The Sharks are coming off a 93-minute epic against the Cowboys as they confront a dangerous Rabbitohs outfit full of confidence after eliminating their old rivals the Roosters.
How quickly the Sharks can recover physically and mentally is the $64 question but they have shown all season that they are up to any challenge thrown at them.
On Saturday night at Allianz Stadium, they will feel very much in enemy territory even though they are hosting the semi-final, so a fast start is vital to take the Rabbitohs faithful out of the equation.
As they showed in Sunday's chaotic contest that featured a record seven sin-bins, Latrell Mitchell and Cody Walker love to ride the emotional wave and the Rabbitohs' hopes of progressing to a preliminary final lay heavily with them.
The Sharks have Nicho Hynes and Matt Moylan in rare form and plenty of firepower up front where Toby Rudolf, Braden Hamlin-Uele and Dale Finucane will lay a platform for their magic men to work off.
In the only meeting between the two sides this year it was the Sharks who prevailed 21-20 in golden point thanks to a Hynes field goal.
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The Rundown
Team news
Sharks: After Siosifa Talakai and Royce Hunt were ruled out following the side's final training run on Friday, Cronulla were forced into a re-shuffle which sees Connor Tracey shift to the centres and Lachlan Miller come in on the wing. Braden Hamlin-Uele starts up front for Hunt and Aiden Tolman joins the bench. There were no further changes an hour out from kick off.
Rabbitohs: South Sydney will take the field as named on Tuesday. Thomas Burgess' two-game ban for a Careless High Tackle means he will only play again this season if Souths make the grand final. His place on the bench is taken by Michael Chee Kam in the only change to the squad that beat the Roosters.
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Key match-up
Matt Moylan v Cody Walker: Two vastly experienced playmakers who showed their class in week one of the finals with some exquisite touches in attack. Moylan has turned back the clock in 2022, coming up with 12 try assists and 14 line break assists and working in unison with Nicho Hynes to pick apart defences with slick hands and deception. Walker was at his dazzling best against the Roosters, controlling the game superbly when the Bunnies twice went down to 11 men and laying on four tries through a mix of deft kicks and pinpoint passes.
Stat Attack
Three players racked up more than 1000 tackles in the regular season and the man on the top of the heap is Sharks hooker Blayke Brailey with 1088 tackles at a staggering average of 43 per game. Brailey made 68 tackles and missed just three in 93 minutes of relentless commitment against the Cowboys on Saturday night. The other men to crack the thousand mark for tackles were Cowboy Reece Robson (1059) and Eel Reed Mahoney (1055) while Brailey's opponent this week Damien Cook came in at No.6 on the list with 921 tackles at an average of 45 per match.
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