South Sydney Rabbitohs

After finishing the regular season in second place the Sharks went out in straight sets to the Cowboys and Rabbitohs last September but the positives far outweighed the negatives in Craig Fitzgibbon's first year at the helm.

From Nicho Hynes' dazzling Dally M deeds at halfback to the tryscoring deeds of Sione Katoa and Ronaldo Mulitalo to Matt Moylan's resurgence in the No.6, the Sharks were a force all season and there's every reason to think they can be again.

Toby and Tuaimolo Vaega were among a host of stars for the Sea Eagles, who gave new coach Anthony Seibold the ideal start to his tenure.

The Rabbitohs got the scoreboard ticking in the fifth minute when five-eighth Dion Teaupa grubbered to the left corner for Tom Carr to score. Blake Taaffe's sideline conversion made it 6-0.

Manly hit back in the eighth minute when Cooper Johns set up winger Tuaimolo Vaega with a classy floating pass before the Teaupa returned serve in the battle of the playmakers with a try of his own.

With the scores locked 22-22 and golden point beckoning it was tireless back-rower Liam Martin who surged over from close range to secure the Panthers' 19th win of the season.

After a ferocious start defensively the Panthers were able to cash in when Stephen Crichton swooped on a scrappy Damien Cook pass and raced 60 metres to score. The centre converted his own try for a 6-0 lead after just four minutes.

With Latrell Mitchell causing havoc at the back and Alex Johnston scoring tries for fun, South Sydney have won six of their past seven matches (including one Golden Point defeat) to find themselves just two points outside the top four.

The 2021 Telstra Premiership Grand Final rematch comes in the midst of a challenging run for the cardinal and myrtle, with games against the Cowboys (second) and Roosters (eighth) set to follow Thursday's heavyweight showdown.

With Alex Johnston and Cody Walker grabbing doubles the Rabbitohs beat the Eels for the second time in seven weeks to reinforce their premiership credentials.

The Rabbitohs got the ball rolling in the fifth minute when Damien Cook found Walker from close range and the five-eighth caught the Eels defence flat footed on their own line.

Walker got across the line again in the 11th minute but the came loose as he was attempting to ground it and the Eels were off the hook.

The Eels won without Mitchell Moses last week and crucially showed an ability to back up from a big win the previous week, something which has been lacking for them in 2022, and will have taken confidence from overcoming the Sea Eagles in the final half hour of the match.

South Sydney were always in control against the Warriors and were able to manage the minutes of a couple of key men as a result of being well up midway through the second half.  

Murray set up the first three tries of the match, while Mitchell scored two and laid on two others as a ruthless Souths side leapfrogged the Broncos and Roosters into sixth position on the Telstra Premiership ladder.

So dominant was Murray that the Rabbitohs captain had run more than 100 metres by the time second-rower Keaon Koloamatangi scored his side's fourth try in the 21st minute and he finished with a game high 191 metres.

With matches against heavyweights the Eels, Panthers, Cowboys and Roosters to come after this weekend's assignment the Rabbitohs can't afford to slip up  against a team that took them to the wire in Magic Round.

The Rabbitohs led 26-6 at half-time in that match at Suncorp Stadium but clocked off to concede four tries in 15 minutes and almost let the victory slip away.

Finals are out of the question for the Warriors but they'll happy play spoiler to any contenders who dare take them lightly.

Cronulla matched - and for large periods outplayed - Penrith in round 19, and were in the match right up until Jarome Luai's 77th-minute try put the game beyond reach.

The Rabbitohs head to PointsBet Stadium in red-hot form, having won their last four matches including a 24-12 victory over the Storm last weekend. 

The two clubs have met just once a year for the past six seasons, with South Sydney winning four of those clashes. 

Latrell Mitchell starred for the Rabbitohs and provided the game-breaking moment when he sent Alex Johnston over for his second on the left edge with scores locked at 28-28 close to fulltime. 

Johnston crossed for a third two minutes later to ensure the Rabbitohs snatched a win that throughout the evening looked as though the Bulldogs were on their way to causing an upset. 

Both sides traded three tries each in the second half to set up a tied ball game before Johnston crossed for the third hat-trick of his season and 10th of his career.