Nathan Smith previews the Friday night match between the South Sydney Rabbitohs and Parramatta Eels. Here’s what we have to look forward to.
MATCHDAY NEWS
MATCHDAY SCHEDULE
Rabbitohs Vs Eels
Venue: Allianz Stadium, Sydney
Date: Friday 19th May, 8:00pm
MATCHDAY TEAM NEWS
South Sydney Rabbitohs: 1. Latrell Mitchell 2. Alex Johnston 3. Isaiah Tass 4. Campbell Graham 5. Taane Milne 6. Cody Walker 7. Lachlan Ilias 8. Tevita Tatola 9. Damien Cook 10. Hame Sele 11. Michael Chee Kam 12. Jacob Host 13. Cameron Murray 14. Blake Taaffe 15. Jai Arrow 16. Liam Knight 17. Daniel Suluka-Fifita 18. Ben Lovett 19. Richard Kennar 20. Peter Mamouzelos 21. Shaq Mitchell 22. Dean Hawkins
Parramatta Eels: 1. Clinton Gutherson 2. Maika Sivo 3. Viliami Penisini 4. Bailey Simonsson 5. Sean Russell 6. Dylan Brown 7. Mitchell Moses 8. Wiremu Greig 9. Josh Hodgson 10. Junior Paulo 11. Bryce Cartwright 12. Andrew Davey 13. J’maine Hopgood 14. Ofahiki Ogden 15. Brendan Hands 16. Ryan Matterson 17. Makahesi Makatoa 18. Jakob Arthur 19. Haze Dunster 20. Ky Rodwell 21. Daejarn Asi 22. Luca Moretti
Referee: Ashley Klein
Embed from Getty ImagesMATCHDAY PREVIEW
Two teams with vastly contrasting seasons meet this Friday night when the South Sydney Rabbitohs host the Parramatta Eels.
The Rabbitohs lead the NRL competition and look every chance of going close to winning their first premiership since 2014. They are on a hot run, with six straight wins, which includes putting away past bogey teams in the Panthers and Storm. Last week, they comfortably defeated a valiant Tigers team. It wasn’t their finest performance, but it didn’t need to be.
Meanwhile, the Eels have continued their struggle to put away close encounters. They are fighting to keep up with the top eight with seven losses. The team will be frustrated in that their losses have all been by less than ten points. Last week, they lost to the Raiders at home in a game that again, at times, seemed within their grasp.
The Rabbitohs will relish this encounter. History shows they have the wood on the Eels. In fact, across their past ten encounters, the Rabbitohs have won eight. One suggestion for this dominance is perhaps the fact that the Rabbitohs’ greatest strength, which is playing with width, is defensively the Eels’ biggest weakness. Over the past few years, the Eels’ outside backs have struggled to read and defend structured plays out wide, and no team sets them up better than the Rabbitohs. Expect Lachlan Ilias and Cody Walker to be orchestrating on either side of the field.
For the Eels to be in with a chance, two things will need to change. Their completions, which was again sitting under 70% when they faced the Raiders, has to be much higher. This is perhaps their biggest statistical failing in 2023. However, over the past two weeks, discipline has perhaps been a bigger contributor to their woes. With ten penalties conceded against the Raiders, and seven to the Titans the week before, they are gifting the opposition field position far too easily. The Eels were on the back of a few losses in the beginning of the year before reversing that trend against a premiership favourite in the Panthers, and will be looking at this as a similar opportunity.
LAST TEN MATCHES
Rabbitohs 8, Eels 2
MATCHDAY PREDICTION
Rabbitohs by 12
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