Round 25: Rabbitohs v Knights preview
2024 underachievers look to end on a high
There's no way around it, this season has been a failure for both South Sydney and Newcastle. Two sides who were expected at a minimum to make the finals and potentially a deep run once they got there have dished up performances that are leaving fans wondering where they go from here.
The Rabbitohs, despite a mini resurgence in the middle of the year where they won 6 of 7 games, have slipped back to the form that saw them anchored to the bottom of the table for the first 8 or so rounds, a slide that has them no longer a mathematical chance of making the top 8. They now have nothing but pride to play for, and Ben Hornby will be hoping that's does a better job of getting them up than whatever their motivations been the last 4 weeks.
The Knights are still in with an extremely slim shot at returning to the finals, however have no-one but themselves to blame for the way they bottled last week against Cronulla. Getting out to an 8-point lead early in the second half, Newcastle seemed intent on handing the Sharks possession until they made them pay, which they did with 5 minutes to go before kicking a field goal to steal it in golden point.
The equation for the Knights is simple, win and live to fight another day. A loss, coupled with a Dragons win on Sunday, would see them officially eliminated, licking their wounds with a 9-13 record and still two games to play.
It's been well documented how much the Knights have struggled in attack this year, but recently they've shown some signs of life. While they only scored 18 points against the Sharks, they looked dangerous whenever they were attacking the line, with the low number largely attributable to the 40% of possession they had in the second half, a number which only increases to 42 over the entire game.
As for Souths, it's been a season from hell, and with games against the Panthers and Roosters to conclude the run home, the players would be forgiven for counting down the days until mad Monday. Last start against the Tigers, they had what would've been a match winning try denied due to a forward pass, so it'll be interesting to see whether they come out firing ready to atone or if the heartbreak has drained the little air that was remaining in the balloon of their 2024 campaign.
Last meeting: Round 25 2023 - Knights 29 Rabbitohs 10
Who to watch: One of the few bright spots for Souths this year has been the emergence of Jye Gray as a genuine first grader. Gray has been the spearhead of the Rabbitohs attack ever since he started filling in at fullback for injured superstar Latrell Mitchell, and while the wins haven't been there, Gray has shown enough flashes to indicate he can contribute to winning Rugby League in the future. Last week, he put up the numbers of 18 runs for 167 metres, making a line break, 11 tackle breaks, an offload as well as scoring a try.
For the Knights, English recruit Kai Pearce-Paul has been a bit of a mixed bag this season. He started the year off strong, establishing himself as someone who belongs at this level and who could one day be a star, but the consistency just hasn't been there. Last week was perhaps an encapsulation of this; he broke through for his first try of the season while making a line break and 4 tackle breaks, but defensively he left a lot to be desired, making with 3 of his 33 tackles being ineffective and missing a further 5. His matchup against Rabbitohs star Keaon Koloamatangi on the weekend will be an intriguing one.
FAVOURITE: The Knights are 7 point favourites at the time of writing.
MY TIP: Both sides are coming off heartbreaking losses, but the Knights have more to play for and should get this one done if they can hold the ball. Knights by 12.
