Roosters vs Rabbitohs Match Thread

[Guest]

Zero Hour.


Roosters:
1 Anthony Minichiello
2 Daniel Tupou
3 Michael Jennings
4 Mitchell Aubusson
5 Shaun Kenny-Dowall
6 James Maloney
7 Mitchell Pearce
8 Jared Waerea-Hargreaves
9 Jake Friend
10 Sam Moa
11 Aidan Guerra
12 Sonny-Bill Williams
13 Frank-Paul Nuuausala

Interchange
14 Daniel Mortimer
16 Isaac Liu
17 Dylan Napa
20 Tinirau Arona

Coach: Trent Robinson



Rabbitohs:
1 Greg Inglis
2 Nathan Merritt
3 Bryson Goodwin
4 Dylan Walker
5 Dylan Farrell
6 John Sutton
7 Adam Reynolds
8 Luke Burgess
9 Issac Luke
10 Roy Asotasi
11 Chris McQueen
12 Ben Te'o
13 Sam Burgess


Interchange
14 Luke Keary
15 Jeff Lima
16 George Burgess
17 Tom Burgess
18 Jason Clark
19 Matt King

Coach: Michael Maguire


Winner takes all. For now.

[Guest]

Rabbitohs v Roosters
ANZ Stadium
Friday 7.35pm

Even in their wildest dreams, the NRL couldn’t have imagined the 2013 minor premiership would come down to this. The Rabbitohs v Roosters. The oldest of rivals fighting it out in a winner-takes-all contest. A showdown 105 years in the making. And, perhaps, a grand final preview?

It has been a remarkable season for both South Sydney and the Roosters, who have both at times looked certainties to finish top of the Telstra Premiership ladder before some small lapses over the final weeks of the regular rounds.

For the Rabbitohs, the progress they made in 2012 and their painful exit from the finals series one game short of the grand final appears to have served them well. They shot out of the blocks, quickly overtaking fellow pace-setters Melbourne to establish a four-point lead over the rest of the competition as recently as Round 18.

Injuries then saw them fall away somewhat, allowing the Roosters to move into pole position and seemingly have the minor premiership wrapped up with three games remaining.

But with the Roosters falling to consecutive losses to Cronulla and the Gold Coast in Rounds 24 and 25, Souths reclaimed top spot – leaving us with the remarkable scenario we have in front of us now. Incredibly, until this year, these two clubs hadn’t enjoyed sitting first and second on the ladder since 1984!

This clash could prove to be even more significant than being simply a minor premiership shootout. With both sides having dropped off somewhat over the past month – Souths trailed struggling Wests Tigers 18-0 last week before fighting back – victory here could prove a much-needed confidence boost ahead of the finals.

And they will be well aware of what Melbourne and Manly have been up to the past few weeks with both making significant statements of intent. Rarely has it been so difficult to split the whole top four than it is this season.

As for Souths and the Roosters, the individual battles this Friday night promise to be worth the price of admission alone: Inglis v Minichiello, Merritt v Kenny-Dowall, Sutton v Maloney, Reynolds v Pearce and of course Sonny Bill Williams and co. against the might of the Burgess boys.

This will be one game not to miss.

The Rabbitohs have named the same side that beat Wests Tigers last week, while the Roosters have lost Roger Tuivasa-Sheck to an ankle injury with Shaun Kenny-Dowall moving to the wing and Mitchell Aubusson shifting into the centres. Aiden Guerra comes into the back row to cover for Aubusson with Tinirau Arona the new addition to the squad.

Souths will join the Roosters this week as the only two clubs to appear in 2000 club fixtures. So far they have recorded 1031 wins from 1999 games. They are also poised to record three consecutive wins over their rivals for the first time since 1988.

This is a huge game for the Roosters too – under the grand final format no side has ever lost their last three regular season fixtures and gone on to win the competition.

The last time these two clubs ranked first and second at the end of the regular season was 1937.

Watch Out Rabbitohs: South Sydney’s right-edge defence will need to be at its best this week because they will have plenty of traffic coming their way. The Roosters’ left side is the single most lethal attacking side of any team in the competition this season with 50 tries scored. Not surprisingly, the Roosters’ two top try-scorers patrol that left edge with Michael Jennings having crossed 17 times and Daniel Tupou 12 so far in 2013.

Watch Out Roosters: One of the hardest things about taking on South Sydney is just how hard it is to tackle them. With the likes of the Burgess boys bringing plenty of size and the sheer power of fullback Greg Inglis always a concern for defenders, they lead the league for tackle-breaks with 672, with five players producing 60 or more in 2013 – Inglis (92), George Burgess (82), Issac Luke (66), John Sutton (61) and Sam Burgess (60).

