Bruce Stadium
Sun Aug 14, 2:00pm
Late Changes
WIN 47-18
The South Sydney Rabbitohs sit just two points outside of the top eight after destroying the Canberra Raiders 47 points to 18 at Canberra Stadium today (Sunday). 12,150 Members and supporters saw the Nathan Merritt score a hat trick and Greg Inglis rack up a first half double, keeping the Rabbitohs hopes of a spot in the finals alive. The Rabbitohs picked up where they left off against the Eels on Monday night, playing with plenty of confidence in both attack and defence. Both teams went blow-for-blow during the opening exchanges, but it was not long before the Rabbitohs posted first points. In the ninth minute of play, halfback Chris Sandow collected a grubber kick in his own in-goal, and somehow managed to part the entire Raiders team to race 100 metres before offloading to winger Dylan Farrell who finished off the 108 metre try under the posts. Sandow converted to give the Rabbitohs early six-nil lead. Six minutes later the Rabbitohs scored again through superstar centre Greg Inglis. From a repeat set the ball went to the left to five-eighth John Sutton. He got the ball around the corner to Inglis who then ran around under the posts to score. Sandow converted giving the visitors a 12-nil advantage. The forwards were working hard, creating the opportunities for the backs to shine, but it was one of the workhorses who was next to score. Prop Ben Ross charged onto a short inside ball from Sutton to score adjacent to the posts, registering his first try in South Sydney colours. Sandow converted to extend the lead to 18 after just 20 minutes. Inglis scored his second try in the 24th minute of play when he snapped up a 70 metre intercept, racing away to score under the posts. Sandows conversion gave the Rabbitohs a 24-nil lead in as many minutes. The Rabbitohs were hitting hard in defence, particularly when the interchange forwards came on to the field. Led by Crocker, Clark, Luke and Taylor, Souths were driving their opposition back in defence and using their defence as attack in the back end of the half. The Raiders posted their first points in the 31st minute when winger Blake Ferguson made the most of a lucky bounce from a long kick to score. The bouncing ball avoided both fullback Nathan Merritt and winger Chris McQueen, finding its way into the possession of the Raiders for their first points. Jarrod Crokers conversion took the scores to 24-6 in favour of South Sydney. The Raiders were denied a try in the final minute of the half when Ferguson stepped into touch, but the Raiders were finding some confidence over the final ten minutes of the half. However, the Rabbitohs were on top, in all facets of the game, and needed to keep up the intensity in the second half if they were to beat the Raiders away from home. The Rabbitohs kept up with the defensive intensity in the opening exchanges of the second half, making metres in defence with driving tackles. They were mounting pressure on the Raiders, camping themselves in the Green Machines half. The pressure paid off, with try scoring machine Nathan Merritt scoring in the 50th minute of play. The ball was swung to the right with Merritt chiming into the backline, getting outside the defence then stepping back inside the wide defenders to stroll over. Sandow converted to take the scores to 30-6 in favour of the cardinal and myrtle. Merritt backed up with his second try just four minutes later. Sutton charged at the line, turning the ball inside to Merritt who raced 20 metres to score under the posts. Sandow calmly converted to extend the lead to 30 with 25 minutes left on the clock. The Raiders grabbed one back in the 58th minute when Josh Dugan stepped through a unusually-staggered Rabbitohs defensive line. Croker converted to take the scores to 36-12 with 20 minutes left on the clock. The Raiders continued their comeback in the 65th minute when South Sydney junior Reece Robinson scored following some unstructured play that found space out wide. Croker converted to reduce the deficit to 18 points with 14 minutes left on the clock. In the face of the enthusiasm of the Raiders, the Rabbitohs were playing no-nonsense football, controlling the ball and making their metres. To make life even harder for the home side, Sandow slotted a field goal with eight minutes left on the clock to extend the lead to 19. The Rabbitohs werent finished there, with Merritt racking up his third try for the game and his eighth try in the last two matches in the 72nd minute. Snadow made a long break up the middle on the previous play, with Sutton chip kicking for Merritt to chase and score. Sandow converted taking the scores to 43-18 with seven minutes remaining. The Rabbitohs were not finished there, scoring in the 78th minute through winger Chris McQueen who cleaned up a loose ball and beat a lone defender to score. Sandows conversion attempt hit the upright, but the game was well and truly won by that stage. Besides a couple of five minute spells where the Raiders enthusiasm got them back in to the game, the Rabbitohs were clearly dominant and deserving of the big win in the nations capital.
Not only was Merritt a 5 try hero Nathan Merritt become just the 6th Souths player to score more then 500 points for the club. He has now scored 110 tries, kicked 34 goals and one field goal for a total of 509 points. This places him in 5th spot for Souths in career points scored.
Merritt 3, Inglis 2, Farrell, Ross, McQueen tries Sandow 7 from 9 goals Crowd 12,150 Referee T.De La Heras / S.Lyons Penalities 3-4 Scrums 7-4 Other FG Matches 32-18 Penr Wests-Tig b Penrith 34-16 Town Brisbane b Nth Qld 20-12 MtSm Warriors b Newcastle 26-20 Parr Manly b Parramatta 40-16 Robi Melbourne b Gold Coast 20-12 Woll St Geo-Ill b Syd Rstrs 19-12 Ende Canterbury b Cronulla
Judiciary News
No one has been charged out of the match.
