Endeavour Field
Sun Jul 3, 2:00pm
Late Changes
Alex Ranieri was 18th man.
LOSS 4-26
The South Sydney Rabbitohs have fallen to the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 26 points to 4 at Toyota Stadium this afternoon (Sunday) in front of 18,829 supporters. The Sharks amassed an unassailable 20-nil lead at the break, however a an improved defensive performance in the second half was not enough to get the Rabbitohs over the line. The Rabbitohs got away to the worst possible start, and it did not get much better for the first 40 minutes. From the kick off, a mix up between five-eighth John Sutton and winger James Roberts saw Sutton inadvertently put Roberts into touch, giving the Sharks great field position from the opening whistle. The Rabbitohs were able to defend their line but it was the Sharks with ascendancy early on. It took 15 minutes for the home side to cross with prop Luke Douglas crashing over from close range. Six more minutes went by and former Rabbitohs Colin Best crossed in the left hand corner after a 10 metre scrum. In the 36th minute Sharks halfback Chad Townsend crossed when he reached out to score from close range, and the Sharks topped off the half with a try in the left hand corner to winger Matthew Wright after an Anthony Tupou off load. The Rabbitohs were trying hard but were failing to pierce the Sharks defensive line. Defensive penalties were also hurting the red and greens, giving the Sharks piggy-back penalties upon which to mount pressure. The Rabbitohs looked much stronger in attack in the opening to the second half. Long breaks from Rhys Wesser and Shaune Corrigan gave the Rabbitohs good field position, and it was the break from Corrigan that to the red and greens first try. The ball was swung to the right, and Issac Luke popped a good ball from Merritt to scoot 25 metres to score. Both sides continued to try and work out of their own ends, with a long break from Sharks fullback Nathan Gardner setting up a scoring chance for the Sharks, but a terrible kick from Stuart Flanagan put paid to that opportunity. On the next phase of play the Rabbitohs went 79 metres up field, only to see Merritt brought down one metre short of the line after an accurate cross-field kick from Chris Sandow. The Sharks were the next to score when Chad Townsend slotted a 30 metre penalty goal with eleven minutes left on the clock, taking the score to 22-4 in favour of the home side. The Rabbitohs confidence looked to be down with ten minutes to go, simple mistakes adding to the sides frustration. The Sharks topped off the win with a 78yh minute try to winger Matthew Wright, sealing their home victory. Despite giving their all for the 80 minutes, the Rabbitohs werent able to peg back the big lead the Sharks racked up in the first half. The home sides forwards laid the platform, gaining them field position and attacking opportunities. The Rabbitohs could not mount the pressure required to keep the scoreboard ticking over.
Merritt try Sandow 0 from 1 goals Crowd 18,829 Referee S.Lyons / C.James Penalities 6-7 Scrums 5-5 Other FG Matches 16-12 Parr Brisbane b Parramatta 20-6 Penr Penrith b Canterbury 14-10 Woll Newcastle b St Geo-Ill 38-12 SFS Canberra b Syd Rstrs
Judiciary News
No one has been charged out of the match.
U20 National Youth Toyota Cup - Round 17
v Cronulla-Sutherland, 11:45am
LOSS 6-16
Late changes - team is 1-17. In the Toyota Cup match at Toyota Stadium today, the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 16 have defeated the South Sydney Rabbitohs 6. In a game marred by poor handling and ordinary defence, the Sharks got away to a 16-nil lead before the Rabbitohs posted their only points in the 77th minute of play through fullback Kieran Vale. The Rabbitohs tried hard throughout the match but the Sharks were just too good.
9 min 0-6
49 min 0-12
69 min 0-16
77 min 6-16
Vale tries
French 1 from 1 goals
Final Line Up
T G/A FG
Flbk - Vale, Kieran 1 - -
Wing - Sisifa, David - - -
Cntr - Jaeger, Reece - - -
Cntr - Mecham, Liam - - -
Wing - Tongahai, Jordon - - -
5/8 - Koroisau, Apisai - - -
Half - French, Kurt - 1/1 -
Prop - Tuivaii, Jordan - - -
Hook - Brennan, Darryl - - -
Prop - Lee Hang, Jack - - -
SRow - Jarrett, Brett - - -
SRow - Turner, Kyle - - -
Lock - Ha'angana, Adrian - - - (c)
Int - Bryant, Hamish - - -
Int - Vaingalo, Keliti - - -
Int - Matthews, Blake - - -
Int - Valentino, Johnathan - - -
1 1/1 -
Other NYC Matches
46-16 Parr Parramatta b Brisbane
22-20 Penr Penrith b Canterbury
28-28 Woll St Geo-Ill d Newcastle
56-20 SFS Syd Rstrs v Canberra
No NSW Cup matches due to representative round.