South Sydney are confident they can continue their surge up the NRL ladder despite being "punished" for star forward Cam Murray's State of Origin suspension.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Rabbitohs interim coach Ben Hornby had been looking forward to welcoming back the Blues lock against bottom club Wests Tigers in Gosford on Saturday.
Instead he will be without Murray who was slapped with a two-game ban for running into a melee from the bench during Wednesday's decider.
Hornby was reluctant to weigh in on the merit of the decision, but his disappointment was clear.
"It's a tough one, isn't it?" he said.
"I mean, it spills over into their bench and he goes in to help his mate and it is what it is. We get punished for it, but we've got to move on."
Murray's misfortune opens the door for young lock Liam Le Blanc, who was elevated to the bench with Tallis Duncan set to start.
"It's a great opportunity for Liam to come in and show what he can do again," Hornby said.
Hornby will also have to do without injured fullback Latrell Mitchell, whose irresistible form helped spark the Bunnies' mid-season revival.
Wayward goal-kicking in the absence of sharpshooter Mitchell saw South Sydney fall to the Dolphins last time out, despite both sides scoring six tries, putting an end to a five-game winning streak.
Hornby will not know the extent of Mitchell's foot injury for another week or so when scans reveal whether the star can continue to play a part in the Rabbitohs' finals push.
But for the Tigers, finals football is far from their minds after suffering a crushing 58-6 loss to Cronulla in their last match.
It was their third loss in a row and the third straight game they'd conceded 40 points or more.
"We've just got to own our performance at the moment, myself included," lamented Tigers coach Benji Marshall.
"I've done a lot of looking in the mirror over the last week to be honest. I need to be better and I need to set the tone for the team and hopefully they can follow on."
Marshall said it was unlikely captain Api Koroisau would recover from a calf injury in time for the game.
But on a positive note teen playmaker Latu Fainu will play alongside brothers Samuela and Sione for the first time.
Seeing the trio live out a childhood dream together was exciting for Marshall and Latu, who has had to fight for his opportunity.
"He's had a bit of injury troubles and worked really hard to get himself right and deserves his opportunity," Marshall said.
"I can tell he's gonna be a player of the future."
Australian Associated Press
