Any lingering doubts about South Sydney being genuine title contenders this year will have been quashed in the past weeks with the Rabbitohs having posted solid wins against Manly and Brisbane – both on the road.
This year and in these most recent matches especially, they have displayed a focus and belief in themselves that in years gone by, had been lacking.
This week they return to ANZ Stadium for the first time in three weeks with a full roster of players and winning form.
Facing the struggling West Tigers and Cronulla Sharks in the next two rounds before meeting Newcastle in round 12, there’s a strong chance that at the halfway point of the competition, the Rabbitohs will still be sitting atop of the table.
The Cowboys, who are currently eighth on the ladder with a 4-4 record this year, had to dig deep last week to hold off Parramatta who were searching for only their third win of the season.
A try to Brent Tate with only ten minutes to play put the Cowboys in front and on the stroke of full-time, they were saved the T.M.O who disallowed a Parramatta try that in the least, would have tied up the game.
They still haven’t reached the standard they are capable of eight rounds into the comp and will not find it easy this week against arguably, the most in-form team of the competition.
Two and four points have separated the two sides in their most recent clashes (26-24 and 20-16) with South Sydney triumphant on both occasions.
Souths are going much better now then there were then and expect they’ll be too good here.
Odds Comparison:
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| South Sydney Rabbitohs | 1.32 | 1.30 | 1.30 | 1.30 | 1.32 | 1.33 |
|
Nth Queensland Cowboys
|
3.40 | 3.50 | 3.65 | 3.50 | 3.40 | 3.40 |
Teams:
South Sydney Rabbitohs:
Greg Inglis, Nathan Merritt, Beau Champion, Bryson Goodwin, Andrew Everingham, John Sutton, Adam Reynolds, Dave Tyrell, Issac Luke, Roy Asotasi, Chris McQueen, Ben Te’o, Sam Burgess
Interchange: Nathan Peats, Jason Clark, Ben Lowe, George Burgess, Jeff Lima, Justin Hunt (two to be omitted)
Nth Queensland Cowboys:
Matthew Bowen, Ashley Graham, Brent Tate, Kane Linnett, Antonio Winterstein, Johnathan Thurston (c), Michael Morgan, Matt Scott (c), Rory Kostjasyn, James Tamou, Tariq Sims, Gavin Cooper, Dallas Johnson
Interchange: Ray Thompson, Glenn Hall, Joel Riethmuller, Ashton Sims, Scott Bolton, Scott Moore
(two to be omitted)
