Rabbitohs v Panthers preview

South Sydney Rabbitohs v Penrith Panthers
ANZ Stadium - Sunday 4:00pm

Reigning Premiers quest for glory continues, Can the Panthers claw them down?

South Sydney's push for a top 4 berth continued in stylish fashion last week as they dismantled a woeful Newcastle Knights effort, to cruise to a 52-6 win at Homebush.

Souths are starting to find form at the right end of the season, with lynch pins Greg Inglis, Adam Reynolds and Isaac Luke all looking in ominous touch. Inglis in particular has been fantastic in the last fortnight crossing for no less than 4 tries and making sure the Souths faithful are on their feet every time he touches the ball.

Coach Michael McGuire knows how important keeping their momentum going will be and has also touched on their complacency playing a part in their loss earlier in the season to the Panthers . "Throughout the season we've faced a lot of adversity and injuries, whether it's combinations, whether or not it's been key players," he said. "I think at the moment we've got a lot of players who are really healthy, so it's a good time of the year to have that, to have that feel around the organisation."

Souths have the luxury of having an almost unchanged team apart from the return from injury of boom youngster Kyle Turner from a broken neck which sees Ben Lowe drop off the bench.

The Panthers have had a torrid season of injuries and suspensions that have curtailed their 2015 season. It has been a shame to see considering the exciting play they showed in 2014 in getting a top 4 place and a Preliminary Finals berth. Ivan Cleary has had to blood a lot of youngsters which will no doubt benefit the boys from the west in future seasons. This week the Panthers are without Peter Wallace (Torn ACL), Dean Whare (Broken Thumb) and Nigel Plum (Concussion). This means that the much maligned Waqa Blake moves to the centres, Josh Mansour returns on the wing, Sam McKendry starts at prop and Isaac John comes into the Five Eighth role for the Chocolate Soliders.

Ivan Cleary will want absolute commitment from his troops for the rest of the season as they look to end the season on a high note. If they could do the double over Souths it would be a huge high in an otherwise struggling and despondent season.

Last Meeting: Penrith 20 Souths 6 at Pepper Stadium, Round 17, 2015.

Penrith upset Souths earlier in the season and the Rabbitohs will no doubt be looking to exact revenge for that loss.

Before that defeat Souths had won the previous 4 clashes. In an interesting fact, Penrith have never won against Souths at ANZ Stadium (0 wins and 5 losses). In all matches at ANZ Stadium Penrith have won just 11 of 25 games.

Who To Watch: For the home side I'll be keeping a close eye on Alex Johnston. After turning heads in 2014 with some dazzling play, Johnston has continued his rich vein of form in 2015. Since the return of Greg Inglis, Johnston has benefited from Inglis amazing play. Situated out on the wing he is a real star player in the making and has speed and vision to boot. He has an incredible knack of getting to the try line and I would be betting on him to cause the Panthers defenders havoc on Sunday along with Greg Inglis.

For the Panthers there needs to be a big game from halfback Jamie Soward. Soward has been down on confidence this year and if he could have a big game here then it could propel him to better and bigger things not only at the back end of this season but also into 2016. Soward needs to take a lion's share of the kicking duties and get back to focusing on kicking the ball long and turning the Souths back three around. This will limit their impact in the game (particularly Greg Inglis who is a destructive ball runner). Soward's short kicking game will also need to be on song to create pressure through line drop outs and also setting up tries. Soward has the ability to be a brilliant playmaker whether her can do it against the reigning premiers is another question. If he has a good game, Penrith will get the win.

The favourite: Souths are big favourites in this clash, short priced due to their brilliant form and the Panthers being bit by the injury bug.

My Tip: Pretty hard to go past the Rabbitohs in this game. At home, in form and playing for a top 4 berth. Penrith on the other hand have been trying hard and will continue to do that for the rest of the season yet they miss the quality out on the field. Would need to be a huge boil over for it to happen.

Souths by 12.

1. Greg Inglis 2. Alex Johnston 3. Dylan Walker 4. Bryson Goodwin 5. Joel Reddy 6. Luke Keary 7. Adam Reynolds 8. George Burgess 9. Issac Luke 10. Tim Grant 11. Glenn Stewart 12. John Sutton 13. Chris McQueen
Interchange: 14. Kyle Turner 15. Chris Grevsmuhl 16. David Tyrrell 17. Thomas Burgess

1. William Smith 2. Robert Jennings 3. Waqa Blake 4. Isaah Yeo 5. Josh Mansour 6. Isaac John 7. Jamie Soward 8. Nigel Plum 9. James Segeyaro 10. Regan Campbell-Gillard 11. Lewis Brown 12. Sika Manu 13. Elijah Taylor
Interchange: 14. Apisai Koroisau 15. Jeremy Latimore 16. Tyrone Peachey 17. Bryce Cartwright

Referees: Jared Maxwell, Matt Cecchin; Sideline Officials: Adam Reid, Nick Beashel; Video Referees: Bernard Sutton, Luke Patten;

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