Date: Friday 17^th of June

Venue: ANZ stadium

Broadcast: Live and televised 7:30pm, Channel 9.

Last four encounters:

1. Rabbitohs 22, Eels 20 at Pirtek Stadium (2016)
2. Rabbitohs 14, Eels 12 at ANZ Stadium (2015)
3. Eels 29, Rabbitohs 16 at Pirtek Stadium (2015)
4. Rabbitohs 32, Eels 12 at Pirtek Stadium (2014)

Preview:

The Rabbitohs and Eels enter this Round 15 match up in very contrasting fashions. As underdogs, the Eels were able to grind down a seemingly out of sorts Gold Coast Titans. In contrast to the Eels, the Rabbitohs were widely expected to put an inexperienced Wests Tigers to the sword. However, the underdog again was the victor as the Tigers ended up scoring a fairly comfortable 30 points to 14 victory. Having lost that encounter, the Rabbitohs would be extremely motivated to score a victory against the Eels, but that won’t come easy given the fact the Eels are only missing one star through State of Origin duties whereas the Rabbitohs are missing arguably their two best players in Greg Inglis and Adam Reynolds. Whether the Rabbitohs can upset the Eels will be entirely up to the attitude each team brings into the game. Be sure to tune in, it should be an interesting encounter.

Value Bet:

This week’s value bet is for the Eels to score a victory against a weakened Rabbitohs outfit by 13 points or more at $3.50. The Eels have Semi Radradra at $5 as first try favourite and Bevan French at $11. The Rabbitohs have Aaron Gray at $8.50 and Alex Johnston at $12 as their first try favourites.

Interesting fact:

In contrast to the last month of football the Eels completed their sets fairly well (81%) in odd conditions up in Darwin last Saturday afternoon (not usually that hot in regular NRL games).

It will be a big week for:

This week shapes as being a big one for Eels hard hitting young gun lock Tepai Moeroa. Ever since the revelation Anthony Watmough would not be returning to the NRL paddock, there has been expectation on Tepai Moeroa as the man to step up. Whilst Watmough didn’t have the most impressive time at the Eels he is still a hard man to replace and Moeroa will have to work hard to continue to be perceived as the man most likely. Tepai is a fairly similar player to Watmough in his youth. He is a hard runner of the ball, can hit a hole, make a fair few tackles and hit very hard. In his short career at the Eels, Moeroa has produced a highlight reel of big hits and blockbusting runs. Whilst he hasn’t been the most impressive player in the Eels seventeen this season he has done his job and done it well, certainly well enough to hold the starting lock position all season. This match will see Tepai on a collision course with Rabbitohs superstar Sam Burgess. As we all know Sam Burgess is amongst the games elite players and almost any team would love to have him at their club. Burgess like Moeroa runs and hits hard. Although Burgess Is far more consistent at this stage in his career, consistency is a thing we all learn with age and practice and it will be no different for Moeroa. Without doubt, Moeroa will be seeing this Friday night as a personal challenge, and should attempt to one up Burgess in every facet of play. If Moeroa can outplay Burgess and the other Rabbitohs forwards it will go a long to ensuring the Eels claim the two competition points.

Danger man:

This week’s danger man is Tepai Moeroa’s opposite number and Rabbitohs superstar Sam Burgess. Burgess has had a fairly quiet year,  at least by his own high standards. Having suffered a few injury setbacks, has also been playing with a few niggling injuries throughout the year. Indeed people feared the worst when Burgess went down a few weeks back with an apparently serious neck complaint. However, the important thing is Burgess is fully recovered from that setback and expected to have no further neck related problems in the future. In the absence of both Greg Inglis and Adam Reynolds a lot of the responsibility to come up with the big play and lead the team around the park will fall on the shoulders of Sam Burgess. He is impressive just based on physical attributes only. However, when you factor in his ability to make the teammates around him lift, it just makes him that much more of a valuable commodity. If Burgess can stamp his authority on this encounter against the Eels, it would go a long way towards winning the game and the all-important two competition points.

South Sydney Rabbitohs (12^th coming into the round)

1. Alex Johnston
2. Dane Nielson
3. Kirisome Auva’a
4. Siosifa Talakai
5. Aaron Gray
6. Cody Walker
7. Luke Keary
8. Thomas Burgess
9. Cameron McInnes
10. David Tyrell
11. Paul Carter
12. Kyle Turner
13. Sam Burgess

14. Damien Cook
15. Jason Clark
16. Jack Gosiewski
17. Nathan Brown

Coach: Michael Maguire

Late mail: No rumoured or late changes expected for the Rabbitohs at this stage, Sam Burgess has looked to have overcome a shoulder knock and is expected to play.