U20 National Youth Toyota Cup - Round 23
v Canberra, 11:45am
LOSS 14-46
Late changes - Matthews is out, Roberts starts fullback, Vale centre, Turner second row, Ha'angana lock IIn the Toyota Cup match, the South Sydney Rabbitohs were hammered by the Canberra Raiders 46 points to 14 at Canberra Stadium. The Raiders led 34-0 at the half time break and went on with it in the second half. Individual splashes of brilliance from James Roberts and Jack Lee Hang led to the Rabbitohs three tries, but it was nowhere near enough to stop the Raiders on home soil.
0-6
0-12
0-18
0-24
34 min 0-30
37 min 0-34
60 min 8-38
8-42
8-46
79 min 14-46
Roberts 2, Lee Hang tries
Roberts 1 from 2, French 0 from 1 goals
Final Line Up
T G/A FG
Flbk - Roberts, James 2 1/2 -
Wing - Lolesio, Paul - - -
Cntr - Vale, Kieran - - -
Cntr - Jaeger, Reece - - -
Wing - Sisifa, David - - -
5/8 - Koroisau, Apisai - - -
Half - Place, Matt - - -
Prop - Vaingalo, Keliti - - -
Hook - Brennan, Darryl - - -
Prop - Jarrett, Brett - - -
SRow - Lee Hang, Jack 1 - -
SRow - Turner, Kyle - - -
Lock - Ha'angana, Adrian - - - (c)
Int - Bryant, Hamish - - -
Int - Dowie, Shaun - - -
Int - French, Kurt - -/1 -
Int - Artemi, Andrew - - -
3 1/3 -
Other NYC Matches
26-6 Penr Penrith b Wests-Tig
42-16 Town Brisbane b Nth Qld
44-8 MtSm Warriors b Newcastle
26-16 Parr Manly b Parramatta
22-20 Robi Melbourne b Gold Coast
26-18 Woll Syd Rstrs b St Geo-Ill
48-16 Ende Canterbury b Cronulla
Reserve Grade - NSW Cup Round 22
v Canterbury-Bankstown, North Sydney Oval, Sun Aug 14 3:00pm
WIN 29-16
Late Changes - Talanoa, Leslie, D.Apps were out. Hawkins started on the wing, Judd in the centre, Areaiiti prop, Ranieri second row and D.Webster at lock. Bears had first use of the ball. The breeze was fairly gusty from the south/south-east and will favour the home side in the first half. And the Bears turn it over on the fourth tackle as Malcolm Webster is dumped into the cricket pitch and leaves the field as a result. Try to the Bulldogs are over after some good lead up work by Pumipi sees Goodwin get put away down the Dogs left hand side to score in the corner. Goodwin can't convert from touch but they lead 0-4. A penalty to the Dogs saw them piggy-backed up the park and a simple shift to the left sees Corey Payne go over without too much difficulty. Goodwin makes good with the conversion and the Dogs lead it 0-10. After 22 minutes the home side are on the board and from a high ball that brought about the four pointer. A high ball intended for Johnston hit the deck and takes a Bears bounce with Josh Mansour on the spot to pounce for the try. Mundine converts from out wide and it is now 6-10. 34th minute mark and another the cross field kick to Johnston who scores. Mundine converts 12-10. 4 minutes later and a identical try to Johnston under the high ball. Mundine converts 18-10 and half-time. 5 minutes after the break the Dogs strike first as McGlinchey does well to draw and pass close to the line and he finds Junior Tia Kilifi who virtually falls over the line to score. Goodwin slots it from the sideline 16-18. Bears strike back in the 54th minute as a Dogs error allows McKinnon to scoop up the knock on and run 35m untouched to score in the corner. Mundine misses 22-16. A try in the 75th minute seals the match and quite possibly the Bears ticket to the finals as Beau Falloon burrows over under the sticks. Mundine converts 28-16. With 3 minutes on the clock as Mundine slots a field goal just to make sure of the result. Fulltime 25-16.
12 min 0-4
15 min 0-10
22 min 6-10
34 min 12-10
38 min 18-10
45 min 18-16
54 min 22-16
75 min 28-16
78 min 29-16
Johnston 2, Mansour, McKinnon, Falloon tries
Mundine 4 from 5 goals
Mundine fieldgoal
Final Line up
T G/A FG
Flbk - Mansour, Josh 1 - -
Wing - Johnston, Curtis 2 - -
Cntr - Nichols, Greg - - - (c)
Cntr - Judd, Blake - - -
Wing - Hawkins, Jack - - -
5/8 - Mundine, Matt - 4/5 1
Half - Webster, Malcolm - - -
Prop - Burgess, George - - -
Hook - Falloon, Beau 1 - -
Prop - Areaiiti, Neccrom - - -
SRow - Renieri, Alex - - -
SRow - Molan, Brock - - -
Lock - Webster, Dean - - -
Int - Shearer, Jake - - -
Int - Retzlaff, Herman - - -
Int - Florimo, Jay - - -
Int - McKinnon, Brendan 1 - -
5 4/5 1
Other NSW Cup Matches
16-8 Hens Wests b Cronulla
50-36 Kanw C Coast b Windsor
24-10 Hens Manly b Newtown
28-20 MtSm Auckland b Wntwrthvll