Leichhardt Oval
Sun Aug 26, 3:00pm
WIN 37-12
In what has to be a first in a hell of a long time a regular round Rugby League match has been sold out 3 days before match day. The Rd24 Leichhardt Oval match between West Tigers and Souths has been sold out. If you don't have your ticket now. You won't be getting in.
The South Sydney Rabbitohs have moved into seventh position on the NRL ladder with a resounding 37-12 vicotry over the Wests Tigers at Leichhardt Oval today (Sunday) in front of 20,232 fans. The Rabbitohs secured their 12th victory of the season against the Tigers, jumping the Tigers on the competition table and putting themselves in great position to secure their first finals berth since 1989. The Rabbitohs scored six tries to two to record a rare victory at the Tigers spiritual home. In what could only be described as a physical start to the match, both sides traded heavy defence in the opening sets in an old-fashioned softening-up period fitting of today's match venue. In the fourth minute, Rabbitohs fullback Nathan Merritt left the field with a leg injury, leaving the Rabbitohs with only three on their bench. The Rabbitohs were dominating play early and points would surely come. The first points came in the 14th minute of play when South Sydney junior John Sutton scored on the righ hand side of the field. Long breaks from Fetuli Talanoa and Jeremy Smith set up the field position and a penalty gave the Rabbitohs a repeat set of six. on the third play of the set five-eighth Joe Williams went right to Sutton who touched down for four points. Williams converted to give the Rabbitohs a six-nil lead. Six minutes later Jeremy Smith crossed practically untouched. Just 10 metres out from the line he stepped off his right foot twice and strolled past three defenders to score. Williams converted to give the Rabbitohs a 12-nil lead after 20 minutes. In the 29th minute of play, South Sydney junior Yileen Gordon scored a fantastic individual try in a display of strength and power. Again 10 metres out from the line, Gordon scooted out of dummy half, beating one defender and carrying two over the line with him to score on the left hand side. Williams kept his 100% record with the boot giving the visitors an 18-nil lead after 30 minutes. Centre Nigel Vagana bombed a certain try for the Rabbitohs when he dropped the ball over the line with no one in sight of him. The Tigers posted their first points in the final minute of the first half when Benji Marshall made a long break and found Daniel Fitzhenry in support to score under the posts. Marshall converted to take the teams to the break at 18-six in favour of the Rabbitohs. The Rabbitohs dominated the half in both attack and defence, and if not for a couple of lapses with the ball in hand the lead could have been even greater. Fetuli Talanoa, Yileen Gordon, Shane Rigon and Issac Luke were making great metres out of dummy half and John Sutton was doing as he pleased on the right hand side of the field. Luke Stuart and Roy Asotasi were also making metres in the middle of the ruck and Jeremy Smith, often standing at second-receiver, had the Tigers' defence in two-minds. The Tigers dropped their intensity markedly in the second 20 minutes of the first half and the Rabbitohs maintained their pressure. It looked as though the Rabbitohs kickers were targetting Benji Marshall in the air, with Marshall swapping wings in defence and the Rabbitohs kickers following him from the left hand side to the right hand side. The Rabbitohs didn't start the half well, with loose balls costing them possession in good field position. Their defence held strong in the early exchanges, keeping the Tigers out well inside their own half. South Sydney's persistance paid off in the 51st minute when Dean Widders scored on the left hand side of the field. First-receiver Joe Williams ran at the line and picked out the gap for Widders to crash over from five metres out. Williams converted to give the Rabbitohs a 24-six lead with 29 minutes left in the game. Three minutes later the Rabbitohs struck again through captain Roy Asotasi. Joe Williams ran through the line and turned it inside to Asotasi who scored under the posts. Williams converted to give the Rabbitohs a 30 points to six advantage. Asotasi was denied a second try just three minutes later when Jeremy Smith put him away but was judged to have knocked the ball on, into an opposing Wests Tigers player. The Tigers gave their fans some hope in the 60th minute when winger Taniela Tuiaki ran 50 metres up the left hand touch line and around under the posts to score. Marshall converted taking the scores to 30-12 in favour of South Sydney. The Rabbitohs ran in their sixth try when Yileen Gordon scored his second of the afternoon in the 64th minute. The ball was thrown around through many sets of hands and finally found itself with Dean Widders. Widders beat two defenders and grubber kicked to the corner for Gordon to touch down centimetres in from touch. Joe Williams converted from the touchline to give the Rabbitohs an unassailable lead with 15 minutes left on the clock. Despite leading by 24 points with only eight minutes left on the clock, the Rabbitohs showed great desperation in defence to keep the Tigers out. Nigel Vagana made up for his previous mistake by tackling Chris Lawrence over the line and jolting the ball free in the tackle to save a try. Joe Williams kicked a field goal in the 74th minute to extend the lead to 37-12 in the dying minutes.
