Dragons v Rabbitohs preview

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Historic rivals with very different form lines do battle at storied ground.

On face value, this is an easy one to pick. South Sydney come into this game in red-hot form and by all accounts look set to reclaim first place on the NRL table, while the Dragons look destined to fall from bad to worse. With injury clouds over several of the Red V backline, the nominal home side for this game will do it tough.

That all said - it's worth looking at the Rabbitohs opponents so far - neither of whom have provided any real resistance or challenge, nor look like doing so in general this season. Have South Sydney fooled everyone into believing in their title credentials with two big wins over soft opposition - or are they indeed the real deal? The next fortnight will go a long way to deciding that with this clash with St George Illawarra and next Friday's showdown with Canterbury. Both sides have been predicted to feature in finals football whereas their past two opponents aren't expected to grace September with their presence.

The Dragons though - they are reeling. No tries to speak of against local rivals Cronulla last Sunday and while they certainly pushed the Storm all the way in Round 1, it's hard to see them digging into their backline depth to seriously challenge the in-form Bunnies. The issues around Kurt Mann and Josh Dugan and their respective injury concerns will have hampered preparations for this important fixture which celebrates the 11th consecutive Grand Final win by the St George side some 50 years ago.

Last meeting: Round 19 2015 - Dragons 8 Rabbitohs 24

Who to watch: The Dragons need their halves to fire. Provided Widdop and Marshall take the field (there are rumours floating about that one of them may be missing come game time), the Red V's six and seven need to increase their involvement which appeared non-existent in last week's loss to Cronulla. The result was an impotent backline and no four-pointers at all. They can't afford a repeat of that effort against Souths in this game.

Just two games back and already Sam Burgess is nearing his destructive best. With the Bunnies missing key personnel, Sam has stepped up and led the team with which he won the 2014 premiership and will no doubt be doing the same against the Dragons less-favoured forward pack. If Sammy B is on his game, the Bunnies are a lock.

The favourite: South Sydney are clear and comfortable favourites in this one.

My tip: In a round of close matches, this won't be any different. The Dragons will lift for this and put it to the Bunnies but ultimately the visitors will get home for mine. Rabbitohs by 2.

1. Josh Dugan 2. Peter Mata'utia 3. Euan Aitken 4. Timoteo Lafai 5. Jason Nightingale 6. Gareth Widdop 19. Josh McCrone 8. Leeson Ah Mau 9. Mitch Rein 10. Russell Packer 11. Tyson Frizell 12. Joel Thompson 15. Jack de Belin
Interchange: 14. Ben Creagh 13. Michael Cooper 16. Will Matthews 17. Siliva Havili

1. Greg Inglis 2. Alex Johnston 3. Bryson Goodwin 4. Hymel Hunt 5. Aaron Gray 6. Cody Walker 7. Luke Keary 8. George Burgess 9. Cameron McInnes 10. David Tyrrell 11. Paul Carter 12. Kyle Turner 13. Sam Burgess
Interchange: 14. Damien Cook 15. Jason Clark 16. Nathan Brown 17. Kirisome Auva'a

Referees: Jared Maxwell, Adam Gee; Sideline Officials: Brett Suttor, Michael Wise; Video Referees: Bryan Norrie, Jason Robinson, Bernard Sutton;