South Sydney Rabbitohs v North Queensland Cowboys: NRL Saturday preview

South Sydney Rabbitohs will be missing a host of key players when they take on the North Queensland Cowboys in the NRL in Perth.

The clash between the Rabbitohs and Cowboys is the second part of the NRL double-header to be played at Optus Stadium and promises to be a cracker.

The Rabbitohs have been going great guns, winning four of their opening five games, but they will be hampered by a crippling injury list.

They also have a poor record in Perth and will need to turn that around to get the result.

North Queensland have recovered from a slow start to the season, to win their last two games, and will head into the clash on a high.

They have not played in Perth for a long time, but should have no issues adapting to the conditions in the west.

South Sydney Rabbitohs v North Queensland Cowboys betting preview

Panthers win came at a cost

South Sydney showed tremendous character when beating Sydney Roosters 20-14 last week, as they lost a number of star players during the game.

Cody Walker, Jamie Humphreys and Mikaele Ravalawa all picked up hamstring injuries against the Roosters and will sit out this weekend.

The bunnies have won just one of the last five games when Walker has not played, so the playmaker will take some replacing.

It means that Latrell Mitchell will move to the halves and form a new-look partnership with Jayden Sullivan.

There is some good news however as try-scoring machine Alex Johnston has recovered from a rib injury and is fit to play.

The winger can be backed at 7.00 to score the first try of the game, or 1.75 to score at anytime.

Cowboys are riding high

After losing the opening three games of the season, the Cowboys are on a high after winning their last two games.

They beat Canberra Raiders by 10 points, before travelling to Penrith to beat the Panthers by four points in a thriller.

A hat-trick of wins is now a possibility and they can be backed at 7.00 to do it by either 1-5 points or 6-10 points.

They are boosted by the return of co-captain Reuben Cotter as they head to Perth for the first time since 1997.

Murray Taulagi is in top form for the Cowboys, having scored four tries in his last three games.

The winger can be backed at 1.80 to score another at anytime on Saturday.

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South Sydney Rabbitohs v North Queensland Cowboys odds

South Sydney Rabbitohs - 2.15
North Queensland Cowboys - 1.72

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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.