Rabbitohs star Nathan Merritt will miss the rest of the 2007 NRL season after suffering a leg injury in yesterday’s win over the Tigers. Merritt underwent scans this morning which revealed the full extent of damage to his left knee. South Sydney Director of Athletic Performance Errol Alcott said Merritt is facing surgery and a four month lay off. “Nathan has been reviewed by the Club doctor and had diagnostic scans this morning that have shown a lateral ligament tear in his left knee. He has also torn the hamstring tendon off the bone. This will require surgical repair and therefore Nathan will be out for the remainder of the season. He is looking at approximately a four month lay off,” Alcott said. Rabbitohs head coach Jason Taylor said everyone associated with the Club is extremely disappointed for Merritt. “It is very disappointing for Nathan. I know he was really looking forward to hopefully playing in the semi-finals for South Sydney. We all really feel for him. But even if he will be on the sideline over the coming weeks he is still an important part of the team,” Taylor said.
16 min 6-0
21 min 12-0
31 min 18-0
40 min 18-6
51 min 24-6
53 min 30-6
60 min 30-12
65 min 36-12
73 min 37-12
Gordon 2, Smith, Asotasi, Sutton, Widders tries
Williams 6 goals
Williams fieldgoal
Crowd 20,232
Referee T.Archer
Penalities 7-6
Scrums 6-8
Min Tac Pe MT LB HU DR m Er OL K
Merritt 4 1 - - - 1 - 2 - - -
Talanoa 80 1 - 1 1 21 14 206 2 1 -
Vagana 80 13 - - - 9 4 65 2 - -
Gordon 80 6 2 3 1 12 7 84 2 - -
Mellor 80 2 - 1 - 15 5 135 1 - -
Williams 80 12 - - 1 2 - 33 - - 9
Smith 80 19 1 2 1 5 1 56 1 1 7
Cusack(c) 63 24 - 1 - 16 - 148 1 2 -
Rigon 40 14 - 1 - 5 3 53 1 - -
Asotasi(c) 55 21 - - - 14 - 133 2 1 -
Sutton 80 16 - 1 2 13 - 130 - 1 -
Faalogo 44 18 - - - 15 - 109 1 2 -
Rogers 80 34 3 - - 11 - 82 1 1 1
Luke 40 11 - 1 - 10 4 122 - 2 1
Widders 76 19 - - 2 9 2 79 - - 1
Stuart 48 20 - 2 - 18 - 140 - - -
Greenfield 30 19 - - - 14 - 103 3 3 -
TOTAL 250 6 13 8 17 14 19
Completion Rate - 31/44
Other FG Matches
38-6 Tels Melbourne b Bulldogs
34-18 Newc Nth Qld b Newcastle
28-12 Ende Cronulla b Gold Coast
28-22 SFS Penrith b Sydney
36-14 MtSm Warriors b Manly
30-19 Lang Brisbane b Canberra
14-6 Woll St Geo-Ill b Parramatta
W D L B Diff PT
MELBOURNE 20 0 3 1 +306 42
MANLY 17 0 6 1 +226 34
NTH QLD 14 0 9 1 -77 30
WARRIORS 12 1 10 1 +146 27
BULLDOGS 12 0 11 1 +53 26
PARRAMATTA 12 0 11 1 +46 26
SOUTHS 12 0 11 1 +23 26
BRISBANE 11 0 12 1 +81 24
Wests-Tig 11 0 12 1 -18 24
Gold Coast 10 0 13 1 -106 22
Sydney 9 1 13 1 -179 21
Cronulla 9 0 14 1 +50 20
St Geo-Ill 9 0 14 1 -74 20
Canberra 9 0 14 1 -120 20
Penrith 8 0 15 1 -64 18
Newcastle 8 0 15 1 -292 18
Judiciary News
No one was charged out of the match.
