Stadium Australia
Sat Jul 28, 5:30pm
WIN 20-14
A tremendous defensive effort and 12 points in the final eight minutes helped the Rabbitohs to a hard-fought win over the Titans tonight 20-14. With the game in the balance Souths repelled four successive sets of six on their own line then turned defence into attack at the other end of the park to record tries to Nigel Vagana in the 72nd minute and Dean Widders in the 76th minute and move into the top eight pending results in the rest of round 20. After the game Souths coach Jason Taylor said he was thrilled with his side’s never-say-die spirit. "I’m really proud of our guys, the way we came through that in the second half was inspirational," he said. "We just kept coming at them and coming at them and coming at them and we got the points. It’s so impressive how they stick together, we’ve been doing it all year and it is a pleasure to watch. It’s inspirational, it’s awesome." The Rabbitohs started the game superbly scoring tries to Fetuli Talanoa in the third minute after he leapt onto a Ben Rogers cross-kick and Eddie Paea, after a jinking 30m run during which he beat four Gold Coast defenders, in the 10th minute to lead 8-0. But the home side then went over an hour without scoring a point before a grandstand finish. Taylor said his side eased off the throttle after their explosive start. "We played well in patches, early on and late in the game," he said. "The points were enormously vital tonight with both teams on the same competition points. The Gold Coast talked all week about how important this game was and they played like a desperate team." Down 8-0 the Titans fought back through a converted 26th minute try to captain Luke Bailey followed by a Mat Rogers try in the 37th minute to grab the lead 10-8 at half-time. The Titans then went further ahead in the 47th minute through a Brett Delaney try and looked as thought they may end their four game losing streak. But after the Rabbitohs repelled wave after wave after wave of Titans attacking sorties, they found a way through at the other end to record their ninth win of the year and move onto 20 competition points. The Rabbitohs were injury free after the win. Second rower David Fa’alogo was put on report in the 18th minute for his involvement in a tackle on Titans prop Ian Donnelly. Centre Shannon Hegarty won the Rabbitohs players’ player award for man of the match.
3 min 4-0 10 min 8-0 26 min 8-6 37 min 8-10 46 min 8-14 72 min 14-14 76 min 20-14 Talanoa, Paea, Vagana, Widders tries Merritt 2 from 2, Paea 0 from 2 goals Crowd Referee Penalities Scrums Other FG Matches 26-16 SFS Sydney b Melbourne 34-30 Bruc Canberra b Penrith 52-10 MtSm Warriors b Newcastle, 28-24 Woll Canterbury b St Geo-Ill 30-16 Lang Brisbane b Cronulla 32-24 Parr Manly b Parramatta 54-10 Leic Wests-tig b Nth Qld
Judiciary News
Rabbitohs back rower David Fa’alogo has been charged with striking by the NRL match review committee following Souths 20-14 win over the Titans on Saturday night. Fa’alogo was hit with a grade one striking charge for his involvement in a tackle on Titans prop Ian Donnelly in the 17th minute of the round 20 match at Telstra Stadium. The offence carries a base penalty of 125 points but with an early guilty plea the Kiwi international will receive 93 points, as he has no prior offences, which means he will escape suspension (100 points = a one game suspension). David has accepted a early guilty plea and will play this weekend.
