Check out the match preview and prediction for the round 23 clash between the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Melbourne Storm.
MATCHDAY NEWS
MATCHDAY SCHEDULE
South Sydney Rabbitohs Vs Melbourne Storm
Venue: Accor Stadium, Sydney
Date: Thursday 8 August, 7:50pm AEST
MATCHDAY TEAM NEWS
Rabbitohs: 1. Jye Gray, 2. Fletcher Myers, 3. Taane Milne, 4. Richard Kennar, 5. Jacob Gagai, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. Cody Walker, 8. Davvy Moale, 9. Damien Cook, 10. Sean Keppie, 11. Cameron Murray, 12. Michael Chee Kam, 13. Keaon Koloamatangi, 14. Peter Mamouzelos, 15. Tallis Duncan, 16. Thomas Burgess, 17. Shaquai Mitchell, 18. Dean Hawkins, 19. Liam Le Blanc, 20. Brock Gray, 21. Izaac Tu’itupou Thompson, 22. Leon Te Hau
Storm: 1. Ryan Papenhuyzen, 2. William Warbrick, 3. Jack Howarth, 4. Nick Meaney, 5. Grant Anderson, 6. Cameron Munster, 7. Jahrome Hughes, 8. Tui Kamikamica, 9. Harry Grant, 10. Josh King, 11. Shawn Blore, 12. Trent Loiero, 13. Nelson Asofa-Solomona, 14. Tyran Wishart, 15. Lazarus Vaalepu, 16. Chris Lewis, 17. Alec MacDonald, 18. Kane Bradley, 19. Sualauvi Faalogo, 20. Tepai Moeroa, 21. Dean Ieremia, 22. Tristan Powell
Referee: Todd Smith
Embed from Getty ImagesMATCHDAY PREVIEW
Round 23 kicks off on Thursday night when the Rabbitohs host the competition leading Storm at Accor Stadium. With the Rabbitohs’ finals hopes all but gone, they’ve got nothing to lose, which makes this a danger game for the travelling Storm.
For the Rabbitohs, they welcome back Cody Walker in the halves after he missed last week with a calf injury. Michael Chee Kam returns in the back row in place of Jacob Host. On the bench, Shaquai Mitchell and Peter Mamouzelos return in place of Siliva Havili and Deon Teaupa.
The absence of Walker from the Rabbitohs’ attack was noticeable last week, with the Sharks keeping them to just six points. His creativity will be much needed if they’re to improve on that effort against the Storm, who boast the fourth-best defensive record in the competition. Nevertheless, the Storm have shown they’re vulnerable if teams can stick with them for the full 80 minutes, like the Dragons last week. In order for the Rabbitohs to get the upset, they’ll need to throw caution to the wind with some unpredictability and try keep the pressure on the Storm. They’ve got nothing to lose, but whether they can play that way on the day remains to be seen.
For the Storm, Tui Kamikamica returns in the front row, with Nelson Asofa-Solomona moving into the back row to cover the loss of Eliesa Katoa, who’s out with a knee injury. Chris Lewis replaces Tepai Moeroa on the bench.
After the Storm were beaten 18-16 at home by the Dragons last week, there’s no doubt Craig Bellamy will want a strong performance from his men this week. The loss may be the wake-up call the Storm needed, as they’re now only two points clear of Penrith in the race for the minor premiership. With Walker returning for the Rabbitohs, it sets up a great match-up with Jahrome Hughes, who’s in career-best form and one of the front runners for the Dally M. Couple that with Harry Grant finding peak form (two tries last week) and Cameron Munster returning well from injury, and the Storm are well poised to continue their recent head-to-head dominance over the Rabbitohs. They’ve won nine of the past 11 games played between the two sides.
Head-to-head stats can be found at Number Crunch Stats.
MATCHDAY PREDICTION
Check out all the NRL Predictions here.
Storm by 12 points.
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