1.36 |
Preview:
The North Queensland Cowboys take on the South Sydney Rabbitohs on Saturday night, 7.30pm at 1300SMILES Stadium. The Rabbitohs must win here to retain top position on the ladder, unless the Roosters suffer an unlikely defeat. The Cowboys will not be easy beats, however, and need to win here to have any chance of making the finals. Most of the money will be on the Rabbitohs though, who will not be happy unless they finish the regular season in top spot.
Teams:
Nth Queensland Cowboys:
Matthew Bowen, Kyle Feldt, Brent Tate, Kane Linnett, Antonio Winterstein, Johnathan Thurston (capt), Michael Morgan, Matthew Scott (capt), Ray Thompson, James Tamou, Gavin Cooper, Glenn Hall, Joel Riethmuller. Interchange: Scott Moore, Tariq Sims, Jason Taumalolo, Ashton Sims, Scott Bolton, Rory Kostjasyn (two to be omitted). 
South Sydney Rabbitohs:
Nathan Merritt, Dylan Farrell, Bryson Goodwin, Dylan Walker, Matt King, John Sutton (capt), Adam Reynolds, Sam Burgess, Issac Luke, George Burgess, Chris McQueen, Ben Te’o, Ben Lowe. Interchange: Luke Keary, Roy Asotasi, Jeff Lima, Thomas Burgess, Dave Tyrrell, Justin Hunt (two to be omitted).
Cowboys ready to “do it for Neil”
He may have lost the support of the North Queensland board but dumped coach Neil Henry has emerged as the players’ inspiration for a last ditch NRL finals push.
Cowboys forward Ashton Sims said rather than sulk after being told he would not be required in 2014, Henry asked players to finish the season with a bang.
They need to win their final six regular season games to keep their faint finals hopes alive but Sims said the Cowboys were ready to “do it for Neil”.
“Definitely. He has been a good servant for the club for years as assistant and head coach,” he said of Henry.
“But we also want to do it for ourselves.
“We haven’t played our best footy this year.
“There’s six games to go, 12 points on offer and we want to take all of them.”
Easier said than done – 13th-placed North Queensland (6-12) begin their unlikely finals push against ladder leaders South Sydney (15-3) in Townsville on Saturday night.
Throw in the distraction of Henry’s imminent departure and the sad passing of ex-mentor Graham Murray and the challenge appears more impossible than improbable.
But Sims said the Cowboys still had belief thanks to Henry’s calming influence.
“We are ready to put it all behind us. It has been pretty tough,” he said.
“Neil came in the other day and said `we want to finish on a high’.
“There is still a mathematical chance we can make the semis, that’s what we all believe.
“We are all optimistic about it.
“We want to get the full points from our final games and maybe scrape into eighth.”
Sims – named on an extended bench – hopes to mark his 200th NRL game since making his 2003 debut for the Dragons.
“It’s a bit surreal. I was just a surf punk kid from Gerringong on the NSW south coast – 200 games later here I am still scrapping away,” he said.
He hopes to come off the bench alongside little brother Tariq, setting up a colossal sibling rivalry with the Rabbitohs’ Burgess brothers George, Thomas and Luke.
“They are a bit bigger than us,” Sims laughed.
“They are always a handful but our pack is looking forward to it.”