Friday’s first NRL Round 19 match is between Parramatta Eels and South Sydney Rabbitohs with the opening kick to commence at 19:45 local time. The game is to be played at Pirtek Stadium which see’s away team South Sydney Rabbitohs hold favouritism in the market. View our NRL live scores, odds and results for the game between Parramatta Eels and South Sydney Rabbitohs.
Where and when: 19:45 | Friday 18/07/2014 @ Pirtek Stadium
Preview:
For the second time in their past three matches, the Eels defence – or lack there of it – conceded more then forty points when crushed by an in-form Warriors last week, 48 – 0.
It was the Eels third loss in a row and combined, those matches have seen Parramatta defeated 110 – 30.
The Eels refused to blame the poor result on the absence of Origin star Jarryd Hayne and rightly so, as he wouldn’t have been able to hold off the waves of Warriors’ attack.
Thankfully for the Eels, they return to Pirtek Stadium for this match were they’ve only tasted defeat once in seven matches this year.
A win here would see the Eels hold their position amongst several times hovering around eighth position and give them good momentum heading into next month where in three consecutive weeks they face the Titans, Sharks and Raiders – all teams sitting below them on the table.
After a several poor showings this month, it’s looming as D-day for the Eels here and with a stronger line up that includes Hayne at fullback, Sandown at halfback and Kenny Edwards returning to the forward pack, they’ll have no excuses for not producing a strong showing.
RABBITOHS
The effort form the Rabbitohs in round 17, when defeated by a struggling and undermanned Gold Coast Titans outfit 14 – 10, is still hard to fathom.
It was the second loss in a row for the Rabbitohs after being beaten by the Cowboys in Townsville 20 – 18 and last week’s bye should serve as the perfect opportunity for the Rabbitohs to put those efforts behind them and start again.
They’re a much better team than what we’ve seen of them recently and the return of Greg Inglis to fullback and John Sutton to the halves, sees the Rabbitohs name a strong side.
Putting the last two matches aside, the Rabbitohs were rolling along nicely and had registered an average of 28.25 points per game in the month prior.
With the full-line up, an impeccable record over the Eels and the bye to get over the unexpected Titans loss, the Rabbitohs should bounce back here.
HEAD TO HEAD
The last time the Eels defeated the Rabbitohs was back in 2010 – seven games ago now.
Since then, the Rabbitohs have averaged a staggering 34 points per game and won the last five encounters all by 13+, with the average winning margin coming in at a whopping 26.8 points.
The Eels are obviously a better team in 2014 that at any point in those games but have been struggling of late whilst the Rabbitohs will be keen to re-affirm themselves as genuine premiership contenders with a strong display here.
Teams:
EELS: Jarryd Hayne, Semi Radradra, Ryan Morgan, Willie Tonga, Vai Toutai, Corey Norman, Chris Sandow, Junior Paulo, Isaac De Gois, Fuifui Moimoi, Ken Edwards, Tepai Moeroa, David Gower. Interchange: Joseph Paulo, Peni Terepo, Pauli Pauli, Mitchell Allgood, Ben Smith.
RABBITOHS : Greg Inglis, Alex Johnston, Dylan Walker, Kirisome Auva’a, Lote Tuqiri, John Sutton (c), Adam Reynolds, George Burgess, Issac Luke, Dave Tyrrell, Kyle Turner, Sam Burgess, Ben Lowe. Interchange: Luke Keary, Joe Picker, Jason Clark, Thomas Burgess, Joel Reddy, Luke Burgess, Apisai Koroisau.
News:
Parramatta coach Brad Arthur will again rest Jarryd Hayne from an Eels post-State of Origin fixture with Chris Sandow named to start at fullback in Saturday’s round 18 clash with the Warriors in Auckland.
The Eels put in one of their most disappointing performances of the year when Hayne was rested for the round 12 loss to Penrith two days after NSW’s epic win in Origin I, with Justin and Ken Sio alternating at te back.
Sandow then earned man-of-the-match honours in Parramatta’s upset victory over Canterbury in round 14 when he surprisingly moved into the Eels No.1 jersey with Hayne absent prior to Origin II.
Hayne played in the round 15 loss to Melbourne on the Sunday after NSW’s Origin II victory, but with an onerous trip to New Zealand on the cards Arthur appears to have erred on the side of caution as they fight for a finals berth.
Centre Willie Tonga will captain the Eels with Hayne’s co-captain Tim Mannah sidelined with injury. Darcy Lussick takes his place in the starting side with Fuifui Moimoi added to the bench,
Cooper Cronk has not been named for Melbourne’s match on Saturday at home against Canterbury.
He is however expected to slot in at the expense of Ben Roberts if he gets through Wednesday night’s Suncorp Stadium Game III following his return from an arm injury suffered in the series opener.
The Dogs have named their Blues trio – Josh Morris, Trent Hodkinson and Josh Reynolds.
Daly Cherry-Evans has been named for Manly’s Friday night encounter with Wests Tigers at Brookvale Oval, despite the Sea Eagles indicating they are set to rest the Queensland playmaker over the coming weeks due to his hectic playing schedule and an ongoing knee complaint.
Jorge Taufua has been named by Manly to make his return from an ankle injury but is no certainty to play.
“We will make a decision probably on Thursday,” Taufua said.
“It is a 50/50 thing. I’m just doing my best to get through my rehab and physio and get out there.”
Clinton Gutherson will likely take Taufua’s place if he is ruled out with David Williams continuing to be out of favour.
The Tigers welcome back NSW duo Robbie Farah and Aaron Woods who they have struggled badly without.
Canberra have named young gun Jeremy Hawkins to make his NRL debut on the wing for the trip to the Gold Coast on Sunday.
NSW’s Paul Gallen and Luke Lewis return for in-form Cronulla’s clash with Newcastle at home on Sunday.
Tyrone Peachey has been named to replace injured Penrith playmaker Peter Wallace (ankle) for Monday’s night’s match against Brisbane.
Andrew McCullough is back at hooker for the Broncos.
Sydney Roosters, North Queensland, South Sydney and St George Illawarra have the bye.