Thursday’s NRL 2018 Round 25 match is between South Sydney Rabbitohs and Wests Tigers. The opening kick is set to commence at 19:50 local time with the game to be played at ANZ Stadium, Sydney. The home team South Sydney Rabbitohs are the favourites for the match.
View our preview and teams for the game between South Sydney Rabbitohs and Wests Tigers.
When: 19:50 | Thursday 30/08/2018
Where: ANZ Stadium, Sydney
Preview:
After giving up a healthy lead against the Raiders, the Rabbitohs will look to bounce back for some much-needed momentum into September after three straight losses.
It’s not that the bunnies have been all that bad, it’s just an all-round reality check for them to get back to what was working.
One week from the finals and up against a bottom eight side, this should be a walk in the park for them.
The Tigers however, don’t have anything to lose and could throw caution to the wind.
For Souths to be real contenders again, they need to get their basics right.
This is an area that has let them down.
Whether it’s in defence or attack, they need to go back to the simplistic things that’s so effective and they’l look for the skipper to really stand up in this one.
KEY BATTLE: Damien Cook v Robbie Farah
The battle of Cook and Farah, who not long ago were teammates, should be an intriguing one.
The Verdict
Souths to get back into the winner’s circle.
The Rabbitohs lead the Tigers 10-7 since 2010.
Unibet Odds:
South Sydney Rabbitohs at $1.40
Wests Tigers at $3.00
Odds:
Tip: South Sydney Rabbitohs at $1.35
Value Tip: First Try Scorer: Greg Inglis at $14.00
More Info:
Teams:
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. Thomas 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 Burnsr 19. Tyrell Fuimaono 20. Tevita Tatola 21. Matt McIlwrick
Wests Tigers: 
1. Moses Mbye 2. David Nofoaluma 3. Esan Marsters 4. Mahe Fonua 5. Kevin Naiqama 6. Benji Marshall (c) 7. Luke Brooks 8. Matt Eisenhuth 9. Robbie Farah 10. Ben Matulino 11. Chris Lawrence 12. Michael Chee Kam 13. Elijah Taylor
Interchange 14. Alex Twal 15. Sauaso Sue 16. Robbie Rochow 17. Josh Aloiai
Reserves: 18. Jacob Liddle 19. Luke Garner 20. Tyson Gamble 21. Malakai Watene-Zelezniak
NRL News:
South Sydney coach Anthony Seibold admits his side have been thrown off balance by their recent backline injury crisis.
But with prolific try-scoring winger Robert Jennings fit for Thursday’s NRL final-round clash with the Wests Tigers, the Rabbitohs are back to full strength.
Souths have lost three straight, however, will have all of their top 13 available when Jennings returns from a hamstring injury.
With the side in dire need of momentum heading into the finals, Jennings’ return is timely.
Greg Inglis, Alex Johnston and Campbell Graham have all missed game time over the past month and it appeared to extract a toll
Seibold was refusing to hit the panic button after consecutive losses to the Sydney Roosters, Brisbane and Canberra but said their injury woes had thrown out their combinations.
“One thing that happens when you lose some of your edge players is you lose that cohesion and that connection across the group,” he said.
“Especially defensively but also from an attacking point of view.
“We’ve had some good combination there on both edges and we’ve missed those guys who have played the bulk of the season for us but it’s a good experience for the younger guys like Braidon Burns and Tyrell Fuimano and Hymel Hunt.”
The Rabbitohs can jump into second and earn a home final with a win over the Tigers – although they would require the Roosters to lose at Parramatta and turn around a for-and-against differential.
Standing in front of Souths are the out of finals contention Tigers who have made a habit of knocking over more fancied sides this year.
Despite missing the top eight, they’ve claimed the scalps of Melbourne, Roosters, St George Illawara, as well as the Rabbitohs just six weeks ago.
“They did a really good job against us, they slowed the game down both from a defensive points of view and they put the ball into touch a lot,” Seibold said.
“They played a lot of drop-offs on us, a lot of offloads; I think they call it chaos footy.”
