Bunnies eye sixth spot as Knights, Sharks circle

South Sydney have turned their attention to keeping sixth spot as they bid to avoid a road trip to Newcastle or Canberra in the opening week of the finals.

The Rabbitohs are one competition point clear of the seventh-placed Knights after Wayne Bennett's men held onto a narrow win against the Wests Tigers last week.

While a top-four spot is still mathematically within reach, dramatic results would have to occur in the final fortnight for the Bunnies to play in a qualifying final.

The Rabbitohs host the Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium on Thursday night before an eight-day turnaround leading into a Round 20 grudge match against the Roosters.

Two victories over the next fortnight will fend away any chance of the Knights or Sharks hosting their own home final and making the Rabbitohs travel.

The Knights face bottom eight sides St George Illawarra and the Gold Coast to finish the regular season. A pair of wins would put pressure on the Rabbitohs' plan of keeping sixth spot.

"It's been touched on, you want any sort of advantage in the finals and in a home game it does give you an advantage," Rabbitohs centre Campbell Graham said.

"To get to that [sixth] position we need to beat the Bulldogs and put in a good performance against the Roosters too.

"We've got to focus on this week for that to fall into place for us. We're not in the top four and probably haven't been as consistent [to be].

"I'd probably say not too many people are backing us but I'm confident with what we're building here and so is the rest of the squad."

Graham has been in a rich vein of try-scoring form over the past month with eight tries in his past five games.

After making his debut for Australia in the World Cup 9s tournament last year and then moving to the centres for this club, the 21-year-old has kicked on in 2020.

"That was big for me to get called in late and play alongside some rep players in that team was big for me and my development," Graham said.

"I've played a lot in the centres coming through the junior system and I got an opportunity with Braidon [Burns] and Jimmy the Jet [James Roberts] getting injured.

"I'm really trying to make it my own and the team really needed me to step up this year so I'm trying to do that.

"I'm happy with my form in recent weeks but I have to keep that up in the finals, there's no point having half-decent games here and there."

The Rabbitohs will be without Dane Gagai for the Bulldogs clash after the representative winger accepted an early guilty plea for a grade one striking charge.