Sydney Cricket Ground
Sun May 17, 3:00pm
The CyberView from the Hill - Last Week
The CyberView from the Hill - This Week
Late ChangesJamie Simpson once again started the match, with Scott Geddes dropping off the interchange bench.
WIN 23-22
The South Sydney Rabbitohs have scored an amazing victory against the Wests Tigers at the Sydney Cricket Ground today (Sunday) with a Nathan Merritt field goal in the final seconds of the match securing the 23 points to 22 win in front of 29,970 supporters. The game could not have been tighter, with the half time score deadlocked at 10-all, the sides scoring four tries a-piece, both teams kicking three goals, with the difference being Merritt’s outstanding strike with the clock reading 79:56. Winger Fetuli Talanoa was a two-try hero in the match, earning the South Sydney Players’ Player award. The defensive effort in the first five minutes indicated just how tight the game would be, repelling five sets of attack from the Tigers in the first four minutes. The Rabbitohs, buoyed by their defensive effort, managed to score first through powerful second-rower David Fa’alogo in the 11th minute. The Rabbitohs capitalised on a repeat set, sending the ball to the right. David Kidwell took the ball forward before offloading to his countryman Fa’alogo, who beat three defenders to score. Chris Sandow converted to give South Sydney a six-point advantage. Three minutes later giant Tigers winger Taniela Tuiaki scored the first of two tries in the left hand corner. Five minutes later, Tuiaki was at it again, with Benji Marshall’s sideline conversion giving Wests a 10-6 lead. Talanoa scored his first try in the 38th minute of play, after a long ball from Craig Wing to the left found Colin Best, who made a 40 metre bust up the left hand flank to put Talanoa away for his first four-pointer. Talanoa’s lack of balance after scoring saw him tumble over the advertising boards behind the dead ball area, but he was ok and the teams went to the break locked up at 10-all. The Rabbitohs were doing well to hang in there during the first half. Their defence was solid, but poor handling was costing them possession and making the game a lot harder on themselves than it needed to be. Colin Best was getting some early ball and it was paying dividends for Souths on the left hand side of the field. Tigers’ hooker Robbie Farah was the star of the opening moments of the second half, kicking a 40/20 in the 43rd minute and scoring a try in the 47th minute from dummy half. Marshall’s conversion gave the home side a 16-10 lead. Three minutes later the Tigers struck again through Tim Moltzen who cleaned up a spilt bomb to score. Marshall converted again to extend the lead to 12 points with less than 30 minutes left on the clock. Sandow left the field in the 59th minute with an ankle injury, meaning the Rabbitohs needed to shuffle their backline. Craig Wing moved to halfback with Jamie Simpson coming on at five-eighth. The move paid dividends with Talanoa out-leaping Beau Ryan to catch a perfect cross-field bomb to score in the left corner. Issac Luke converted from the touchline to take the score to 22-16. The Rabbitohs defence then kept them in the game, with Luke and Wing pulling off two try-saving tackles within seven minutes to cut down the Tigers’ attacking opportunities. With five minutes left on the clock, South Sydney centre Beau Champion scored on the right hand side of the field, stepping off his right foot to slice through the defence to score. Issac Luke slotted the conversion to set up an amazing final five minutes with the scores locked at 22-all. Both teams threw everything at each other in the final five minutes. The Rabbitohs had field goal opportunities charged down and the game looked destined to head to golden point. With just seconds on the clock, the Rabbitohs were in front of the posts about 10 metres out. The ball was rocketed back to Wing who had pressur eon him from the defence. He passed the ball to the right to find Nathan Merritt, who calmly drop-kicked the ball between the posts from the right hand side of the field to score the vital final point and give the Rabbitohs the thrilling victory. The Rabbitohs forwards worked very hard throughout the whole game and the Rabbitohs backs looked dangerous for most of the afternoon. Rabbitohs Head Coach Jason Taylor said his team still had improvement in them. “We’re pleased we got the victory in the end, but we didn’t play as well as we can and we will improve,” Taylor said. “The effort was there and it’s a credit to our boys with how we hung in there.” Field goal hero Nathan Merritt said: “As soon as I hit it I knew it was going over. “I don’t practice field goals, but it came off sweet.” Commenting on the field goal, Taylor said: “He (Merritt) is a noted goal kicker, a talented guy, and you can’t hit them sweeter than that.” Taylor also praised new recruit Michael Crocker for his debut game in the cardinal and myrtle. “Crocker only had about ten minutes off. He has an amazing capacity to get through the work,” Taylor said. “He’s got great communications skills and his experience showed in those final few minutes.”
