Stadium Australia
Fri Aug 19, 7:35pm
Late Changes
Merrit was injured in the warm up James Roberts started at fullback.
WIN 26-24 (GP)
The South Sydney Rabbitohs have shown unbelievable steel, determination and mateship to overcome the North Queensland Cowboys in golden point extra time tonight (Friday), defeating the men from Townsville 26 points to 24 in the 83rd minute of the match. Chris Sandow, the diminutive halfback with a heart the size of the ANZ Stadium turf, set up the try that levelled the game, kicked the touchline conversion, then kicked the decisive penalty goal to give the Rabbitohs their fourth straight win and a share of eighth spot at the start of round 24. With Greg Inglis ruled out before the match, still feeling the effects of a head knock sustained against the Raiders last week, and Nathan Merritt going down in the warm up with a quadriceps strain, the Rabbitohs were behind the eight ball before a ball had been kicked. But it was the Rabbitohs that struck first, in the tenth minute of play, when five-eighth John Sutton registered a four-pointer. James Roberts, the last minute replacement for Merritt, put up a cross field bomb from the right hand touchline. The ball came down on the other side of the posts, with Sutton cleaning up the ball and scoring the try. Sandow converted to give the Rabbitohs a six-nil lead. The Cowboys struck straight back through co-captain Johnathan Thurston who stepped through the defence to score. He converted to level the scores. The Rabbitohs did not hold themselves back, with bustling back-rower Eddy Pettybourne crossing for a try in the 19th minute. Another crossfield bomb found the hands of Dylan Farrell and deliberately tapped the ball back to Pettybourne who powered over the line to score. Sandow converted to restore the six-point advantage. Just four minutes passed and rookie Tariq Sims scored for the visitors, after the video referee ruled there was obstruction of the South Sydney defence. Thurston added the extras to level the scores at 12-all. The game turned from attack into defence, with Luke Burgess dishing out some heavy defence in the final 15 minutes of the first half. The Rabbitohs were under attack with the Cowboys getting away too many offloads, but the Rabbitohs were able to hold them out and go into the break at 12-all. The first part of the second half was an arm wrestle with neither side able to gain the ascendency. The Rabbitohs were dealt a blow when John Sutton left the field with a suspected broken hand in the 52nd minute. The Rabbitohs stopped a certain try to Ray Thompson when Fetuli Talanoa stripped the ball as he was in the motion of scoring. But two minutes later the Cowboys scored through Matt Bowen and four minutes after that they took a commanding lead when Willie Tonga scored. Thurston converted and added two more points from a penalty goal to give his side a seemingly unassailable 12-point lead with ten minutes left on the clock. Sutton bravely came back on the field in the 69th minute with his hand heavily strapped, and three minutes later the Rabbitohs reduced the deficit to six when rookie James Roberts scored. South Sydney capitalised on a Cowboys mistake near their own goal line, and on the second play of the set the ball was thrown wide to Roberts to score. Sandow converted and the game was ON! The Rabbitohs and Cowboys threw everything they could at each other, with the Rabbitohs trying some trick plays on fifth tackles, but they were not paying off. Finally, in the 78th minute of play, it was Sandow who read the play perfectly and snapped up an intercept, racing almost the length of the field for the second week in a row, only to be dragged down about eight metres short of the line on the right touch line. The ball was swung left and two play later the ball was in the hands of giant back rower Dave Taylor. Taylor drew the defence and one-handedly off loaded to Chris McQueen who scored in the corner. The crowd went deathly quiet as Sandow lined up the kick from the touch line, and his right boot guided the ball between the posts, sending Sandow into leaps of joy and the 11,208 members of the crowd into raptures. Neither side created any scoring chances in the final minute and the game went into golden point extra time. The Rabbitohs received and made their way to the half way line, only to have the play shut down and giving the Cowboys good field position. The Cowboys worked their way down field and all eyes were on Thurston for the field goal attempt. But the Cowboys played a trick play, sending the ball to Bowen for the field goal shot. It was always going over, only to swing away late and crash into the right hand upright and bounce away. The Rabbitohs had renewed life in their game and powered their way up field. It was Issac Luke who made the decisive run up the middle, something he had done countless times during the match earning his side valuable metres. But this time, he was met with a high shot from rookie rake and former South Sydney under 20s player James Segeyaro, with the referee subsequently awarding the Rabbitohs a penalty in front of the posts and only 25 metres out. The Rabbitohs crowd went nuts, but Sandow still had an assignment to complete. He did so with aplomb, and the Rabbitohs had secured another golden point victory and kept their season alive. The Rabbitohs showed amazing guts, determination and faith in each other to secure the two points tonight. It was another amazing performance in a wonderful month of football for the men in cardinal and myrtle.
