Injured Souths trio tipped to play against Panthers

South Sydney coach Jason Demetriou expects his side to be at full strength for the "hardest task in the game" as the Rabbitohs try to topple Penrith in next Saturday night's grand final qualifier.

Star winger Alex Johnston, Queensland Origin forward Jai Arrow and Tongan utility Siliva Havili all watched the finish of Saturday night's 38-12 semi-final defeat of Cronulla from the sideline, while prop Tevita Tatola was placed on report.

However, Demetriou was confident that Johnston, Arrow and Havili would be fit to take on the Panthers, who beat Souths in last year's grand final and also ended their 2020 season in the preliminary final.

"Siliva has got a calf problem so fingers crossed. The physio hopes it is not too bad and he might be okay," Demetriou said.

"Jai has just got a groin thing that he has carried for a few weeks but he will be fine. We had a couple of extra changes and the score had got away so it was pretty easy to get him off.

"AJ has got a hip flexor issue but they are not serious and fingers crossed that we can get stuck into the rehab and with a seven day turnaround we can get them back."

He also expected Tatola to receive a fine but no suspension after he was placed on report for a chicken wing tackle on Sharks winger Ronaldo Mulitalo.

"I think he is alright, there is no doubt he puts it in an issue where he will probably get fined but he didn't go on with it so I am pretty sure he will be okay," Demetriou said.

The Rabbitohs spent little time celebrating the club's fifth consecutive preliminary finals appearance and were immediately focused on beating the Panthers at Accor Stadium next Saturday night for another shot at the premiership.

"We know how tough a job we have ahead of us," Demetriou said. "I was pretty pleased as a coach to see how they were flipping their minds straight to the task coming up next week.

“For this group, it’s about going one better than last year, and that’s where the mindset went straight after the game."

Souths followed up last weekend's 30-14 defeat of Sydney Roosters with a six-tries-to-two performance against the Sharks and Demetriou said their defence would again be crucial if they were to beat Penrith.

However, he also said the Rabbitohs wouldn't win an arm wrestle against the premiers and would need to score points, while maintaining discipline. 

“Penrith don’t beat themselves," Demetriou said. "They’re highly motivated, they work extremely hard for each other and have skilful players as well. We’ll put our gloves on, step into the ring and have a crack.”

"We’re under no illusions that this is the hardest task in the game at the moment. They’ve been pretty hard to beat. We know how tough it will be, but we know we can do it. We’ve got to turn up for a war next week.”