Round 13: Rabbitohs v Sharks preview
For the second week in a row we have a battle between the NRL third and fourth placed team and this week it sees the South Sydney Rabbitohs who moved into third last week take on the Cronulla Sharks who themselves are on a six-match winning streak.
The South Sydney Rabbitohs have rocketed their way up into third place following four straight victories including two victories against fellow top four opponents including last week's big win over the Warriors. The Rabbitohs were at their best last weekend against an under-manned Warriors side when they ran out 30-10 victors in Auckland. The Rabbitohs in their winning streak have beaten both the second placed Dragons and the then third placed Warriors side.
The Rabbitohs have look impressive in their victory and although they did get lucky in with the 80th minute penalty in their clash a fortnight ago in Townsville against the Cowboys, they have stamped their credentials as a premiership chance. The Rabbitohs have been one of the hardest hit teams through origin selection with Damien Cook & Angus Crichton selected for NSW as well as Dane Gagai and Greg Inglis who are in the QLD side.
The Cronulla Sharks last tasted defeat in round 6 when they fell to a 40-20 defeat against the Dragons, subsequently the Sharks have won 6 straight games beginning with a victory over the Panthers. There are some questions on the form out of the Sharks victories with their past five victories all coming against teams outside the top 8 including their 48-10 win over the Knights last weekend.
The Sharks will be advantaged with a light hit from origin selection with Valentine Holmes being the only player being called up to play in Origin 1 for QLD. They welcome back strong regular Sosaia Feki into the side as well as Andrew Fifita returning to the side following a one week break resting a knee injury.
Last meeting: Round 20 2017 - Sharks 26 Rabbitohs 12
The Sharks have won five of their past six clashes against the Rabbitohs including the infamous Sharknado clash in 2015 at Shark Park.
Who to watch: Robbie Farah - Returning to the NRL for the first time in 2018, Robbie Farah has been much maligned by Souths fans down to his poor form and the reluctance of former coach Michael Maguire to drop Farah. This season Farah has been in and out of the North Sydney side with Damien Cook cementing his spot in the side. This Friday will be the perfect opportunity for Farah to show that he has the quality that he showed in the Tigers side before joining Souths.
Matt Moylan - Matt Moylan was the star of the show for the Sharks in Newcastle last weekend with six try assists last weekend. The question over the performance is if Moylan can double up on his performance of last week which had been an issue during his time at the Panthers last season when he could show up against the lower placed teams but was missing in action against fellow top 8.
The favourite: The Sharks have been installed favourites for the clash which is understandable given their almost untouched line up compared to the Rabbitohs.
My tip: With full strength teams this game would be an absolute cracker, however it looks on paper to be a one-sided clash - given how depleted the Rabbitohs are this week. The Sharks were ultra-impressive last weekend against the Knights and with Andrew Fifita back into the side... Sharks by 12.