10 min 6-0
14 min 6-4
19 min 6-10
38 min 10-10
47 min 10-16
50 min 10-22
61 min 16-22
76 min 22-22
80 min 23-22
Talanoa 2, Champion, Fa'alogo tries
Luke 2 from 2, Sandow 1 from 2 goals
Merritt fieldgoal
Crowd 29,970
Referee J.Robinson / A.Klein
Penalities 8-6
Scrums 8-7
Min Tac Pe MT LB R DR m Er OL K TA T G/A FG
Flbk - Capewell, Luke 80 8 1 2 - 10 1 108 1 - 1 - - - -
Wing - Merritt, Nathan 80 10 - 2 - 7 2 59 - - 1 - - - 1
Cntr - Best, Colin 80 19 - - 1 11 5 125 1 1 - 1 - - -
Cntr - Champion, Beau 80 23 - 5 2 8 2 90 - - 1 - 1 - -
Wing - Talanoa, Fetuli 80 9 - - - 10 9 102 - - - - 2 - -
5/8 - Wing, Craig 80 15 - 1 - 9 - 65 3 - 5 - - - -
Half - Sandow, Chris 59 21 - 8 - 3 - 26 1 - 7 - - 1/2 -
Prop - Stuart, Luke 64 30 - 2 - 17 - 139 - 1 - - - - -
Hook - Simpson, Jamie 43 14 1 2 1 7 3 62 1 - - 1 - - -
Prop - Asotasi, Roy 63 35 - 4 - 10 - 77 1 1 - - - - - (c)
SRow - Kidwell, David 44 13 - 4 - 10 1 70 1 1 - 1 - - -
SRow - Fa'alogo, David 56 25 - - 1 16 - 111 - 3 - - 1 - -
Lock - Crocker, Michael 71 23 2 3 - 11 - 73 1 - - - - - -
Int - Luke, Issac 58 22 1 3 - 10 8 77 1 1 1 1 - 2/2 -
Int - Pettybourne, Eddy 52 21 - 4 - 13 - 122 1 - - - - - -
Int - Lowe, Jamian 26 19 1 2 - 3 - 28 - - - - - - -
Int - McPherson, Shannon 24 21 - 1 - 2 - 11 1 - - - - - -
TOTAL 328 6 43 5 1345 13 8 16 4 4 3/4 1
Completion Rate - 28/37
Opposition Offloads - 15
Effective 1st Tackles
0 min 97m SS Err / SCR / 81m / SS P / 6TG / SS P
5 min 10m WT Err / SCR / P /Wing kick COF
7 min 12m Sandow kick COF
11 min 0m WT Err / P / P / TRY
13 min 92m Sandow kick ChgDwn / (WT TRY)
15 min 66m SS P
18 min 46m WT Err / Capewell kick / SS Err / (WT TRY)
23 min 75m WT Err / SS Err / SCR
25 min 20m Sandow kick
27 min 63m P / SS Err / SCR 30m / SS P
30 min 62m P / SS Err / SCR
31 min 83m SS CIG
33 min 5m Sandow kick
35 min 4m Sandow kick
38 min 0m SCR / TRY
half time
41 min 16m Sandow kick COF
43 min 82m WT 40-20 / SCR
