Parramatta’s finals campaign kicks off on Friday with South Sydney’s abysmal record at Pirtek stadium sure to give the hosts a boost.
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While the Eels will most likely be without gun hooker – and king of the bantz – Nathan Peats, Souths have only notched up one win in their last nine visits to Parramatta, dating all the way back to the formation of the NRL.
That includes a 54-0 absolute trouncing at the hands of the Eels in 2002.
Dating back even further, the Rabbitohs have managed eight wins from 20 visits.
While the Eels will be taking the field for the first time since the NRL’s preliminary sanctions were handed down, Souths will still be reeling from their last-start loss to Wests Tigers in a performance coach Michael Maguire labelled, “soft.”
"Normally I don't comment about it but we need to ensure we are a lot better than that otherwise we are going to end up in the exactly the same place we are now," Maguire fumed.
"It is not acceptable at this club.
"We need to be accountable for what we put out there because it was garbage really.
"People just didn't want to put their bodies in front of them. I haven't seen that before in my time here and we need to have a good hard look at ourselves.
"To get through this we have to be honest and brutal about what is going on on the field out there."
"I thought it was quite soft."
In front of an anticipated full house on Friday night, the Eels will be a tough task, taking the chocolates 52 per cent of the time - at any ground – when facing off against Souths, while Semi Radradra will be looking to add to his 24 tries scored at Pirtek – second only to Jamie Lyon among active players.
