The Parramatta Eels take on the South Sydney Rabbitohs at ANZ Stadium on Friday 1 September in Round 26 of the NRL Telstra Premiership, the final game of the regular season before the Finals.
Blue & Gold Head Coach Brad Arthur has made one change to his side that came away with a 52-34 victory over the Brisbane Broncos at Suncorp Stadium last week, with Manu Ma'u returning from suspension and named in the starting side.
Arthur has an extended bench of David Gower, Kenny Edwards, Siosaia Vave, Suaia Matagi, Kaysa Pritchard, Josh Hoffman, Beau Scott and Frank Pritchard.
For the Rabbitohs, Head Coach Michael Maguire has made a handful of positional changes to his side that suffered a 64-6 defeat to a rampant Melbourne Storm side at AAMI Park last week, with Zen Musgrove ruled out with suspension.
Sam Burgess starts at prop, Cody Walker at five-eighth, John Sutton in the back row, Bryson Goodwin at fullback and Robert Jennings on the wing.
Both sides have plenty to play for in this clash, with the Eels having the chance to secure a Top Four finish and return to the Finals for the first time since 2009, whilst the Rabbitohs will want to rebound from last week’s performance and finish off their final game of the year with a victory.
The Eels enter the clash with two wins in a row and will be looking to continue on their winning ways heading into Semi Finals football. The Rabbitohs are coming off a loss but had won their previous three games before last week.
Historically, the Rabbitohs hold the advantage head to head, with 67 wins from 123 clashes, and had won seven straight from 2010-2014 but the Eels have won three of five since (including the last two times these sides met).
The last time they met occurred earlier in the season, in Round 12, where the Blue & Gold came away 22-16 victors at ANZ Stadium.
Kick off is at 7:50pm.
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Match Details: Parramatta Eels v South Sydney Rabbitohs, Friday 1 September, ANZ Stadium. Kick off at 7:50pm.
Televised: Channel Nine and Fox League – Live from 7.30pm.
The History: Played 123; Eels 53; Rabbitohs 67; Drawn 3. It's not that long ago the Bunnies won seven straight against the Eels (from 2010 to 2014) but the Eels have won three of five since, including the past two straight.
The last time they met occurred earlier in the season, in Round 12, where the Blue & Gold came away 22-16 victors at ANZ Stadium.
Parramatta Eels squad: 1. Will Smith 2. Semi Radradra 3. Michael Jennings 4. Brad Takairangi 5. Kirisome Auva’a 6. Corey Norman 7. Mitch Moses 8. Daniel Alvaro 9. Cameron King 10. Tim Mannah (c) 11. Manu Ma’u 12. Tepai Moeroa 13. Nathan Brown
Interchange: 14. David Gower 15. Kenny Edwards 16. Siosaia Vave 17. Suaia Matagi 18. Kaysa Pritchard 19. Josh Hoffman 20. Beau Scott 21. Frank Pritchard
South Sydney Rabbitohs side: 1. Bryson Goodwin 2. Campbell Graham 3. Aaron Gray 4. Tyrell Fuimaono 5. Robert Jennings 6. Cody Walker 7. Adam Reynolds 8. Thomas Burgess 9. Damien Cook 10. Sam Burgess (c) 11. John Sutton 12. Angus Crichton 13. Cameron Murray
Interchange: 14. Robbie Farah 15. George Burgess 16. Kyle Turner 17. Dean Britt 18. Jason Clark 19. David Tyrell 20. Siosifa Talakai 21. Luke Kelly
Match officials: Referee: Gavin Badger; Assistant Referee: Chris Butler; Touch judges: Tim Roby and Clayton Sharpe; Review Official: Luke Patten; Senior RO: Bernard Sutton.
