‘They’re the best at it’: The one area Souths must exploit against undermanned Panthers

The Panthers are short-priced favourites to bounce back on Thursday night, but there is a path to victory for the Rabbitohs if they want to exploit a chink in the armour.

The Panthers will be there challenging for yet another title in a few months, but the four-time defending premiers are vulnerable and have a massive target on their backs this Thursday when they take on a Souths side that will likely go after their inexperienced halves.

Already without injured fullback Dylan Edwards, Penrith lost superstar playmaker Nathan Cleary just minutes into their grand final rematch against the Storm, with Blaize Talagi coming on to make his club debut alongside Jack Cole.

The pair had some nice moments as the undermanned champions threatened a late comeback, but they’re still gelling and missed the mark with a couple of opportunities, with Brad Schneider another option at halfback for Thursday’s clash.

The Panthers have won just one of their opening three matches and sit one spot behind the Rabbitohs, with South Sydney’s forwards set to go after the inexperienced pair just like they did against the Dragons two weeks ago.

Tallis Duncan isn’t afraid to go after the wounded Panthers on Thursday. Picture: Matt King/Getty Images

“I think when we’re at our best, we can take any team,” lock forward Tallis Duncan said.

“We spoke about looking at them as a team, more so than what individuals are there and who’s out.

“We definitely want to be physical and take the challenge to them.

“We always want to put pressure on the halves because we know how much of the game they control.”

Most clubs would crumble without half of their spine, but the Panthers system is so strong that they are still raging favourites to bounce back despite being without Edwards, Cleary and Jarome Luai, who is now at the Wests Tigers.

“They’ve won four comps in a row, so I’m sure they’re not going to be in the rut for too long,” Rabbitohs utility Jayden Sullivan said.

“They’re the premiers for a reason. It takes 30 people in a squad (to do that).

Blaize Talagi is in the mix to start in the halves against South Sydney. Picture: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

“The NRL is a tough sport and (most) teams have that next man up mentality. They’re the best at it, they’re the benchmark.

“They lost their best player Nathan Cleary last week and were still able to put that effort in. Those boys will be very proud of themselves.”

The Rabbitohs are coming off their first loss of the season but can take some solace from not being embarrassed after the Sharks threatened to put on a cricket score on Saturday afternoon.

“We take confidence from that,” prop Davvy Moale said following a light training session on Monday.

“We might have just withered away previously and given the game up. It could have been a ridiculous score, but we kept in the fight.”