Greg Inglis on the charge against the Storm. Source: Mark Evans / DailyTelegraph
SOUTH Sydney will have to overcome a shocking record against Melbourne if they are to resurrect their title aspirations this Friday night, with the Rabbitohs last win over the Storm in Sydney way back in 2004.
The Rabbitohs' halves pairing of Adam Reynolds and John Sutton were convincingly outplayed by the Roosters' combination of Mitchell Pearce and James Maloney in last Friday night's battle for the minor premiership - and it doesn't get any easier this week when they take on the reigning premiers and Reynolds goes head-to-head with the game's best halfback Cooper Cronk.
Melbourne are now the new outright $3.50 premiership favourites and are set to the clash at ANZ Stadium as $1.80 favourites with the TAB and the Rabbitohs at $2. The markets will be finalised Monday.
Manly's shock loss to Penrith means the fourth-placed Sea Eagles take on the Sydney Roosters on Saturday night in the double header at Allianz Stadium, while Souths back up against their nemesis.
The first match Saturday will see the Cronulla Sharks take on the Cowboys in an elimination final after Shane Flanagan's men secured fifth spot with victory against the Raiders Sunday night.
A second elimination final between the Bulldogs and the Knights will close out the first week of the finals on Sunday afternoon, with the game kicking off at 4pm at ANZ Stadium.
Teams will never tell you publicly who they would rather play but there is no doubt Souths' biggest disappointment over the weekend wouldn't have been losing to the Roosters but seeing the Sea Eagles go down to the Panthers on Sunday.
Souths have a rotten record against Melbourne, who beat them in both games this year. In 22 games overall Melbourne have won 19 and Souths just three.
In fact, Souths have only won one of their last 15 matches against Melbourne and at ANZ Stadium Souths have haven't beaten the Storm in the only three games played at that venue.
In what is shaping up as one of the best finals series in NRL history the big talking points going into week one of the finals are:
• Sam Burgess is in strife again and could be cited Monday by the match review committee for a couple of unsavoury incidents in Friday night's loss;
• Roosters enforcer Jared Waerea-Hargreaves is likely to cop a suspension for his elbow on Chris McQueen;
• Injured Storm five-eighth Gareth Widdop is in line for an NRL call up after making his comeback in Queensland Cup;
• Last year's grand finalists Canterbury are in trouble on and off the field as the Ben Barba controversy bubbles along and a final round loss to Brisbane;
• The Sharks rested a host of big-names Sunday night against Canberra but have an injury concern for Andrew Fifita. Paul Gallen and Todd Carney will be fresh for their sudden-death game on Saturday against the Cowboys;
• Wayne Bennett is back in finals football after Newcastle locked up seventh spot with a thumping 54-6 win over Parramatta;
• And Cowboys fans have started a petition to get Neil Henry reinstated after the Cowboys charged into eighth spot with their sixth straight victory.
But the majority of talk over the weekend related to the Roosters' dominant win over the Rabbitohs and the question most experts were asking is if that game exposed Souths' lack of experience heading into the play-offs.
While Friday night's game was probably the best atmosphere of the season in front of a regular season record crowd the Rabbitohs were nowhere near their best and much of the finger pointing since has gone back to the performance of their halves who were clearly out-pointed by the incumbent NSW halves pairing.
Despite having the better of possession and an 11-5 penalty count in their favour, Souths' completion rates were terrible and the finishing to their sets was way below the standards they have set all season.
Coach Michael Maguire conceded their inability to build pressure and force repeat sets let them down against the Roosters and if they are going to beat Melbourne they need a much improved performance.
In the two games they have played this year Melbourne beat them 17-10 in round six at ANZ and in round 22 it was 26-8 at AAMI Park.
***
FINALS WEEK ONE
FRIDAY
Qualifying final
Rabbitohs v Storm
7.45pm at ANZ Stadium
SATURDAY
Elimination final
Sharks v Cowboys
4pm at Allianz Stadium
Qualifying final
Roosters v Sea Eagles
Saturday, 7pm at Allianz Stadium
SUNDAY
Elimination final
Bulldogs v Knights
Sunday, 4pm at ANZ Stadium
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