The Rabbitohs may be celebrating their 38-12 win over Cronulla in style, setting up their fifth consecutive preliminary final appearance, though there's a nervous wait for a handful of stars at Redfern.
Despite cruising to a massive win against an off-kilter Sharks outfit, there were some casualties against the second-placed Cronulla, losing Jai Arrow, Alex Johnston and Siliva Havili to injury during the match.
Havili left the match with six minutes left in the first half due to a calf complaint and didn't return for the remainder of the contest. The Tongan international managed just 18 minutes, racking up 64 metres in the process.
Alex Johnston went up the tunnel ten minutes into the second stanza, with initial reports of a leg cork dismissed by head coach Jason Demetriou post-match, claiming it was a minor hip flexor injury sustained during Ronaldo Mulitalo's runaway try.
Lastly was Queensland Maroons forward Jai Arrow, whose injury is the least serious of the trio.
Arrow came off in the game's dying stages with a groin problem, however the edge forward confirmed it was a long-running niggle, and with the game all but over, the former Titan erred on the side of caution.
Demetriou was confident all three would be available for Saturday's preliminary final against the Penrith Panthers.
“Siliva has got a calf problem, so fingers crossed the physio thinks it is not too bad and he might be OK,” Demetriou said during his post-match press conference.
“Jai has just got a groin thing that he has carried for weeks, but he will be fine.
“AJ has got a hip flexor. Again they are not serious, but fingers crossed we can get stuck into the rehab and seven day turnaround we can get them back.”
Tevita Tatola is another concern for the side, who was placed on report midway through the second half after Mulitalo's arm got caught in an awkward position during a tackle.
While the potential of 'chicken-wing' suspension looms over Tatola's head, Demetriou was again confident that the Tongan prop wouldn't miss any game time over the tackle.
“I think he’ll be alright, no doubt he puts him in a position where he’ll probably get fined but he didn’t go on with it, so I think he’ll be ok,” Demetriou said.
The Rabbitohs have exactly a week between their Cronulla win and their meeting with the reigning premiers, while Penrith have enjoyed a 15-day rest following their Qualifying Final win over Parramatta.
Whoever comes through the match will face either Parramatta or North Queensland in the NRL Grand Final in a fortnight's time, with the pair set to face off at Queensland Country Bank Stadium on Friday night.
