Rabbitohs vs Sharks Friday night footy tips, June 1

7.55pm Thursday May 10, 2018, at ANZ Stadium

The blockbuster match up of a diluted round 13 of the NRL season is the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Cronulla Sharks, and while the former has been impacted by Origin commitments, this still should be a great contest.

The Bunnies were brilliant last week in their 20-point smashing of the Warriors across the Tasman. The win was Souths’ fourth-straight win, which also solidified their position inside the top-four.

The Cronulla Sharks have been just as impressive in recent times, winning six-straight matches en route to a top-four berth.

The Sharks hammered the Knights by 38-points to continue their form as the hottest team in the competition.

Unfortunately for the home side, Origin commitments has stripped their team bare. The Bunnies will be without captain Greg Inglis, hooker Damien Cook, centre Dane Gagai and back-rower Angus Crichton.

For the Sharks, only Valentine Holmes misses due to state representation.

Players to watch – Rabbitohs v Sharks

Rabbitohs – Sam Burgess: Slammin’ Sam Burgess will have to carry the Bunnies’ burden up forward. South Sydney will need the big Englishman to toe the line between hard hits and giving away penalties without transgressing. For the Rabbits to win Burgess needs to have a big one.

Sharks – Matt Moylan: The Blues’ loss – even if it’s by their own hand – is the Sharks’ gain. Moylan has been a great cog in the Shark machine, which included an absolute masterclass last week against the Knights where he played a hand in six of his team’s nine tries.

Rabbitohs team

1 Adam Doueihi, 2 Campbell Graham, 3 Braidon Burns, 4 Hymel Hunt, 5 Robert Jennings, 6 Cody Walker, 7 Adam Reynolds, 8 Thomas Burgess, 9 Robbie Farah, 10 George Burgess, 11 John Sutton, 12 Sam Burgess (c), 13 Cameron Murray

Interchange: 14 Tyrell Fuimaono, 15 Mark Nicholls, 16 Jason Clark, 17 Tevita Tatola

Sharks team

1 Josh Dugan, 2 Sosaia Feki, 3 Jesse Ramien, 4 Ricky Leutele, 5 Edrick Lee, 6 Matt Moylan, 7 Chad Townsend, 16 Andrew Fifita, 9 Jayden Brailey, 10 Matt Prior, 11 Luke Lewis, 12 Wade Graham (c), 13 Paul Gallen (c)

Interchange: 14 Joseph Paulo, 15 James Segeyaro, 16 Ava Seumanufagai, 17 Jayson Bukuya

Rabbioths v Sharks – who will win?

We have to side with the Sharks here.

All things being equal this would be one of the games of the year, but with a huge contingent of Rabbitohs players out of action due to Origin, we’re left with a watered down version of the Bunnies.

Conversely, with just one player missing from their red-hot side, the Sharks are close to full strength. It doesn’t bode well for the Bunnies.

We’re backing Cronulla to win this one with ease and make it seven-straight successes.

Tip:Cronulla Sharks by 13+ points ($3.30 with Sportsbet)