New Zealand Warriors vs South Sydney Rabbitohs Prediction: Poor Rabbitohs could make a statement

At Mt. Smart Stadium, the round of 18 of the National Rugby League will feature a matchup between the New Zealand Warriors and the South Sydney Rabbitohs. The New Zealand Warriors are in incredible form with the ball right now, while the South Sydney Rabbitohs defense has seemingly vanished since round 11 of the competition.

The New Zealand Warriors' most recent five games have resulted in four victories, with two byes sandwiched in the middle. The home side have regained the attacking form they had in the early part of the season, posting an average of 38 points over their most recent three games. Shaun Johnson has scored 60 points, 4 tries, and 22 goals in New Zealand's last five games, while Dallin Watene-Zelezniak has scored 10 tries in the same span of time. The New Zealand Warriors have the best record in the National Rugby League against the spread this season, with a 12-3 overall record and a 5-2 mark at home, and they enter this matchup with that record. The Warriors have made two adjustments for this game, the first being the reinstatement of Mitch Barnett to the bench after serving his suspension. Marata Niukore has been suspended for three weeks for a high shot, which has resulted in Josh Curran being promoted to the starting lineup.

The Rabbitohs have now lost two games in a row, both of which were won by teams that are not particularly feared in the competition, namely the St. George Illawarra Dragons and the North Queensland Cowboys. In fact, the Rabbitohs have just one win in their last five matches, with two other losses to Canberra Raiders and Parramatta Eels. In South Sydney Rabbitohs first 11 games, they did not allow any opponent to score more than 20 points, making their defense the standard by which the rest of the NRL was measured for a good portion of the season. In the five games that have been played since then, every single opponent has scored at least 28 points, and the average score for those games is 32.8 points. The combined total of South Sydney's most recent two games shows that they were defeated in the battle for run meters by a score of 3904–3252. Jed Cartwright and Peter Mamouzelos have been removed from the Rabbits' active roster, which has resulted in Shaq Mitchell and Siliva Havili being re-assigned to the team's bench. After getting a suspension for a shoulder charge, Jacob Host has been replaced on the run-on side by Michael Chee Kam.

The head-to-head statistics between the Rabbitohs and the Warriors could not be more one-sided if they tried. The South Sydney Rabbitohs have won 13 of the last 14 games against New Zealand, whereas the Warriors' most recent victory came in the first round of the 2018 season. Since then, the South Sydney Rabbitohs have gone on a winning streak of seven games in a row, with a victory margin of 21.5 points on average throughout all of their victories. The total number of points scored in each of the previous six matchups between these two clubs has gone over In the year 2023, the New Zealand Warriors have won 10 of their 15 games, while the South Sydney Rabbitohs have won 8 of their 16 games by a score of 12 points or fewer.

Over the past ten years, the South Sydney Rabbitohs have competed against the Warriors in a variety of ways, but this year things are different. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak is scoring goals all over the field, and the resoluteness of a New Zealand Warriors side that was previously worn out is now in the spotlight. Heading into this contest, the South Sydney Rabbitohs are dealing with a number of injuries, and their defense has completely disintegrated. It is anticipated that the New Zealand Warriors will finally end their winless streak this week, and Johnson will play a significant role in the game.