Round 25: Roosters v Rabbitohs preview
The Tri-Colours take on the Myrtle and Greens in what shapes to be a glorious encounter between two top 8 sides.
Both outfits have won 7 of their last 9 games and racked up a fair swag of scores in the process, however it will be the Roosters coming into this clash with the better form, having won all of their last 7 games.
The Easterners have scored 272 points in their last 7 games, a Dave Brown-esque 38.9 points per game. Their stingy defence has conceded just over 12.5 points per game over the last 6 weeks. Their stunning form change has seen them rise from a mid-season slump down to 10th and up into 6th place where a pair of unlikely big wins could see them move into the top 4.
The Roosters back three of Daniel Tupou, Joseph Sua'ali'I and James Tedesco have scored 42 of the teams 108 tries this year. 17 of those tries coming in the last 7 games, but amazingly, the two back rowers of Nat Butcher and Angus Crichton have bagged 11 tries in the same period. The return of Luke Keary has seen the Roosters attack really fire on the edges of the ruck and every side they've played since his return have failed to combat it.
For the Bunnies, 5 of their last 6 games have been against top 8 sides, 4 of them against top 4 teams, where they scored 2 good wins against Melbourne and the Cowboys and had two narrow losses to Cronulla and Penrith. Those two losses are their only failures in 9 weeks and they can hardly be described as failures.
It's no surprise that the brilliant form of Souths coincides with the return from injury of Latrell Mitchell. He's been destroying sides of late and doing it comfortably. He's also scored 94 points in Souths last 9 games. Throw in Alex Johnston's amazing try scoring rate, where he has scored 14 tries in the same period and immediately you have a seemingly automatic 14 to 18 points on the board for Souths already.
Souths defence has been improved for the start and mid-season, but it still has moments of patchiness which they will need to sort out before taking on the attacking juggernaut of the Roosters side right now.
This will be the 13th time these two rivals have met in the last decade when both sides have been in the top half of the ladder at the same time. The Roosters have won 8 of those encounters, but Souths have won the last 3, 2 of which saw them put 50 plus on the Roosters.
Souths have won the last 4 games between these two sides. The last time they won 5 straight against the Roosters was between 1983 and 1986 when they won 6 in a row.
For the Roosters, Victor Radley is out due to a nasty concussion from last week and Daniel Tupou is out with a groin injury. Lindsay Collins is also out due to suspension. Matt Lodge will start in the front row, Sio Siua Taukeiaho will be at Lock and Paul Momirovski will be on the wing. Fletcher Baker and Terrell May move onto the bench.
Souths will be without Damien Cook and Campbell Graham, neither of which have been named in the 22 man squad. Jaxson Paulo moves into centre, Siliva Havili remains at hooker and Peter Mamouzelos replaces Kodi Nikorima on the bench.
Last meeting: Round 3 2022 - Rabbitohs 28 Roosters 16
Who to watch: Nat Butcher and Angus Crichton will be running at Cody Walker, Lachlan Ilias, Isaiah Tass and Jaxson Paulo - the latter two have had a few issues with defence from time to time in recent weeks, something the powerful Roosters edge attack will be trying to exploit.
Latrell Mitchell has been devastating since returning and he will be scheming a lot, especially towards the wing of Johnston, which he does well and has landed the Bunnies plenty of points in recent weeks.
The battle of the big men in the middle will also been tough and fascinating. Both sides are good at making yardage through the middle and out of their own half, making for a great game of footy!
The favourite: Roosters, but very slightly.
My tip: Roosters by 6.
