Broncos V Rabbitohs Preview
NRL
http://nrl.com/News/Latest/tabid/10244/default.aspx?id=50721
Broncos v Rabbitohs
Suncorp Stadium
Friday (ANZAC Day) 7.30pm
LETS be honest
not many people will be tipping the winless South Sydney when they travel to Suncorp Stadium, a venue they havent won at since 1989, to take on the Broncos.
The form of both teams already points to an avalanche of tries for the home side and with Darren Lockyer returning to try to claim his Test jersey
well, it looks a long, long ANZAC night for the Bunnies.
The Broncos sit in second place on the NRL ladder despite falling to the Titans last weekend while the Rabbitohs are entrenched in last place with a big fat ducks egg of points.
And sadly they havent looked like breaking the drought, even though many backed them to do so over the past fortnight against the Sharks and Wests Tigers.
But the NRL is famous for throwing up an upset and with the bye coming in round eight, and with Karmichael Hunt and Corey Parker out, maybe the Broncos will lose some focus and open the door for the cardinal and myrtle.
Hunt is out with a knee injury, which moves Darius Boyd to fullback and brings Reece Robinson into the team on the wing.
Parker is also out with knee trouble but Lockyer returns at five-eighth, shifting David Stagg to the second row, Sam Thaiday to prop and Joel Clinton to the bench. Joel Moon has been added to a five-man bench.
South Sydney are boosted by the return of hooker Issac Luke, one player who can cause inroads in the Broncos defence, which pushes in-form George Ndaira to the bench.
Further changes include the return of veteran centre Nigel Vagana and the axing of half Jeremy Smith. Winger Sam Huihahua makes way for Vagana, with Germaine Paulson shifting from centre to wing, while Eddie Paea starts at halfback.
Prop Ben Lowe also makes way for brother Jaiman.
Watch out Broncos
The South Sydney pack might have been in poor form but the likes of Roy Asotasi, David Kidwell and Manase Manuokafoa have still helped build a dominant base in defence.
The Bunnies have reeled off 151 dominant tackles this season, to be second in the NRL compared to the Broncos 68 (15th). Plus, they have been stung by the recent criticism of legend John Sattler who called them the worst Souths side in a long time and questioned if theyll win any games at all. If the Rabbitohs pigs lift and dominate the Broncos forwards then at least Luke and Paea will have chances to create points.
The Broncos have, after all, missed considerably more tackles (220 v 191) than Souths this year, so anything is possible.
Watch out Rabbitohs
Darren Lockyer returns knowing full well his Test spot is being eyed off by Greg Bird and Braith Anasta. With just this game before the side is picked the South Sydney boys can expect a man on a mission. In his limited game time this season Lockyer has produced three line-break assists, a try assist and a try of his own but you get the feeling hes still looking for that one break-out performance. If Wayne Bennett starts him from the bench, like he has earlier this season, it will only drive Lockyer more to produce when he takes the field.
Where it will be won
Brisbane need only stick to their impressive game plans that have predominantly worked thus far this season to come out on top. But if Souths are to cause a boilover theyll need to be much more effective in attack.
The Rabbitohs have been pedestrian at best and have barely raised a query let alone a question of any opposition defence this season. They have posted just 76 points this year (12.7 a match) to be clearly the NRLs least effective attacking unit. Luke and Paea need to go back to the carefree days of their junior football and reproduce the magic seen on the dusty suburban Sydney grounds only this will have a chance of stirring victory over a structured Broncos unit. No-one expects them to win so why not throw caution to the wind and have some fun with ball in hand?
The History: Played 20; Broncos 16, Rabbitohs 3, drawn 1. Souths have only won once at Suncorp Stadium against Brisbane and that was way back in 1989! While the Rabbits have managed a win and a draw from the past five clashes, the history is firmly with the Broncos in this clash.
Conclusion: As much as people love an upset, or a Cinderella Story if you will
you just cant see the Bunnies notching up win number one here. Kudos to them if they get up but if you tip South Sydney here you are either a diehard fan or youre already playing for the wooden spoon in your tipping comp.
Match officials: Referee Jason Robinson; Sideline Officials Tony De Las Heras & Steve Carrall; Video ref Chris Ward.
Televised: Channel Nine Live 7.30pm; FoxSports Delayed 11.30pm.
* Statistics: NRL Stats.
