The South Sydney Rabbitohs have announced their team for the round 24 clash with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, to be played at ANZ Stadium on Friday 21 August at 7:45pm.
Coach Michael Maguire has been forced to make a number of changes to his side due to the suspensions of Issac Luke and Luke Keary.
Luke Keary has taken the early guilty plea for a shoulder charge from the win over the Cowboys and Issac Luke takes the early guilty plea for a dangerous throw charge, but will contest the grading of his shoulder charge out of the win over the Cowboys.
With Luke Keary missing, Maguire has named John Sutton at five-eighth and although most of 2015 has been spent on the back-row, Maguire has told RABBITOHS.com.au, he is looking forward to seeing the combination of Sutton and Reynolds re-unite.
"Unfortunately with Luke out, he will now come into the halves. Adam and Sutto have a very good combination and I'm looking forward to seeing those boys re-unite in the halves."
Issac Luke's suspension means Paul Carter will wear the No.9 jumper for the first time since joing the club and he has impressed Maguire since joining the reigning premiers.
"It's a great opportunity for Paul. He has come in and worked extremely hard to get his fitness up.
"He is a young man that is learning all the time and to see him come in and do the things he has for this club at the moment, it's a real credit to him."
Other notable changes are - Jason Clark moves to the back row and Chris Grevsmuhl joins the bench and Glenn Stewart makes a return from suspension for his 200th NRL match on the interchange.
Nathan Brown, Joel Reddy and Cody Walker have been named on an extended bench.
The Rabbioths will this week host the Bulldogs and with both sides fielding very strong forward packs, the battle up the middle is where Maguire sees the biggest challenge for his side.
"They have a skillful forward pack that like to move the ball or take you on.
"The challenge through the middle is obviously a big one," he told RABBITOHS.com.au
RABBITOHS LINE-UP:
1 Greg Inglis (c)
2 Alex Johnston
3 Dylan Walker
4 Kirisome Auva'a
5 Bryson Goodwin
6 John Sutton
7 Adam Reynolds
8 George Burgess
9 Paul Carter
10 David Tyrrell
11 Kyle Turner
12 Jason Clark
13 Chris McQueen
Interchange
14 Chris Grevsmuhl
15 Glenn Stewart
16 Tim Grant
17 Thomas Burgess
18 Nathan Brown
19 Joel Reddy
20 Cody Walker
The Special Olympics Cup to be played on Friday night, will be the fourth Special Olympics Cup match between the two sides and it signifies an important partnership between the Bulldogs, Rabbitohs and Special Olympics Australia in providing a platform for thousands of Australians with an intellectual disability to reach their personal best both on and off the sporting field.
To learn more about Special Olympics, visit www.specialolympics.com.au.
