Bryan Fletcher predicts NRL preliminary finals weekend

It’s time to book that holiday, Wayne. According to this NRL great, the Rabbitohs are toast against Canberra on Friday night.

Former Rabbitohs star Bryan Fletcher has made a brutal prediction for Wayne Bennett’s men ahead of this weekend’s hot preliminary final clash against Canberra.

The 45-year-old played psychologist this week, interpreting a peculiar decision from the super coach as a sign of nerves ahead of the red and green’s visit to the nation’s capital.

“I heard this morning that Wayne Bennett is making his players carpool down there rather than have them take the team bus where they all hang out together,” he said.

“I think that means they’re a little bit nervous, they’re trying to take their mind off the game.”

The NSW great said he “couldn’t see the Raiders being beaten” on home turf in the decider for a slot in the grand final.

“What we’ve seen with the Rabbitohs the past two weeks with Adam Reynolds on the right hand side … they were diabolical against Manly,” Fletcher said. “They let in three tries.”

A loss will see Bennett fall inches short of another prestigious September accolade. If he can orchestrate a victory over Canberra on Friday night he will become the first mentor in history to coach four different clubs to grand finals.

But Canberra’s players aren’t expecting Reynolds to be a walkover if they target South Sydney’s right-side on Friday.

“They’ll fix that. We’ll be throwing what we’ve got at them, but we won’t be expecting soft tries,” Raiders five-eighth Jack Wighton said on Wednesday.

“You know what finals is like. With the class of players they’ve got it’s something that’s easily fixed. But we’ll definitely be throwing some shape at them.”

Canberra’s dominant left edge produced a whopping 35 tries in the regular season, making them the fourth most effective of all clubs on that side.

Bryan Fletcher says Wayne Bennett and the Rabbitohs are packing up for the year.

As for Sydney and Melbourne, Fletcher says it’s lights out for the Storm powerhouse as the NSW capital gears up for a special SCG preliminary.

The ground itself, Fletcher says, will play a massive role in throwing the visitors off their guard, and not just because it’s in an enemy state.

“I know everyone’s saying Jared Waerea-Hargreaves out is a big blow, of course it is. But the Roosters have too much strike power for Melbourne,” Fletcher said.

“They’re playing at the cricket ground — and the Storm have never played there.

“People always make fun of me for this, but you lose your bearings at the cricket ground because you play on an angle. What happens is, when you’re defending, subconsciously you spread your players because the ground is so big. The centres and the wingers go to the sideline — the Roosters will just play through the middle. Roosters (will win) comfortably.”

With the home ground advantage, the Roosters are in the hot seat to make it two grand finals in a row.

Melbourne’s playmakers went to a new level against Parramatta last week, ending the underdogs’ season in brutal fashion with a 32-0 victory — but the game will be completely changed against premiership-winning halves combination Luke Keary and Cooper Cronk.

“They’re the form halves at the moment,” Storm halfback Cameron Munster admitted on Wednesday.

“Keary is playing with a lot of confidence and Cooper is the ultimate professional.

“I’m sure he (Cronk) will try to get the wood over the Storm again; he’s a very competitive person and I know what he brings to the team.”