VENUE & TIME: Olympic Park, Sunday 7 September, 7:00pm AEST
COVERAGE: Fox Sports
LAST TIME: Storm 15-10 Rabbitohs, at Bluetongue Stadium, Round 11, 2008.
WALKING WOUNDED: Melbourne has regained star second-rower Ryan Hoffman (ankle), leaving only long-term casualties Dane Nielsen (shoulder), Will Chambers (knee), Danny Vaughan (knee) and Ben MacDougall (knee) unavailable.
With Shannon Hegarty (groin) already on the sidelines since Round 20, South Sydney has also lost skipper Roy Asotasi (pectoral) a week earlier than it would have liked.
FORM: Having won their previous four games in succession, the Storm stumbled just when it looked like they were set to sail away with the minor premiership, beaten 17-16 by the more desperate Knights as they farewelled departing and injured skipper Danny Buderus in style.
The Rabbitohs have endured a disappointing season after making the finals in 2007, with their five-match winning run from Rounds 13-17 as good as it got and, while they've won just one of their past four games, that was against Manly and they gave the Roosters a huge fright as the game finished 22-20 after it had been 22-0.
WHO'S HOT: On a night when plenty went wrong for the Storm, star back Greg Inglis ran for 154m, but it was Jeff Lima who again turned in a solid display for the premiers. Used mainly off the bench last year, Lima has been a revelation in 2008 since getting his chance following a couple of off-season departures.
Rabbitohs halfback Chris Sandow's brilliant debut season in what has otherwise been a forgettable campaign deservedly earned him the inaugural George Green Medal earlier this week as the NRL's Indigenous Rising Star. The medal is named in honour of the league's first indigenous player.
WE THINK: The record between these teams is extremely one-sided, with Souths boasting just two victories in 13 clashes and none since 2004. Making that record even worse is that they are 0-6 at Olympic Park. So miserable is their record at The Graveyard that they have reached double figures only once, conceding an average of nearly 41 points while only scoring a tick over six themselves. The Storm will know exactly what's needed for the minor premiership, with Manly and Cronulla having already played, and therein perhaps lies the Bunnies' only hope if the hosts are thinking too much about the margin and not the win itself. But with little to play for other than to spoil the party, expect a point-scoring feast as Melbourne chases top spot. Storm by 24.
TEAMS:
Storm: 1. Billy Slater, 2. Steve Turner, 3. Matt Geyer, 4. Israel Folau, 5. Anthony Quinn, 6. Greg Inglis, 7. Cooper Cronk, 8. Jeff Lima, 9. Cam Smith (c), 10. Brett White, 11. Michael Crocker, 12. Ryan Hoffman, 13. Dallas Johnson
Interchange: 14. Jeremy Smith, 15. Adam Blair, 16. Sika Manu, 17. Antonio Kaufusi
Rabbitohs: 1. Nathan Merritt, 2. Luke Capewell, 3. Fetuli Talanoa, 4. Beau Champion, 5. Jamie Simpson, 6. Craig Wing, 7. Chris Sandow, 8. Scott Geddes, 9. Issac Luke, 10. Luke Stuart, 11. Shannon McPherson, 12. David Fa'alogo, 13. John Sutton (c)
Interchange: 14. Beau Falloon, 15. David Kidwell, 16. Manase Manuokafoa, 17. Eddy Pettybourne, 18. Ben Lowe