When Brisbane’s Justin Hodges scored late in last week’s win over North Queensland, it not only dashed the Cowboys hopes of making this year’s finals but it also finalised their coach Neil Henry’s, tenure at the club.

It was North Queensland’s third successive loss and their twelfth of the season, quite remarkably when you look at their playing roster which boasts several Origin and International players.

So this week, when they line up to take on South Sydney, they’ll be out to salvage a bit of pride and to impress whoever will be at the helm of the club in 2014.

The Rabbitohs, after a surprise loss to St. George in round 19, immediately returned to form with a comprehensive victory of the struggling Titans outfit on the Gold Coast last week (32 – 4)

This match sees them on the road again – next week they travel to Melbourne to take on the Storm – so it’ll be interesting to see how they back last week’s effort up and handle the travel.

It’s been fair starts only by the Bunnies in recent matches and they’ll be looking to address this aspect of their game as, against a potentially dangerous side with now nothing to lose, a similar start may see them playing catch-up.

That seems to be the only concern here though as the Rabbitohs hold a 4 – 0 record of the Cowboys in recent times, including a solid 28 – 10 victory back in round 9 of this year.

With their sigjhts firmly set on the Minor Premiership, Souths will not take this game lightly and prove too strong.

TIP: SOUTH SYDNEY 1 – 12

Odds comparison by NRL Odds:

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

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).

Referees: Adam Devcich, Luke Phillips.