pan66.com experts Brett Kimmorley and Steve Renouf have donned their coaching caps and provided a rundown of what it will take to win, who the key players are and their all-important final instructions.
Renouf has put himself in Wayne Bennett's shoes for Friday night's duel, while Kimmorley is calling the shots for the Raiders.
Plan of attack
Kimmorley
We want to play a very fast game through the middle and my dummy-half will certainly be the key there with lots of width to get Souths moving sideways. Once I create some momentum I want a lot of push support off my No.9 through the middle of the park, and obviously that all needs to be built off a huge completion rate.
Renouf
We're going to run our big boppers at them and try to dominate them through the middle, and if we can get on top there it'll create openings for Damien Cook, Cameron Murray and Cody Walker. If we win the battle in the middle it should limit their opportunities to go to the fringes.
Plan in defence
Kimmorley
Cameron Murray plays a very important role for Souths so we need to nullify him. He changes momentum and he showed against Manly he has that ability to come up with the big play when his team needs a lift. He's got some great late footwork and he's the main guy we need to stop going forward. If we can keep him quiet it will go a long way to stopping Damien Cook's ability to run from dummy-half.
Match: Raiders v Rabbitohs
Finals Week 3 -
home Team
Raiders
4th Position
away Team
Rabbitohs
3rd Position
Venue: GIO Stadium, Canberra
Renouf
We have to get up in their face right from the start and stay in their face until the final whistle. They've got some classy strike weapons right through the backs so we need to work together and make sure we have a lot of talk and intensity in defence. We need to be right up in their faces and try to frustrate them out of the game.
My key player
Kimmorley
Josh Hodgson holds the key for us. He'll control what happens around the dummy-half area and he's very selective when to kick and when not to kick. He also has a knack for making big defensive plays and knows what the opposition's set plays look like. He's super important for us in defence and attack.
Renouf
Damien Cook. He can have a massive influence if he can do his thing from dummy-half. When he runs off a dominant forward pack it opens it up for his halves. He also has a good understanding with Cameron Murray in the way they can spot a defensive weakness and sniff out an opportunity.
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The opposition danger man
Kimmorley
Adam Reynolds. I've got a feeling he's going to respond after a sub-par performance last week. He missed a few tackles and his kicking game was pretty poor so he'll be highly motivated to play well. He has one of the best short kicking games in the competition and if we give him lots of time he'll make us do a number of repeat sets, and that's something we don't want to have to do.
Renouf
It's a toss-up between John Bateman and Josh Hodgson but there's a bit of an X-factor about John Bateman and his ability to make a big play when his team needs it. He has the most penetration, he's a freak with the ball and he can cause a bit of havoc on those fringes.
Wayne's special order for Rabbitohs ahead of prelim final
We will win if we ...
Kimmorley
We have to back ourselves and play our brand of football. A lot of people didn't expect us to be here but we know how much hard work we've done. We need to stay extremely confident and use our home ground and home fans to our big advantage.
Renouf
We'll be in with a great chance if we stick to what we know and get all the little things right. We need to keep it simple, defend well and have a high completion rate. We know we're a good footy team and we don't have to play flash footy. We just need to stick to the game plan and keep our penalty count down.
Final message
Kimmorley
Defence wins games and we know how much we've improved our defence this season. We're super-fit, we're more athletic, we're faster, we're tough, and we'll go longer than them tonight.
Renouf
Play the way we've prepared all week and do all the things we spoke about at training. Don't get impatient, keep it simple, go out and play with a lot of confidence and self-belief.
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