Rabbitohs coach Jason Demetriou believes beating the Panthers in a finals series is “the hardest task in the game” after securing a grand final rematch with a win on Saturday night.
Souths came away with a 38-12 victory over the Sharks and will now face the minor premiers in what is shaping up to be an “epic” encounter.
Ivan Cleary’s side beat the Rabbitohs in last year’s grand final 14-12, and this season Penrith have won both regular season games.
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Despite the Panthers’ dominance this season, Demetriou believes their game plan isn’t “rocket science” and will be readying his troops for an ambush.
“We are under no illusions that this is the hardest task in the game at the moment, to beat Penrith in a finals series,” Demetriou said in the post-match press conference.
“We know how tough it will be, but we know we can do it as well, we will be going to the game, preparing well and we will step into the fight over the 80 minutes and we will see where we land.
“It is not rocket science, they play a field position game off the back of Nathan’s kicking, they complete high, they put you under a lot of pressure and they break you down physically.
“I have no doubts that is how they will play, they have done it for three years and will do it again this week.
“We have got to be able to take that and protect our tryline and turn them away.
“We also need to challenge the scoreboard as well, we can’t think to beat Penrith we will just go set for set and hope we can win 6-4.”
While his side were dominant against the Sharks with a strong defensive effort, Demetriou warned against “clumsy” mistakes.
The Rabbitohs recorded 16 offloads compared to Cronulla’s eight — and Demetriou urged his squad to “tidy up” after completing at 68 per cent.
“I thought defensively we were outstanding again tonight… I think this is our fourth or fifth preliminary final in a row,” Demetriou said.
“We were a bit clumsy with the footy tonight, it was probably a bit looser than we thought it was going to be and we all thought we were the globetrotters throwing offloads every two minutes.
“Defensively I am really happy where we are at, we know we have points but we need to tidy up our completion rates and errors.”
Fox League’s Braith Anasta explained poor completion rates are the Rabbitohs “Achilles’ heel” and that their ball-handling must be good next week against Penrith.
“I remember last year Souths couldn’t hold the ball all year and then they got to midway through the season and Wayne used to say it after every game,” Anasta said.
“Then their completion rate went over 75 to 80 per cent and they kept winning games. They know that is their Achilles’ heel.”
The Rabbitohs are yet to beat the Panthers this year, but Demetriou believes he has a plan that will see his side progress into the grand final.
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However, he is “under no illusions” how tough an opponent the minor premiers are and labelled the preliminary clash as a “war”.
“There is always leanings every time we have played against them, we have had some epic games over the last couple of years,” Demetriou said.
“We will go in with a plan of how we can disrupt their line speed and minimise the effect they have with their defence.
“Both teams know how tough this game is going to be, we are under no illusions, but we are here for a reason.
“We have got to believe in that and turn up ready for a war next week.
“Penrith don’t beat themselves, they are highly motivated, they work extremely hard for each other and they have some pretty skilful players as well.
“We will turn up, put our gloves on and step in the ring and have a crack.”
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