Rabbitohs vs Dragons RD25 – South Sydney Rabbitohs

South Sydney will be at Accor Stadium at 7:50pm on Thursday night, taking on their traditional rivals the St George Illawarra Dragons in what should be a high-energy encounter to begin round 25.

Coming off back-to-back wins against the Titans and the Eels, there will be plenty to celebrate in this match with young star Tallis Duncan notching up his 50th appearance for the Cardinal and Myrtle.

Duncan has been in sublime form of late, and bagged his third try double for the season on Saturday night against Parramatta. He has made a real fist of playing left centre in the second half of this year, and will line up there again this weekend due to the absence of Bayleigh Bentley-Hape.

Head Coach Wayne Bennett will also coach his 100th NRL game for the Rabbitohs on Thursday night, becoming just the sixth coach in South Sydney’s storied 117-year history to pass the 100-game mark.

While the Rabbitohs are never lacking in motivation to get one over their long-time rivals the Dragons, celebrating these two milestones will no doubt put the team in the right mood to get the job done on Thursday night.

South Sydney last met St George Illawarra in round two this year. It was an extremely tight affair, with the Rabbitohs edging out their opponents thanks to a 75th minute field goal from Jamie Humphreys.

The Dragons led 14-12 at half-time, and the lead changed hands many times over the course of the 80 minutes. But it was the composure of Humphreys in just his second game for the Rabbitohs that proved the difference. He will be aiming for a repeat effort in this clash as he looks to steer his side to victory.

The Dragons have shown some positive form in recent weeks, despite sitting in 12th on the ladder. They recently scored victories over both the Raiders and the Sharks before going down to the Warriors 14-10 last Friday night.

However, like South Sydney, they are currently dealing with a mammoth injury toll, and have the likes of representative players Moses Suli, Jaydn Su’A, Jack de Belin and Valentine Holmes all missing from their 17 this week.

South Sydney know they will need to show up for a fight in this clash if they are to get the two points. Based off their effort areas in recent weeks, there is no doubt they will be up for this one.

Jai Arrow: “We’re a team who is based on effort and not being beaten in that department and I think we’ve done that.”

While the results may not have gone South Sydney’s way for much of 2025, Jai Arrow is incredibly proud of the effort that he and his teammates have put in under difficult circumstances while navigating a devastating injury toll. Having turned in two positive results in the last two weeks with many top-liners still sidelined, Jai can see the fruits of the team’s labour, and hopes to continue to reap the rewards against the Dragons this weekend.

“Yeah absolutely, you can never fault our effort. We’re a team who is based on effort and not being beaten in that department and I think we’ve done that… The amount of effort and training that we did to try and get results and we just weren’t – wasn’t ideal. But it’s obviously nice to string a few wins together now and reap the rewards for the effort that we have been putting in this year. Unfortunately, it hasn’t gone the way that we planned on, but it is what it is… You’ve got to have a lot of luck involved with injuries and your squad throughout the year and we just haven’t had that luck.”

Siliva Havili: “We got a young spine there controlling the ship – a lot of them have good futures ahead.”

Siliva Havili is excited by some of the young talent that has emerged at the Rabbitohs in recent times due to the absences of more senior players at various stages of the year. He has highlighted Ashton Ward, Jye Gray and Jamie Humphreys in particular who have really stood up and delivered in key positions, despite their relative youth and inexperience. With just 51 games of NRL played between them, these three have been impressive.

“There’s a lot of confidence in Wardy (Ashton Ward) and what he’s done. It’s a big job leading the team in a key position… He’s done well to hold himself. Obviously Jye Gray’s had a few games under his belt. Jamie (Humphreys) has been really good too. We got a young spine there controlling the ship – a lot of them have good futures ahead.”

Peter Mamouzelos: “We have a lot of Indigenous players and we know how much [Indigenous Round] means to them and how much it means to us as a Club.”

It was a gutsy performance from the Rabbitohs which saw them get over the Eels on the weekend, and Peter Mamouzelos was extremely proud of the team to have displayed that effort in what is such an important round for the Red and Green. Indigenous Round is always special for South Sydney given the nature of the rich history and tradition of the Club, as well as the large number of Indigenous players in the current squad. It was a big positive for the whole team to have mustered the courage to dig deep for such an occasion.
“Yeah it was a great win, especially in a special round for us boys. We have a lot of Indigenous players and we know how much it means to them and how much it means to us as a Club. We wanted to have a good win in front of our home fans too. It was a good win and we just kept turning up for each other, and got there in the end.”

Team Changes

Rabbitohs Head Coach Wayne Bennett has made several changes to the side that defeated Parramatta in round 24.

Keaon Koloamatangi has been named to return from an ankle injury in the front row, resulting in Siliva Havili shifting to hooker, and Peter Mamouzelos reverting to the interchange bench.
Lachlan Hubner returns from a concussion to take his place at lock with Jai Arrow moving out to the edge.

Tallis Duncan will be back at left centre where he filled in for most of the Eels game after Bayleigh Bentley-Hape suffered a concussion and had to leave the field.

The Dragons too have made a number of injury-induced changes to the 17 that lost to the Warriors, as Hamish Stewart, Jack de Belin and Hame Sele all suffered concussions in that game.

NSW Under 19’s representative Jacob Halangahu will replace Stewart in the back row, with Ben Murdoch-Masila coming in at lock in a straight swap with de Belin for his first NRL appearance of the year.

Blake Lawrie will come onto the bench for Sele, while Tyrell Sloan also jags a spot on the bench after playing 18th man last week.

Rabbitohs vs Dragons RD25 – South Sydney Rabbitohs

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