Townsville Stadium
Mon Apr 23, 7:00pm
WIN 10-6
South Sydney put in a brilliant defensive display to notch an upset 10-6 win over North Queensland in their round six NRL match-up at Dairy Farmers stadium in Townsville tonight. Rabbitohs coach Jason Taylor put the side through an intense defensive training session on Friday and the tactic paid handsome dividends as the visitors kept the Cowboys scoreless in the second half. Souths had just 47 per cent of possession during the match but did enough to snap a two-game losing streak after opening the season with three consecutive wins. The victory means the Rabbitohs leapfrog the Cowboys into third spot on the competition ladder with four wins from six starts. North Queensland took a narrow 6-4 lead into half-time but could not breach the Rabbitohs defence in the second stanza despite the best efforts of Kangaroos half-back Johnathan Thurston and full-back Matt Bowen. After a hotly contested opening half hour, the Cowboys posted first points when Thurston delivered a perfectly-timed ball for centre Paul Bowman to crash over from 10 metres out. The Cowboys led by six points until the final minute of the half, when Shannon Hegarty crossed for his first try since 2005 after Jeremy Smith put him in space down the left wing. The visitors hit the front for the first time 16 minutes into the second half when winger Nathan Merritt scored his sixth try of the season for a 10-6 lead. Merritt showed why he is such a prodigious finisher of tries, bursting pass his opposite number Neil Sweeney to collect a Joe Williams grubber kick just inches from the dead ball line. The Rabbitohs defended grimly in the final 15 minutes when the Cowboys had repeated sets near the tryline, and in the end the home side's error count contributed to their second loss in a row. In a further blow to the Cowboys, David Faiumu was stretchered off late in the second half with what looked to be a knee injury.
HT Hegarty, Merritt tries Williams goal Crowd Referee Final Line Up Other FG Matches
Judiciary News
South Sydney forward Luke Stuart has been cited for a boot which caught North Queensland fullback Matt Bowen in the head.. Stuart was charged with grade one contrary conduct by the NRL match review committee over the incident. Souths coach Jason Taylor said after the match he had no doubt Stuart was attempting to kick the ball, when he followed through and thrust out his boot after Bowen had dived on a kick. Stuart does not face suspension, whether he pleads guilty or contests the charge at the judiciary, as his penalty was reduced by a seven-year, incident-free discount. He has since accepted the early guilty plea.
Reserve Grade - NSW Premier League - Round 6
v Newcastle, Newcastle International Sports Centre, Sun Apr 22 5:00pm
WIN 20-16
The first half was a tight affair, with one try each. Newcastle had a converted try to Scott Dureau and Fetuli Talanoa scored for Norths when he outleaped the defence to take an Eddie Paea bomb. Newcastle led 6-4. In the second half Ben Rogers scored for Norths and Beau Champion converted. The Bears extended the lead when Issac Luke scored from dummy half after good lead up work by Fetuli Talanoa. Newcastle was able to score twice after a mountain of possession gifted to them from Bears mistakes and penalties and they took a two-point lead with the score going to 16-14. It looked like Norths were not going to be able to get in field position to score a try and win the game, however Issac Luke managed to break the line and he had enough pace to run about 45m to score with 1 minute left on the clock. Champion converted and the Knights had one last play to try and win the match. Newcastle regathered from the kick off and they were passing the ball around like a 7?s team but Norths were able to shut down the play and win the match. North Sydney are the big movers in the Premier League this year, advancing into the top-four after six rounds of the competition. The Bears, through their alignment with South Sydney are looking strong right across the board, with the side brimming with first-grade experience. Beau Champion and Eddie Paea have formed an exciting combination in the halves, with the pair NRL regulars of the future. Norths caused the upset of the weekend by downing competition high-flyers Newcastle 20-16.
0-6
HT 4-6
10-6
14-6
14-12
14-16
79 min 20-16
Luke 2, Talanoa, Rogers tries
Champion 2 from 4 goals
Final Line Up
T G/A FG
Flbk - Champion, Beau - 2/4 -
Wing - Gordon, Isaac - - -
Cntr - Paulson, Germaine - - -
Cntr - Talanoa, Fetuli 1 - -
Wing - Baird, Bladen - - -
5/8 - Rogers, Ben 1 - -
Half - Paea, Eddie - - -
Prop - Geddes, Scott - - -
Hook - Webb, Stuart - - -
Prop - Verlinden, Ryan - - -
SRow - Galuvao, Joe - - - (c)
SRow - Pettybourne, Eddy - - -
Lock - Bobongie, Jardine - - -
Int - Falemaka,Joe - - -
Int - Nasio, Valu - - -
Int - Ta'akimoeaka, Conrad - - -
Int - Luke, Issac 2 - -
4 2/4 -
Other Reserve Grade Matches
NSWRL Jersey Flegg - Under 20's - Round 6
v North Sydney Bears, North Sydney Oval, Sat April 21 4:00pm
WIN 10-8
Moli, Trotter tries Coleman goal Other Third Grade Matches
NSWRL U18 SG Ball Cup - Round 9
v Balmain, Leichhardt Oval, Sat Apr 21
LOSS 22-30
tries goals Other U18 Matches 39-38 Brok Manly b Newcastle 32-10 Camp Wests b St George 66-8 Hens Syd Rstrs b WSyd Academy 16-16 Ming C Coast d Parramatta 36-10 NSO Illawarra b Norths 38-36 SMry Penrith b Canberra 26-22 Ende Canterbury b Cronulla
NSWRL U16 Harold Mathews - Round 9
v Balmain, Leichhardt Oval, Sat Apr 21
LOSS 12-46
tries
goals
Other U16 Matches
34-18 Brok Newcastle b Manly
22-10 Camp Wests b St George
Hens Syd Rstrs v WSyd Academy
44-0 Ming Parramatta b C Coast
11-10 NSO Norths b Illawarra
44-16 SMry Penrith b Canberra
12-6 Ende Canterbury b Cronulla