SOUTH Sydney Rabbitohs prop Garret Crossman sees his side’s match against the Dragons as must win if they’re to stay in the NRL’s top eight.

The Bunnies have lost three of their last four matches and are in danger of dropping out of the eight should they lose again on Friday night at ANZ Stadium.

“There is a bit of log jam there in the middle of the table so I think so,” Crossman, a former Orange junior, said.

“They (Dragons) are fairly consistent over the 80 minutes but I think we’re in good stead after our performance against the Roosters.

“Sure we lost but it was a pretty grinding game and that’s what we’ll have to do against the Dragons.”

The Bunnies lacked punch in attack against an inconsistent Roosters side in last weekend’s 18-14 loss.

Crossman believes an unfortunate training mishap which saw star hooker Isaac Luke dislocate his shoulder is behind his team’s slide.

“He’s pretty tough to replace. He’s been the best player in the NRL all year,” he said.

“Beau Falloon comes into the side with his own skills and qualities. We just have to learn to live without him (Luke) for the next four to five weeks.”

Friday’s match will be Crossman’s 12th for the South Sydney club this year.

Not expected to feature prominently in 2010 behind the likes of Dave Taylor, Sam Burgess, Roy Asotasi, Michael Crocker, Ben Ross and Luke Stuart, the 28-year-old believes he still has plenty to offer the club.

“My selection in the side has gone with ebs and flows this year a bit,” he said.

“There have been a lot of other factors, injuries have been a big part of that. I don’t expect to secure a starting spot with the roster we have but I do have expectations of being able to get a regular bench spot. Even though that’s pretty tough, too.

“I’ve been pretty happy with my form this year.”

However, Crossman is not content with simply making up the numbers.

The Bloomfield Tigers junior expects the Bunnies to make the semi-finals and is counting on being a part of them himself.

“We’ve got the team to make the semis. On our day we’re one of the best sides in the competition. We’ll be making a push for a decent spot in the eight,” he said.

“We’re hanging in there on for and against at the moment but there are a few sides on 20 points. We need to keep winning otherwise if you string together a couple of losses you can slide out of the eight pretty easily.

“The Dragons game is pretty important for us.”