45 min 24m WT Err / SCR Sandow kick
46 min 75m SS Err / SCR / (WT TRY)
48 min 100m (WT TRY)
53 min 46m Sandow kick COF 8m / SS P
56 min 80m WT Err / SCR / SS P
58 min 27m P / Champion kick DIG
60 min 0m WT Err / SCR / Capewell kick / TRY
62 min 18m Wing kick COF
65 min 15m Merritt kick
66 min 38m Luke kick OOF
68 min 12m WT Err / SCR /Wing kick COF
70 min 33m SS Err
72 min 95m SCR / SS Err
73 min 15m WT Err / Wing kick
75 min 0m WT Err / P / P / TRY
77 min 15m Wing kick COF
80 min 0m Wing kick ChgDwn / Merritt FIELDGOAL
Average effective 1st tackle location
- 40.1m - for the whole match
- 45.4m - 1st half
- 36.4m - 2nd half
If you now remove the tries
- 52.9m - 1st half
- 43.2m - 2nd half
Other FG Matches
20-18 Koga St Geo-Ill b Bulldogs
32-18 Lang Brisbane b Gold Coast
38-6 SFS Newcastle b Sydney
26-22 Penr Penrith b Cronulla
34-12 MtSm Nth Qld b Warriors
34-10 Brok Manly b Parramatta
46-6 Olym Melbourne b Canberra
W D L B Diff PT
BULLDOGS 7 - 2 1 +70 14 +
NEWCASTLE 7 - 3 - +61 14
BRISBANE 7 - 3 - +58 14
ST GEO-ILL 7 - 3 - +58 14
MELBOURNE 6 1 3 - +63 13
SOUTHS 5 - 4 1 +31 12
PENRITH 5 - 4 1 +16 12
GOLD COAST 6 - 4 - +13 12
Nth Qld 5 - 5 - +58 10
West-Tig 4 - 5 1 -28 10
Warriors 3 1 5 1 -36 9
Manly 4 - 6 - -13 8
Parramatta 3 - 6 1 -108 8
Canberra 2 - 7 1 -83 6
Sydney 3 - 7 - -89 6
Cronulla 1 - 8 1 -71 4
+ deducted 2 points for extra player on the field
Judiciary News
No one was placed on report over the weekend.
U20 National Youth Toyota Cup - Round 10
v Wests-Tigers, 12:45pm
LOSS 22-24
In the Toyota Cup, the Wests Tigers secured a 24 points to 22 victory over the South Sydney Rabbitohs at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The Rabbitohs scored five tries to the Tigers’ four with centre Junior Vaivai scoring a triple. However the Tigers’ perfect goal kicking record sealed the win for the home side, with goal kicking the difference in the end.
