St George Illawarra Dragons vs South Sydney Rabbitohs Prediction: 3/1 Bunnies to win another tight one

After battling to a narrow win in their opening NRL Premiership fixture, the South Sydney Rabbitohs head to WIN Stadium on Saturday to face the St George Illawarra Dragons in the 268th edition of a great Australian rivalry (04:00 GMT, 15:00 local).

The Dragons have something to prove after a meek effort against the Canterbury Bulldogs in round one, so they ought to be firing from the off. Here are my St George Illawarra Dragons vs South Sydney Rabbitohs predictions, complete with latest team news and match odds from Betfred.

St George Illawarra Dragons vs South Sydney Rabbitohs Odds

The bookies are right behind the Dragons for this clash having watched them put the Rabbitohs to the sword just three weeks ago in the annual Charity Shield contest.

After St George’s 46-26 win in Mudgee, Betfred have them 4/9 to add another victory against their old rivals, implying a 69.2% probability of a first two points of the campaign for Shane Flanagan’s side.

You can get 9/5 about a Rabbitohs win to back up their 16-14 success over the Dolphins in the opening round, while it’s 22/1 for the draw in 80 minutes.

The two-way handicap gives you 5/6 for the Dragons, who give up a 6.5-point edge to their visitors in Wollongong. In that scenario, the Rabbitohs are 10/11 with the one-score advantage.

Team News

The Dragons suffered a heavy blow last week beyond the 28-20 scoreline against the Bulldogs, with Ryan Couchman limping off the Kogarah Oval field less than 25 minutes in.

It has since been confirmed that the substitute, who had only entered the game seven minutes earlier, has suffered ACL damage and so will miss the remainder of the 2025 season.

Blake Lawrie is added to the bench in his place after recovering from a hamstring injury, with Dylan Egan again the 18th player for Flanagan’s Dragons.

Rugby League Odds

Fomer St Helens scrum-half Lewis Dodd is back available to Wayne Bennett after serving a suspension following an indiscretion in the Charity Shield fixture against the Dragons.

However, the Rabbitohs head coach has listed Dodd among the reserves, with Jamie Humphreys preferred at seven after his display in the win over the Dolphins, which backed up a great second-half showing in Mudgee after Dodd’s sin-binning.

There’s further suspension trouble for the Bunnies, with Jack Wighton sidelined. He is replaced in the centres by Fletcher Myers, and two-try Tyrone Munro’s collarbone fracture gives Bayleigh Bentley-Harper the opportunity to make his NRL debut on the wing.

Rabbitohs by 1-12 points @ 3/1

I know the Charity Shield showing wasn’t exactly glorious for the Rabbitohs, but I liked what they did against the Dolphins last weekend and find it hard to write off Bennett’s sides no matter what the expectations are for their season.

And having watched the Dragons take forever to really get going against the Bulldogs in week one, I don’t have St George as the big favourites the bookies have them pegged as.

Humphreys wasn’t 100-per-cent convincing at seven last week but did more than enough to retain the shirt alongside Cody Walker in the halves, with over 700 kick metres to his name. While the loss of Wighton is undoubtedly a blow, I can see the Bunnies taking enough of a lead to hold on for the points.

Part of me fancies the 1-5 point with for Souths at 7/1, but the extra insurance of a bigger margin at 3/1 (25% probability) is a safer choice.

Rabbitohs over 22.5 total points @ 20/21

There’s points in these here Rabbitohs. Sure, they ended up having to grind out the two points last week.

But even in a forgettable 2024 they cleared 22.5 points seven times in 24 rounds and the Dolphins win was their first miss on that front in three games in ’25 including the Pre-Season Challenge comp.

Rabbitohs sides under Bennett average more than 13 matches per season of 23 or more points, and I think he’ll get them playing fluidly enough to clear that mark on Saturday against a Dragons side that was beaten both out wide and through the middle with too much regularity by the Dogs last weekend.

At 20/21, I take the Cardinal and Myrtle attack to be better than that 51.2% probability.

You can read all our latest Rugby League Betting Tips at our dedicated Betfred Insights Rugby League content hub.