Reserve Grade - NSW Premier League - Round 24
v Balmain-Ryde Eastwood, Leichhardt Oval, 12:50pm
WIN 40-22
North Sydney have made the ultimate statement in their run to the finals with a 40-22 victory over the Tigers at Leichhardt Oval. Bouncing back from a lackluster win against Manly the Bears sizzled in attack showing the pedigree needed to compete in a finals series. “I always knew we could beat Balmain but you never know till the day you play them” said a retrospective Wayne Lambkin. After an early good start the Bears lost their way with some silly mistakes allowing the Tigers to gain the ascendance. However in the second half Norths achieved a 100% completion rate and dominated with a free wheeling attacking style. An Easy backline movement and a break away run by Eddy Pettybourne allowed Germaine Paulson to get the first points for the Bears. But 5 minutes later the Tigers hit back with a 6 pointer following a penalty given as the Tigers tasted the lead for the only time in the match. Some great over the head passing lead to a great run by Shannon Hegarty who put trusted performer Dan Irvine in position. Dan scooter and barged over from dummy half to get the Bears back in front. Eddie Paea converted and the Bears were 10-6. At the 20 minute mark Jardine Bobongie made a break barging through the Tigers cover defense leading to Reece Simmonds to score. Eddie converted and the Bears lead 16-6. The Bears were on the attack at the Tigers line when the Balmain no. 4 Rhys Hanbury took advantage of one of the high ball passes and scored a length of the field try to bring the score even 16 all. Finally Eddie Paea ran across field to create an overlap for Shannon Hegarty to pass onto Troy Boston to round out the first half sliding in the left corner. Eddie Paea slam-dunked the conversion from out wide as the Bears hit the sheds in front 22-16. Eddie Paea had already gathered 6 points for his team when he scored and converted for another 6 as the first half began. With a Tigers player sin binned for holding down at the 12 minute mark Eddie Paea kicked through for a barging Eddy Pettybourne to score. Eddie Paea’s golden boot converted and the Bears were 34-16 in front. With 20 minutes to full time the Tigers scored to close the gap 34-22. It took less than 5 minutes before Eddie Paea’s brilliance added the final 6 points to the Bears victory 40-22. Eddie Paea was brilliant scoring and setting up tries left right and centre. His tactical kicking game was magnificent consistently putting pressure on the opposition and he wore the golden boots in conversion mode only missing one conversion. Jaiman Lowe was aggressively effective in defense and attack as was Ryan Verlinden off the bench. Shannon Hegarty was fighting fit in attack out wide. The Bears now sit in 5th place on the VB Premier League competition and could finish anywhere from 3rd to 8th spot pending their clash with the top placed Bulldogs this Friday night at North Sydney Oval.
5 min 4-0
10 min 4-6
15 min 10-6
20 min 16-6
28 min 16-12
33 min 16-16
39 min 22-16
44 min 28-16
53 min 34-16
60 min 34-22
65 min 40-22
Paea 2, Paulson, Irvine, Simmonds, Boston, Pettybourne tries
Paea 6 from 7 goals
Final Line Up
T G/A FG
Flbk - Peachey, David - - -
Wing - Simmonds, Reece 1 - -
Cntr - Paulson, Germaine 1 - -
Cntr - Hegarty, Shannon - - -
Wing - Boston, Troy 1 - -
5/8 - Champion, Beau - - -
Half - Paea, Eddie 2 6/7 -
Prop - Manuokafoa, Manese - - -
Hook - Irvine, Daniel 1 - -
Prop - Lowe, Jamian - - -
SRow - McPherson, Shannon - - -
SRow - Pettybourne, Eddy 1 - -
Lock - Lowe, Ben - - -
Int - Bobongie, Jardine - - -
Int - Ta'akimoeaka, Conrad - - -
Int - Verlinden, Ryan - - -
Int - Nasio, Valu - - -
7 6/7 -
Other Reserve Grade Matches
25-16 StAu Bulldogs b Cronulla
30-28 NISC Parramatta b Newcastle
46-22 Camp Canberra b Wests
54-18 Hens Penrith b Newtown
W D L B Diff PT
BULLDOGS 15 0 6 3 +34 36
PENRITH 13 0 8 3 +181 32
BALM-RYDE 12 1 8 3 +46 31
NEWCASTLE 12 1 8 3 +17 31
NORTHS 12 0 9 3 +72 30
PARRAMATTA 11 1 9 3 +94 29
CANBERRA 11 0 10 3 +110 28
ST GEO-ILL 10 2 9 3 +30 28
Auckland 9 0 12 3 -86 24
Manly 8 1 12 3 -50 23
Cronulla 8 0 13 3 -68 22
Newtown 7 2 13 2 -24 20
Wests 5 0 16 3 -362 16
NSWRL Jersey Flegg - Under 20's - Round 24
v Newcastle, Newcastle International Sports Centre, Sat Aug 25 2:00pm
WIN 28-22
22-16
28-22
Tafokitau, Clark, Douglas, Coleman, Iosefo tries
Coleman 3 from 3, Nathan 1 from 2 goals
Other U20 Matches
14-12 Camp Wests b Canberra
34-22 Belm Bulldogs b Central Coast
12-10 Ende Manly b Cronulla
28-18 SFS Norths b Sydney Roosters
34-18 Leic Penrith b Balmain
W D L B Diff PT
PENRITH 19 1 2 2 +303 43
CANTERBURY 14 2 5 3 +222 36
PARRAMATTA 14 1 6 3 +202 35
CANBERRA 13 2 6 3 +100 34
BALMAIN 13 2 6 3 +83 34
NEWCASTLE 10 0 11 3 +82 26
WESTS 10 0 11 3 +23 26
MANLY 10 2 10 2 +8 26
Souths 9 1 11 3 -91 25
Cronulla 6 1 14 3 -41 19
Sydney 6 0 16 2 -219 16
Norths 5 0 16 3 -304 16
C.Coast 3 0 18 3 -368 12