NRL Round 26 - Friday Night Preview

Canterbury Bulldogs v South Sydney Rabbitohs @ ANZ Stadium

The Bulldogs go in search of a confidence boosting win heading into the finals against a resurgent Rabbitohs at ANZ Stadium on Friday Night. Canterbury's Top 4 hopes were buried in the past 2 weeks after error ridden performances consigning them to back to back defeats. Meanwhile the Rabbitohs have had a mini revival winning their last 3 matches to paper the cracks over what has been a vastly underwhelming campaign. When the sides met way back in Round 4 in the Good Friday clash the Bulldogs ambushed the Rabbitohs running out handsome 42-12 winners. 

The Bulldogs have named an unchanged line up as they search for greater execution and creativity in their attack. Like the 2 previous seasons the Bulldogs are going to have to do it the hard way if they want to win the Premiership as they look like they will finish either 6ht or 7th and straight into sudden death football. The Bulldogs need fare more spark from their spine of Will Hopoate, Josh Reynolds, Moses Mbye and Michael Lichaa. The Dogs have been one of the worst offending teams lately in terms of turning the ball over cheaply on 5th tackles and making some fundamental errors. The Dogs forwards steamrolled Souths earlier in Round 4 as the blue and whits took advantage of Sam Burgess missing the clash with injury. On a wet and wild night in Sydney I expect the Dogs to try the same tactics and assert some dominance in the middle. 

South Sydney also name an unchanged line up as they look to finish the year with a quartet of wins. The Rabbitohs have been thrashed in their past 2 clashes against the Bulldogs however they have won 5 of their last 10. Greg Inglis has found some spark at the back end of the season along with Damien cook who has slotted into the starting hooking role. Cook has played every minute of the past 4 games and will be looking for another big game against his old club. It will be interesting to see what happens to Cook if Robbie Farah does end up joining the Rabbitohs in 2017 as speculated. 

Verdict - On a miserable night in Sydney expect a slog fest here on a heavy track. I might have fancied Souths on a dry track given they have played some enterprising football in the last month. The Dogs surely need to get a bit of confidence and momentum leading up to the finals rather then limping in with another loss. Ill go the Dogs, in a low scoring struggle. Bulldogs by 7.