Round 15 EELS V RABBITOHS

[TITAN PETE]

EELS V RABBITOHS - 23RD JUNE, 3:00PM, ANZ STADIUM | #NRLPARSOU

Eels
1 Jake Mullaney
2 Ken Sio
3 Ryan Morgan
4 Cheyse Blair
5 Brayden Wiliame
6 Joseph Paulo
7 Chris Sandow
8 Tim Mannah
9 Matt Keating
10 Mitch Allgood
11 Reni Maitua (c)
12 Matt Ryan
13 Peni Terepo

Interchange
14 Ben Roberts
15 Darcy Lussick
16 Fuifui Moimoi
17 Jacob Loko
18 Pat O'Hanlon

Coach: Ricky Stuart

Rabbitohs
1 Justin Hunt
2 Dylan Farrell
3 Bryson Goodwin
4 Dylan Walker
5 Andrew Everingham
6 John Sutton
7 Adam Reynolds
8 Dave Tyrrell
9 Issac Luke
10 Roy Asotasi
11 Ben Lowe
12 Nathan Peats
13 Sam Burgess

Interchange
14 Luke Keary
15 Jeff Lima
16 Josh Starling
17 Tom Burgess
18 Shaune Corrigan

Coach: Michael Maguire

[TITAN PETE]

Fourth Burgess backed by NRL teammates
By Adrian Warren
AAP
Thu 20th June, 5:23pm


Teammates confidently expect heavyweight NRL debutant Tom Burgess to amply fill the place of twin brother George, as he becomes the last of the Burgess hard nuts to play for South Sydney.

Tom, 21, was named on the Rabbitohs bench for Sunday's clash with Parramatta, effectively replacing twin George, who was stood down after being charged over the alleged smashing a car window in Cairns.

All four Burgess boys are at least 194cms tall and weigh more than 100kgs.

George first played for the Rabbitohs in 2012 while Sam, 24, and Luke, 26, debuted for Souths in 2010 and 2011 respectively.

"He's very strong, athletic and I think he'll be a great asset to the team," Souths forward Ben Lowe said.

"He'll be looking to live up to the Burgess name."

According to prop Roy Asotasi, the only noticeable difference between the twins is their build.

"George is probably a lot slimmer and leaner than Tom, and Tom is probably a lot bigger," Asotasi said.

"The Burgess boys all have that same attribute of being hard nuts.

"They will just cart that ball up, and that's something that we love to see and it definitely puts fear into the opposition.

Souths prop Dave Tyrrell said it was motivating seeing a Burgess brother crash the ball up in the fashion now synonymous with their family name.

"He (Tom) is exactly like his brother (George) and I'm really looking forward to seeing him steamrolling someone," Tyrrell said.

Halfback Adam Reynolds, who relishes scheming behind the Burgess behemoths, said Tom had worked hard throughout the pre-season.

"I think he'll be great for us this week. He's a big boy and he runs hard," Reynolds said.

Asotasi was the only Souths player on Thursday willing to comment on the situation regarding George Burgess, who was fined and suspended over the damage in Cairns.

"Obviously George has had a tough week - he's paid the consequences for that," Asotasi said.

"At the same time, it's an opportunity for someone to step up and who better to replace him than his twin brother?"

Asotasi accepted the suggestion some players might need minders when they are out in public.

He emphasised the whole of the NRL community should not be tarred by the indiscretions of a small percentage.

"There's probably a lot of issues about alcohol-related incidents, but it's only a small minority of players that are creating those situations," Asotasi said.

"It's hard to kind of crucify every player in the league for that small percentage."