Allianz Stadium will become the land of opportunity for South Sydney when the NRL finals series begins on Friday night.

The last thing Rabbitohs fans should want to hear if their team can’t beat Manly is excuses, because there will be none.

The Sea Eagles finished higher than Souths on the competition table, but because of the NRL’s venue policy in relation to finals games they will effectively be at a disadvantage.

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NRL Finals fixture

Allianz Stadium may not be the home ground of the Rabbitohs, but it may as well be on this occasion because it is close to their base and Souths supporters will way outnumber the notoriously non-travelling Manly fans.

But that is just one point, albeit a strong one, in favour of the Rabbitohs.

Secondly, Souths have two extra days in which to prepare for the game after having played the Sydney Roosters last Thursday. Manly played North Queensland on Saturday.

And making that situation even worse for the Sea Eagles is the fact they had to travel a long way – to Townsville – for their game, while the Rabbitohs played in Sydney.

When Manly’s players arrived back in Sydney on Sunday it was already the third day in which the Souths players had been able to continue their recovery.



And, finally, the Rabbitohs will get halfback Adam Reynolds back from suspension after he missed their 22-18 loss to the Roosters, while the Sea Eagles are in all sorts of trouble with injuries.

Manly were missing Brett Stewart, Brenton Lawrence, Matt Ballin, Jamie Buhrer and Glenn Stewart for their 30-16 loss to the Cowboys.

It is anticipated Brett Stewart and Lawrence will return for the game against Souths, but the other three are all gone for the season and they are all forwards.

I wrote after the second-last round that Manly’s comeback win over Penrith had saved their season. At that stage it was clear Buhrer had joined Glenn Stewart on the list of players who would play no further part in the season, but Ballin’s situation wasn’t clear until a couple of days later.

Ballin has made noises about possibly making a comeback if the Sea Eagles go deep into the finals series, but it obviously sounds like a long-shot and, anyway, it doesn’t help them this week.

I still think Manly are capable of winning the premiership, but they are going to need some luck along the way and if they get that because Souths are a bit off their game, then that will be nobody’s fault but the Rabbitohs.

Remember what happened the last time Souths played the Sea Eagles, in Round 22? Souths smashed them, 23-4.

It was the result that had the effect of Manly losing premiership favouritism to the Rabbitohs.



Souths subsequently lost favouritism to the Roosters, who have finished the regular season in great style, but the Rabbitohs will start clear favourites over Manly on Friday night and you can understand why when you compare the two forward packs.

The Rabbitohs have to decide where to play John Sutton, with Luke Keary and Reynolds the anticipated halves pairing. The Sea Eagles would love to have a problem like that – how to fit in a star player.

It would be great for their team’s sake if Manly fans attended Allianz Stadium in big numbers for this game, but history says that won’t happen.

I don’t think that means the NRL’s policy in playing finals games in the city’s biggest stadiums is wrong, though.

Finals football is supposed to be a big event and the NRL is entitled to treat it that way with its scheduling.

If we had a situation where every club had a fantastic home ground with great amenities it would be a different story, but unfortunately we don’t.