Parramatta Eels (5^th coming into the round, pending 12 point deduction)

1. Michael Gordon
2. Semi Radradra
3. Clint Gutherson
4. Vai Toutai
5. Bevan French
6. Kenny Edwards
7. Corey Norman (C)
8. Daniel Alvaro
9. Issac De Gois
10. Danny Wicks
11. Manu Ma’u
12. Beau Scott
13. Tepai Moeroa

14. Kaysa Pritchard
15. Peni Terepo
16. David Gower
17. Rory O Brien

Coach: Brad Arthur

Late mail: Tim Mannah remains a slim chance to return come Friday night, if Mannah does return expect him to replace Rory Brien. Mannah may even be promoted to the starting line up if he does return earlier than expected.

Two key match ups:

Cody Walker vs Kenny Edwards:

The first key match up will feature a battle of the five eighths as the Eels Mr. Fix it Kenny Edwards squares off against Rabbitohs excitement machine Cody Walker. Edwards has been in very fine form for the Eels. Despite coming off the bench for most of the season he has put in a strong showing every time he has gotten on the paddock. Primarily a lock or second row forward, he has recently found himself thrust into the five eighth position following the season ending shoulder injury suffered by Eels star signing and captain Kieran Foran. Edwards isn’t really a natural five eighth, though last week he made a good impression with his first time playing the position at NRL level against the Titans in Darwin.

At the start of the season Edwards probably sat as the Eels 5^th choice five eighth, that’s if it was even considered at all. With the decimation of the halves depth through injuries, Edwards inclusion at five eighth means that a lot more of the creativity in attack is placed on the shoulders of Corey Norman. Norman has handled the pressure well, guiding the Eels to victory in their last couple of appearances against both the Titans and Knights (Foran injured for most of Knights game). In the big scheme of things, Edwards is very much the makeshift five eighth. Nonetheless, he will be better for the run last week and should be more comfortable in his role against the Rabbitohs.

Cody Walker’s debut season for the Rabbitohs has looked fairly good thus far. He has been  impressing in a number of positions including five eighth and fullback. Walker has the talent to play many positions in the backline, and the Rabbitohs benefit from this versatility. With no Greg Inglis or Adam Reynolds to take part in this Friday night, a lot of the pressure to create scoring opportunities will fall on the shoulders of young Rabbitohs halves Luke Keary and Cody Walker. The Rabbitohs seemed to be very much undermanned for this encounter but don’t let that fool you. Upsets can happen and if Cody Walker gets a chance to excite that’s just what we may see.

Paul Carter vs Manu Ma’u:

The second key match up is a battle of the back rowers as Rabbitohs utility forward Paul Carter squares off against Eels hard man Manu Ma’u. Paul Carter, once thought of as one of the NRL’s wasted talents due to off field misdemeanours, has been one of the shining lights in an otherwise dim season for the Rabbitohs. Once regarded as a super sub, he has really found a home in the back row at the Rabbitohs. He is probably best described as a hard working back rower who can play big minutes and make plenty of tackles per game. However, by no means is Carter a flashy player – but with players like Kyle Turner and Sam Burgess around him he doesn’t really need to be.

The last time these two teams met the Rabbitohs came away with the victory by the narrowest of margins and some of that may be attributed to Carter’s performance on the night. During that encounter, Carter was close to best on field. He was good in attack and extremely physical in defence, even coping some flack from media outlets for being excessively rough. However, one can’t really be too rough when playing Rugby League – it is a very rough and tough contact sport. People get hit hard and people sometimes get hurt. The Rabbitohs will be hoping Carter is at his physical best when his team prepares to take on a very determined Eels outfit.

Eels back rower and attack juggernaut Manu Ma’u has been one of Parramatta’s very best this season. He has been strong in defence and devastating in attack. Ma’u’s efforts even earned him a start in the New Zealand team for the Anzac Test earlier this season and he is only getting better as the season progresses. With injuries to star players throughout the season, the Eels have been very much under the pump but they have always been able to count on Ma’u to put in a strong performance. Over the past couple of years in the NRL Ma’u has warranted the reputation of being one of the game’s hardest runners, but recently he has added another facet to his game by perfecting his ability to offload the ball. His combination with Michael Jennings and Corey Norman has been a real big reason the Eels have been doing so well this season (in terms of games won). Come Friday night the Eels will be hoping Ma’u can do more of the same.

My Tip:

My tip for this one revolves around the seventeen man squads each team has named. Given that I think we’d all have to agree that with the Rabbitohs missing both Adam Reynolds and Greg Inglis, the Eels chances of defeating the Rabbitohs Are greatly increased. The Eels are only missing Michael Jennings from last week, replaced by Vai Toutai, a man who has played a fair few games for the Eels over the past few years at both centre and wing.

I’m going to have to go with a comfortable Eels victory – Eels 28, Rabbitohs 14.

Man of the match: Manu Ma’u/Corey Norman

Enjoy the game, GO THE EELS !!!

Nathan

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