40 min 4-0
Vaivai 3, Farrell, Morgan tries
Mundine 1 goal
Other NYC Matches
44-22 Koga St Geo-Ill b Bulldogs
48-10 Lang Brisbane b Gold Coast
28-22 SFS Sydney b Newcastle
22-20 Penr Penrith b Cronulla
41-16 MtSm Warriors b Nth Qld
33-20 Brok Manly b Parramatta
24-16 Olym Canberra b Melbourne
W D L B Diff PT
MANLY 8 - 2 - +157 16
ST GEO-ILL 8 - 2 - +154 16
MELBOURNE 8 - 2 - +93 16
BULLDOGS 6 - 3 1 +5 14
CANBERRA 5 - 4 1 +4 12
WESTS-TIG 5 - 4 1 -44 12
SOUTHS 4 - 5 1 +38 10
GOLD COAST 5 - 5 - +26 10
Warriors 4 - 5 1 -35 10
Brisbane 4 - 6 - -20 8
Penrith 3 - 6 1 -32 8
Cronulla 3 - 6 1 -83 8
Newcastle 4 - 6 - -84 8
Nth Qld 4 - 6 - -104 8
Sydney 3 - 7 - -28 6
Parramatta 2 - 7 1 -47 6
NRL Club Championship
W D L B Diff PT
ST GEO-ILL 15 - 5 - +212 30
Bulldogs 13 - 5 2 +75 28 +
Melbourne 14 1 5 - +156 29
Manly 12 - 8 - +144 24
Souths 9 - 9 2 +69 22
Gold Coast 11 - 9 - +39 22
Brisbane 11 - 9 - +38 22
Newcastle 11 - 9 - -23 22
Wests-Tig 9 - 9 2 -72 22
Penrith 8 - 10 2 -16 20
Warriors 7 1 10 2 -71 19
Nth Qld 9 - 11 - -46 18
Canberra 7 - 11 2 -79 18
Parramatta 5 - 13 2 -155 14
Sydney 6 - 14 - -117 12
Cronulla 4 - 14 2 -154 12
Reserve Grade - NSW Cup Round 9
v Central Coast, Morrie Breen Oval Kanwal, Sat May 16 1:30pm
LOSS 10-32
Late changes - Kaifoto, Johnston are out. Geddes starts prop, Trembath on the bench. The future of the Bears seems to be on the Central Coast but some players might like to forget the region for a little while after their 32-10 loss to Central Coast Storm at Wyong on the weekend. Central Coast, with nine Melbourne Storm players, including Anthony Quinn and Wairangi Koopu, took control of the NSW Cup match in the second half after holding an eight-point lead at the break. Bears captain Sean Dalton said it was a tough match. “We got flogged. We were with them up to halftime but then a few things didn’t go out way and we just got flogged.” Dalton said that, with their amazing line-up of NRL players, the Storm were hard to beat. “They mightn’t be on top of the table but I think they’re the best team in the competition,” he said. “But even though we lost I don’t think it was a step backwards for us. We’re still going well and going forward.” Bears football manager Greg Florimo agreed. “They had several Melbourne NRL players in their ranks,” he said. “We started OK but were just down on the day. “I think we were certainly on the same level as them but when the Storm decided to increase the pace we couldn’t go with them. “Our consistency is there but we just need to be able to lift at important stages of the match."
40 min 4-12
80 min 10-34
Baird, Robinson tries
Hogan 1 from 2 goals
Final Line Up
T G/A FG
Flbk - Wara, Samu - - -
Wing - McQueen, Chris - - -
Cntr - Apps, Deon - - -
Cntr - Baird, Bladen 1 - -
Wing - Robinson, Reece 1 - -
5/8 - Hunt, Justin - - -
Half - Hogan, Jarryd - 1/2 -
Prop - Geddes, Scott - - -
Hook - Falloon, Beau - - -
Prop - Crossman, Garret - - -
SRow - Dalton, Sean - - - (c)
SRow - Tyrrell, Dave - - -
Lock - Lowe, Ben - - -
Int - Trembath, Chris - - -
Int - Sayegh, David - - -
Int - Blaker, Brett - - -
Int - Hunt, Matt - - -
2 1/2 -
Other NSW Cup Matches
42-12 Leic Balm-Ryde b Auckland
32-16 Cres Bankstown b Windsor
60-10 Hens Wentwrthvl b Newtown
31-20 RCon Cronulla b Shellharbour
W D L B Diff PT
WESTS 5 1 1 2 +28 15
BANKSTOWN CITY 6 - 2 1 +102 14
WENTWORTHVILLE 5 - 2 2 +44 14
CENTRAL COAST 6 1 2 - +59 13
CRONULLA 5 - 3 1 +45 12
BALMAIN-RYDE 5 - 3 1 +36 12
NORTH SYDNEY 4 - 4 1 +36 10
AUCKLAND 2 1 5 1 -53 7
Windsor 2 1 6 - -58 5
Shellharbour 2 - 7 - -17 4
Newtown 1 - 8 - -222 2