NRL Round 11 Preview and Prediction - South Sydney Rabbitohs v Melbourne Storm @ NIB Stadium Perth

 South Sydney Rabbitohs v Melbourne Storm @ NIB Stadium Perth
 
Preview - The Rabbitohs will be looking to make it back-to-back victories as they take a home game to Perth against the 1st placed Melbourne Storm on Sunday. The Rabbitohs gave their stuttering season a kick of life last week with a commanding 28-8 victory over a disappointing Wests Tigers side at ANZ Stadium. The victory meant Souths climbed out of the Bottom 4, however they will need to start stringing wins together if they are any chance of making a late surge for the finals. The Storm suffered a shock 38-36 loss to the Titans in the Double Header at Suncorp Stadium, letting a 14-point lead slip and conceding 2 tries in the final 10 minutes of the game. The Storm have put in a couple of uncharacteristic defensive displays of late, conceding more then 5 tries against both the Sea Eagles and Titans, however they are still sitting in outright 1st spot on the competition ladder with 8 wins and just 2 losses.
 
History - In short, the Storm own the Rabbitohs. Even though the last 3 games between the Clubs have been tight, the Storm managed to win all 3 games by less than 6 points. They have won 9 from their past 10 against Souths, as well as 22 from 26 overall.
 
South Sydney Rabbitohs’ Scouting Report - Michael Maguire has stuck with the team that beat the Tigers convincingly last Friday night. Robbie Farah had his best game of the season, returning to the starting hooking role, and his 80-minute display would be putting pressure on Damien Cook to keep his spot on the bench. Cody Walker once again showed everyone his dynamic running game with a slashing try in the first half from the fullback position. 
 
Melbourne Storm Scouting Report - The Storm have named the same 17 to the side that went down narrowly to the Titans. While the Storm's defence has not been their usual stingy selves,  for the past month their attack is firing on all cylinders having scored 120 points in their last 4 games, at an average of 30 per game. 
 
Verdict - Melbourne by 12-20
 
I think the Storm might bounce back with a bang here in their last game together before the Origin period. They usually always respond to a loss, and I think Craig Bellamy would have been particularly savage on his side’s defence last week, and I expect them to be much tougher against Souths. Whilst the Rabbitohs were impressive last week, the standard of the opposition was awful, with the Tigers putting in a Reserve Grade standard performance. The Rabbitohs usually play quite well in parts, so I expect them to match the Storm for periods of this game, however the step up in class is huge this game. If the weather is fine, I expect there to be plenty of tries in this game in what is a fast track over in Perth, however Melbourne just have too much class for mine and will win by 2-3 tries.