Week 2 of the NRL Finals saw the minor premiers show why they were the best team in the competition throughout the regular season with their demolition of the Parramatta Eels whilst the South Sydney Rabbitohs booked their place in the preliminary finals after surviving a scare from the consistent Manly Sea Eagles. Read on as we preview the four teams chances of making the holy grail of rugby league.<\/p>\n
Canberra Raiders ($1.40) vs South Sydney Rabbitohs ($3.00)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Friday, 27th September 7:50pm, GIO Stadium<\/em><\/p>\n The first preliminary final sees the South Sydney Rabbitohs travel down the Pacific Highway to GIO Stadium to take on the red hot Canberra Raiders with a spot in the grand final on the line. Not too many people would have predicted that the Raiders would have been the hosts of a home preliminary final after they had to take on the Melbourne Storm but they have done just that by becoming the only team to defeat the Storm twice all year, with both wins coming away from home too. This week sees them return to their home stadium and they will be confident in their chances of booking their spot in their first grand final since 1994 with the return of some big name players to the starting lineup. These players include star centre Joey Leilua who missed the start of their victory against the Storm after copping remnants of a firework to his eye as he was heading out to the field. As a result Bailey Simonsson goes back to the bench after his match winning effort last start and Nick Cotric has also been confirmed to start after overcoming a gash to the face from last weeks game. For the Rabbitohs they will be in their second consecutive preliminary final and new coach Wayne Bennett will be hoping he can go one better than the sides disappointing exit at this stage last year. To do this Bennett has named an unchanged 17 from last weeks game with the only concern being a reported thumb issue for James Roberts.\u00a0James Roberts has since been ruled out with Corey Allan reportedly coming onto the wing while Campbell Graham moves to Robert’s centre position.<\/em> The last time these two sides met was back in round 10 where the Rabbitohs triumphed 16-12 at GIO Stadium thanks to a 71st minute try, which was one of 3 consecutive mid-season losses for the Raiders. Despite this loss the Raiders actually hold a dominant record against Souths in winning 5 of the last 7 but they will have to turn around a concerning form slump at home that has seen them lose 3 of their last 4 matches at GIO Stadium. With this in mind combined with the fact that the Rabbitohs have not only won down in Canberra already this year but have an impressed 8 wins from their 12 away games this year then we are thinking that the generous 7.5 handicap that is provided is enough of a buffer for us to take the Rabbitohs with a start.<\/p>\n Recommended Bet:<\/strong> South Sydney Rabbitohs +7.5 $1.90<\/a><\/p>\n