The Canterbury- Bankstown Bulldogs and South Sydney Rabbitohs have gone head to head on Good Friday for the past five years with the first battle being played in 2012 at ANZ Stadium.
The Bulldogs have defeated the Rabbitohs twice out of five games and won last year’s contest in convincing style, 42-12.
The traditional Good Friday battle between these two sides is highly anticipated especially after the 2014 and 2015 games were decided by one point.
On average a huge 41, 775 fans make the journey out to ANZ Stadium and with another big crowd expected this year, the players understand how important this challenge is.
Bulldogs forwards Josh Jackson, Danny Faulalo, Raymond Faitala- Mariner and Adam Elliott had their say on the Good Friday encounter.
“We always have good battles with the bunnies. They’ve got a really good forward pack that get their go forward and also a back five that are really damaging. We need to control their forwards early on, try to limit their go forward and that will limit the outside backs and the opportunities that they get. All the Good Friday games have always been good clashes and I think ever since the Grand Final a few years ago they’ve had a bit of feeling in them, so I can’t imagine this one being any different. - Josh Jackson
“It’s always a tough game against the Rabbitohs. They always come out firing and I guess we just have to match their intensity on Friday, hopefully it will be a good atmosphere as well. They’ve got a dominant forward pack and a back five they get their sets rolling. Cody Walker is a crafty player that we will definitely have to keep an eye on. Hopefully he doesn’t do nothing special.” - Danny Fualalo
“It’s always a tough battle when the Dogs play the Bunnies, but we had a good training session today and we are expecting firing Bunnies on Friday night. Obviously their forward pack are key, they’ve got the Burgess brothers and some size in the outside backs. It’s a tough task for us and we are looking forward to the game on Friday.” - Raymond Faitala-Mariner
"It's a match I look forward to. We play them (South Sydney) every Good Friday. It’s a good time to with the four o’clock kick off, so everyone’s got the day off and it makes it very easy for families and supporters from both sides make it out there. I played in last year’s game and it was an awesome crowd, probably the best crowd I’ve played in front of." - Adam Elliott.
Good Friday Results:
2012: Rabbioths 20 Bulldogs 10
2013: Rabbitohs 17 Bulldogs 12
2014: Bulldogs 15 Rabbitohs 14
2015: Rabbitohs 18 Bulldogs 17
2016: Bulldogs 42 Rabbitohs 12
