Melbourne Storm vs South Sydney Rabbitohs Prediction – Round 8 2025

Coming off a duck egg on Good Friday and looking to overturn a disastrous record in Victoria’s capital, the South Sydney Rabbitohs will square off against the Melbourne Storm at AAMI Park to close out a huge ANZAC Day of footy.

Remarkably, the Storm have never lost to the Rabbitohs in Melbourne, with this upcoming clash their 20th meeting in the city.

The Storm will be seething after a shock loss to the Dolphins where they conceded 40 unanswered points in scenes rarely seen in the last decade.

It’s not just Souths that Melbourne have an impressive record against, it’s their boss too. Craig Bellamy will look to improve his impressive record over one-time mentor Wayne Bennett, whose sides have not beaten the Storm since 2016.

In an attempt to reverse this record Bennett has done some major positional shifting. In a somewhat confounding move he has moved Latrell Mitchell back to his usual position at fullback, meaning Jye Gray, who is the form No.1 in the competition, drops to the bench.

Is this another classic Bennett tactical smokescreen? Or has he thrown the baby out with the bathwater?

Here’s how these two sides will line up on ANZAC Day, as well as some betting tips for the H2H, first try scorer and over/under markets. This is our Broncos vs Bulldogs prediction.

 

Storm vs Rabbitohs Teams

 

Melbourne Storm

1. Ryan Papenhuyzen

2. Kane Bradley

3. Grant Anderson

4. Nick Meaney

5. Xavier Coates

6. Cameron Munster

7. Jahrome Hughes

8. Stefano Utoikamanu

9. Bronson Garlick

10. Josh King

11. Shawn Blore

12. Eli Katoa

13. Trent Loiero

14. Tyran Wishart

15. Alec MacDonald

16. Joe Chan

17. Lazarus Vaalepu

 

South Sydney Rabbitohs

1. Latrell Mitchell

2. Bayleigh Bentley-Hape

3. Jack Wighton

4. Campbell Graham

5. Isaiah Tass

6. Cody Walker

7. Jayden Sullivan

8. Sean Keppie

9.  Peter Mamouzelos

10. Tevita Tatola

11. Keaon Koloamatangi

12. Euan Aitken

13. Jai Arrow

14. Jye Gray

15. Siliva Havili

16. Davvy Moale

17. Tallis Duncan

Storm vs Rabbitohs Prediction and Betting Tips

 

Head-to-Head Prediction

Can anyone remember the last time the Melbourne Storm conceded 40 points? Well, the Dolphins decided to jog everyone’s memories last week, with a Suncorp Stadium ambush, the likes of which we have rarely seen.

It was just another crazy upset in a season already full of them, but it forces the Storm to do some serious soul searching. Searching they’ll have to do without rake, Harry Grant who will be missing for the next month minimum.

Souths also have to do some searching of their own, but for points, after they were shut out by the Bulldogs in a 32-0 blitz on Good Friday.

The good news for Melbourne is according to the stats, they are the bounce back kings. They’ve won each of their last 16 matches following a loss.

Facing a side who are coming off two disappointing losses, at home, where you’ve never lost to them, is as good as it gets when looking for an immediate bounce back. A bounce back we are tipping Melbourne to find here.

Betting tip: Melbourne Storm.

 

First Try Scorer Prediction

You could tell in last week's post-match press conference just how disappointed Storm skipper Cameron Munster was with his side’s performance.

Always a ‘lead from the front’ type operator, we’re tipping Munster to set the tone early here with a quick fire meat pie.

He also loves this fixture and has scored a try in each of Melbourne's last three matches against South Sydney at AAMI Park.

Betting tip: Cameron Munster.

 

Over/Under Prediction

Traditionally both of these sides are known to be able to score plenty of points. While that wasn’t the case for either last week, each of Melbourne's last six matches at AAMI Park have gone over the total match points line, so that’s the way we’ll be leaning here.

Betting tip: Over total match points.

Storm vs Rabbitohs Match Details

 

Date: Friday, April 25, 2025.

Kick-off: 8:10pm AEST.

Location: AAMI Park, Melbourne.