Plays To Watch: One of Adam Reynolds’ favourite plays is to put up a short cross-field bomb that lands right on the try line just to the right or left of the posts with his second-rowers coming in to leap for the ball. Souths scored twice against the Roosters with this play in Round 1 and have enjoyed plenty of success since as well. Watch too for the George Burgess hit-up and play-the-ball in the attacking zone. It is odds-on that brother Sam will receive the ball from the next play and try to barge his way over against the scattered defence.

As for the Roosters, SBW is a real danger man. He is renowned for his offload and will do so regularly but he can also throw a crisp cut-out ball and will often do so to his winger when the defence is least expecting it.

Key Match-Up: Adam Reynolds v Mitchell Pearce. The NSW State of Origin incumbent up against the challenger in Reynolds. Pearce has been superb for the Roosters this season but he will be well aware of the push from some quarters for Reynolds to take his spot in the blue jersey in 2014. And no doubt both will want to send some early reminders of what they are capable of. The composed ball-playing of Pearce against the deadly kicking game of Reynolds – it’s a match-up made in rugby league heaven.

Where It Will Be Won: There is so much size and aggression in these two packs and it stands to reason that whoever dominates the physical battle will gain a huge advantage. Souths boast an enormous pack with the four Burgess boys now together alongside the likes of Roy Asotasi, Jeff Lima, Chris McQueen and Ben Te’o. The Roosters are no slouches either with Williams, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Sam Moa and Frank-Paul Nuuausala all monsters in the middle.

The History: Played 206; Rabbitohs 108, Roosters 93, drawn 5. The Roosters have scored 200 points in only seven games against Souths at ANZ Stadium with five wins and two losses. Incredibly, only 33 points separates these two clubs from their 206 clashes with the Roosters scoring 3187 to 3154. In that scoring, only two tries separates them with the Roosters again leading 595 to 593. Souths have won 50 of the past 100 meetings, with two draws.

Match Officials: Referees – Matt Cecchin & Ashley Klein; Sideline Officials – Russell Turner & Nick Beashel; Video Referees – Steve Clark & Matt Rodwell.

Televised: Channel 9 – Live, 7.30pm.

The Way We See It: Both sides will come to play this Friday night – of that we have no doubt – but we must admit the Roosters’ losses over the past two weeks are of some concern. They certainly have the ability to bounce back but that won’t be easy against a Souths side finding its feet again and back to full strength after some tough times following Origin. It will be physical and we expect a tight one but we can see a more-confident Rabbitohs outfit taking it out at the death. Rabbitohs by six points.

[Guest]

[The Brain]

SBW will play

[Sydney_Roosters_4_Life]

Expect Maubs, Arona and Luke Burgess to be all ruled out

Jason Clark in for Burgess

Oldfield (last i heard) and Kennedy in for us.

[roostersrule2]

20-16 roosters

[Guest]

Man I'm so pumped up. My stomach is starting to churn. Go Easts! The boys can do this. Crush the vermin scum.

[Guest]

Man I'm so pumped up. My stomach is starting to churn. Go Easts! The boys can do this. Crush the vermin scum.

im with you TCB, i had the day off today and its been the slowest day of my life!

its only just gone past 4...

[Guest]

Feel the same. Was out most of the day with the mighty jersey on...copped quite a bit of flak with it.

Been a while since a game has meant so much to me.

[roosterproud]

im with you TCB, i had the day off today and its been the slowest day of my life!

its only just gone past 4...

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[Guest]

Im p!ssed we cant send a full strength team out there, it would have been epic.

lol@50uffs 32 WhyhasgodforsakenChooksatwrongtimeofseason 12

[Guest]

Fire up Kegs you madman!! I'm two hours behind you guys. I finish at 7pm your time. Will have to speed get home at 7.15 and leaves me 15 minutes to get comfortable. I have to try to work for the next 2.5 hours but I just can't concentrate. I've actually been losing sleep thinking about this game. Lets hope it lives up to expectations.

[bondi paul]

im with you TCB, i had the day off today and its been the slowest day of my life!

its only just gone past 4...

I've had unsettled sleep all week upon waking up at any time all I can think of is my team winning this game and the following ones. I was kid at the 68 scg battle for the minor premiership and the vermin won by a Eric Simms goal - I hav hated them ever since and the only time I use the word hate is when I mention the vermin

[Guest]

Just about to leave to go to the game.. GO THE ROOSTERS LETS TAKE THIS MINOR PREMIERSHIP STRAIGHT FROM THEIR HANDS. LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[Bansai Pipeline]

Im p!ssed we cant send a full strength team out there, it would have been epic.

I know what you mean.

Been looking forward to this all year, and we're hideously out manned.