Rabbitohs v Raiders preview

South Sydney Rabbitohs v Canberra Raiders
Barlow Park - Sunday 4:00pm

Can the Rabbitohs recover from back to back losses or will the Raiders get the points up in Cairns.

Following the long-term knee injury sustained to halfback Adam Reynolds, South Sydney have gone down in consecutive matches for the first time since mid-2014. Returning to Cairns following wins over the Titans (30-24) and Knights (50-10) in previous years, the Rabbitohs will be looking to continue their strong form at Barlow Park with a win over Canberra. Despite going down to the Sharks in cyclonic conditions, coach Michael Maguire has retained the same squad, with in-demand hooker Cameron McInnes named at five-eighth, however, former captain John Sutton may be a last-minute inclusion.

Coming from 22-0 behind after 25 minutes, Canberra produced their biggest ever comeback against the Tigers at Leichardt Oval in Dane Tilse's farewell game. With the 200 game veteran leaving for Hull KR, New South Wales hopeful Paul Vaughan will start in the front row, while Mark Nicholls comes back into the squad replacing Luke Bateman on the bench. Country Origin hopeful Shaun Fensom will also make his return at lock after missing last week with a knee injury. If the Raiders are to pull off an unlikely win, they will need to overcome a poor record, winning once in their past seven clashes against the Rabbitohs.

Last meeting: Round 20 2014 - Canberra Raiders 18 South Sydney Rabbitohs 34

Who to watch: He has only played 25 games in first grade, but in a short space of time Alex Johnston has scored 27 tries. With Greg Inglis likely to spend time in the halves alongside Luke Keary, Johnston will spend periods of the game in his preferred position of fullback which should see the Raiders on notice considering the threat he poses for opposition defences. Having been included in the Australian Four Nations squad at the end of last year, Johnston will be looking to earn his first cap for the Kangaroos with an impressive display against the Raiders.

Having spent the past six seasons with St. Helens in the English Super League, few expected much from Iosia Soliola in his return to the NRL. Running for 100 metres alongside over 35 tackles a game, the former Rooster has been impressive in the Canberra second row, so much so that the New Zealand and Samoan representative has been considered for a recall to the Kiwi's side for the first time since 2009. If the Raiders are to pull off an unlikely victory, expect Soliola to play a big part with his bruising defence.

The favourite: While the Raiders will be riding high after last week's come from behind win, the Rabbitohs are expected to prove too much for the Green Machine.

My tip: In much dryer conditions, the Rabbitohs will bounce back from last week's loss to the Sharks with a solid win. Rabbitohs by 14.

1. Greg Inglis 2. Alex Johnston 3. Dylan Walker 4. Bryson Goodwin 5. Joel Reddy 6. Cameron McInnes 7. Luke Keary 8. George Burgess 9. Issac Luke 10. David Tyrrell 11. Glenn Stewart 12. Chris McQueen 13. Jason Clark
Interchange: 14. Chris Grevsmuhl 15. Nathan Brown 16. Tim Grant 17. Thomas Burgess

1. Jack Wighton 2. Edrick Lee 3. Jarrod Croker 4. Sisa Waqa 5. Jordan Rapana 6. Blake Austin 7. Sam Williams 8. Paul Vaughan 9. Josh Hodgson 10. Frank Paul Nuuausala 11. Josh Papalii 12. Iosia Soliola 13. Shaun Fensom
Interchange: 14. Kurt Baptiste 15. Jarrad Kennedy 16. Mark Nicholls 17. Shannon Boyd 18. Kyle O'Donnell 19. Jeremy Hawkins

Referees: Adam Devcich, Alan Shortall; Sideline Officials: Ricky MacFarlane, Belinda Sleeman; Video Referees: Bernard Sutton, Ben Galea;

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