With Mitchell fit and firing, South Sydney want to widen the crack in Penrith’s windscreen

South Sydney’s premiership campaign won’t be lost on a hot March evening in Penrith but as the Rabbitohs prepare to face the Panthers on Thursday night the match feels as weighty as any Round 2 match ever can be.

The Rabbitohs are a popular pick to take out the title in 2023 and with Penrith stumbling to a loss in their season opener against Brisbane, the two-time defending champions don’t quite seem the unstoppable force of recent years.

A spate of injuries in the forwards means South Sydney will be up against it but with Latrell Mitchell declared fit to play, all things still feel possible for the Rabbitohs.

Mitchell himself lit the fuse for the blockbuster when he claimed there were some “cracks in the windscreen” for Penrith after losing to the Broncos last week and to St Helens in the World Club Challenge.

“He’s spent some time with the Penrith boys on the World Cup tour so he had some fun with them, but we’re under no illusions how tough this is going to be,” said Rabbitohs coach Jason Demetriou.

“They lost a game in Round 1 at home; when was the last time they lost at home? And they only lost by a point, so there’s a long way to go before we talk about chinks in what’s a very impressive armour.”

The Panthers and Rabbitohs have forged quite a history in recent years – Penrith have ended South Sydney’s season in each of the last three finals series, including a narrow win in the 2021 grand final.

But Demetriou said his side would not draw on the memory of those encounters and instead focus on themselves as they look to condemn Penrith to back-to-back defeats for the first time in almost four years.

“We know how hard it’s going to be but our process doesn’t care who’s on the field or who we’re playing against,” Demetriou said.