Reserve Grade - NSW Premier League - Round 20
v Western Suburbs, North Sydney Oval, Fri Jul 27 8:00pm
WIN 58-14
THE North Sydney Bears last night won their fourth game in a row with a 58-14 demolition of the Western Suburbs Magpies at North Sydney Oval with halfback Joe Williams collecting a personal tally of 30 points. The Magpies had the better of the early field position thanks to back-to-back penalties, but the Bears repelled their opposition, and it didn't take long for the home side's forwards to get on top of their opposition. Norths opened the scoring in the 12th minute through a try to Troy Boston. Joe Williams headed across field before grubbering ahead for Boston to score in the corner. Williams converted for 6-0. The Bears were in again in the 15th minute when Greg Nichols scored next to the posts following good work from Williams and Eddy Pettybourne. The conversion made it 12-0. The biggest cheer of the night came in the 20th minute with a try to David Peachey. A good switch of play from Jeremy Smith found Williams who put Jardine Bobongie through a gap who drew the defence before off loading for The Peach. Williams made it 3/3 and it was 18-0. Three minutes later, it was 22-0. With Williams down in back play, Smith went into first receiver, and stepped his way through the defence to score. Williams converted and it was 24-0. Joe Williams scored his first try in the 25th minute. Pettybourne made another long run down the left hand side before passing inside to Williams who ran 30m to score for a score line of 30-0. Williams crossed for his second in the 28th minute. While being held by three defenders, Pettybourne got a good offload away for Smith who put Peachey into a gap, he drew the fullback and found Williams unmarked. After half an hour it was 36-0. Wests hit back in the 31st minute a try to Mark Hendy directly from a scrum and at halftime the Bears led 36-6 at the break. It didn't take long for the Bears to extend their lead through a try to the hard working Bobongie in the 43rd minute. The try was scored on the back of a great 50 m run from Peachey after he gathered a kick inside the 20 and stepped past several defenders. In the 48th, Reece Simmonds was held up over the line. From the resulting play the ball, the Bears spun it wide, and after a good run around with Michael Greenfield, Smith threw a cut out pass for Buddy Gordon who streaked down the touch line and scored in the corner. Williams had his second miss and it stayed 46-6. In the 51st minute, there was some great work by Greenfield as he was able to offload for a flying Peachey who put Williams under the posts to complete his hat-trick. Williams's conversion made it 52-6. Wests crossed in the 60th, and 64th minutes through tries to Nick Taylor and Mark Hendy. The Bears continued to run hard, and hit hard in defence. Conrad Ta'akimoeaka put on a huge hit in the 73rd minute that would have made the Rampling brothers proud. It was a sign the Bears would not relax at any stage. A well deserved try to Michael Greenfield in the 75th minute wrapped up the scoring, with the final score 58-14. It was a great team effort from the Bears, Smith and Williams looked dangerous all night, with Williams contributing a 30 point haul. The forwards continually bent the defence back led by Greenfield and Joe Falemaka, and the Peach was outstanding in his Bears debut.
10 min 6-0
15 min 12-0
20 min 18-0
22 min 24-0
24 min 30-0
26 min 36-0
30 min 36-6
45 min 42-6
50 min 46-6
52 min 52-6
70 min 52-10
75 min 52-14
78 min 58-14
Williams 3, Boston, Nichols, Peachey, Smith, Bobongie, Y.Gordon, Greenfield tries
Williams 9 from 10 goals
Final Line Up
T G/A FG
Flbk - Peachey, David 1 - -
Wing - Simmonds, Reece - - -
Cntr - Nichols, Greg 1 - -
Cntr - Gordon, Yileen 1 - -
Wing - Boston, Troy 1 - -
5/8 - Williams, Joe 3 9/10 -
Half - Smith, Jeremy 1 - -
Prop - Greenfield, Michael 1 - -
Hook - Irvine, Daniel - - -
Prop - Falemaka, Joe - - -
SRow - Lowe, Ben - - -
SRow - Pettybourne, Eddy - - -
Lock - Bobongie, Jardine 1 - -
Int - Ta'akimoeaka, Conrad - - -
Int - Verlinden, Ryan - - -
Int - Baird, Bladen - - -
Int - Mano, Arnold - - -
10 9/10 -
Other Reserve Grade Matches
46-16 Parr Parramatta b Manly
54-26 MtSm Auckland b Newcastle
32-28 Bruc Canberra b Penrith
18-14 Woll Canterbury b St Geo-Ill
32-20 Leic Balm-Ryde b Newtown
NSWRL Jersey Flegg - Under 20's - Round 20
v Cronulla, Stadium Australia, 5:35pm
LOSS 16-18
18 min 6-0 25 min 12-0 34 min 16-0 53 min 16-4 60 min 16-10 63 min 16-16 69 min 16-18 McKay, Powell, Tafokitau tries Browne 2 goals Other U20 Matches 28-20 Kipp Penrith b Canberra 42-26 SFS Syd Rstrs b Central Coast 18-8 Leic Balmain b Manly 14-6 Parr Newcastle b Parramatta 36-18 NSO Norths b Wests