Sutton, Pettybourne, Roberts, McQueen tries Sandow 5 from 5 goals Crowd 11,208 Referee B.Cummins / A.Devcich Penalities 8-3 Scrums 6-2 Other FG Matches 8-6 MRSt Melbourne b St Geo-Ill 26-18 Robi Gold Coast b Canberra 26-12 Penr Warriors b Penrith 36-25 SFS Syd Rstrs b Cronulla 27-16 Brok Manly b Canterbury 31-12 SFS Wests-Tig b Parramatta 26-6 NISC Brisbane b Newcastle
Judiciary News
No one has been charged out of the match.
U20 National Youth Toyota Cup - Round 24
v North Queensland, 5:20pm
LOSS 10-58
Late changes - Roberts, Lee Hang, Matthews, Artemi are out, Jaeger starts fullback, Takapu in the centre, Bryant at lock,Hull and Cooper added to the bench. In the Toyota Cup match, the North Queensland Cowboys have trounced the South Sydney Rabbitohs 58 points to 10 at ANZ Stadium. The Cowboys ran in 11 tries to two, including four doubles. The Rabbitohs try scorers were James Cooper and Reece Jaeger.
15 min 0-4
0-10
31 min 0-16
40 min 0-24
0-30
6-30
10-30
64 min 10-42
69 min 10-48
10-52
10-58
Cooper, Jaeger tries
French 1 from goals
Final Line Up
T G/A FG
Flbk - Jaeger, Reece 1 - -
Wing - Lolesio, Paul - - -
Cntr - Vale, Kieran - - -
Cntr - Takapu, Arthur - - -
Wing - Sisifa, David - - -
5/8 - Koroisau, Apisai - - -
Half - French, Kurt - 1/2 -
Prop - Vaingalo, Keliti - - -
Hook - Brennan, Darryl - - -
Prop - Jarrett, Brett - - -
SRow - Turner, Kyle - - -
SRow - Ha'angana, Adrian - - - (c)
Lock - Bryant, Hamish - - -
Int - Dowie, Shaun - - -
Int - Woulf, Arnold - - -
Int - Cooper, James 1 - -
Int - Hull, Alex - - -
2 1/2 -
Other NYC Matches
16-12 MRSt St Geo-Ill b Melbourne
36-28 Robi Gold Coast b Canberra
32-12 Penr Penrith b Warriors
44-6 SFS Syd Rstrs b Cronulla
52-0 Brok Canterbury b Manly
36-16 SFS Wests-Tig b Parramatta
28-24 NISC Newcastle b Brisbane
Reserve Grade - NSW Cup Round 23
v Cronulla-Sutherland Storm, North Sydney Oval, Saturday Aug 20 3:00pm
LOSS 20-36
Late Changes - Mansour, Leslie, Talanoa, M.Webster, G.Burgess were out. Hawkins started fullback, D.Apps and Judd centres, Nichols wing, Florimo at half, Nichols scored the opening try after 10 minutes, 4-0. Then Cronulla hit back with three tries and lead at half time by 4-16. Two more early second half tries to Cronulla, and its 4-24. Hawkins combines with Johnston who scores the Bears second try. Florimo converts to make it 10-24. But the Bears comback was short lived as Cronulla hit back with two more tries. 10-36. McKinnon scores a try with about ten minutes to go. Mundine converts to make it 16-36. Shearer gets a late try with a couple of minutes to go. Mundine misses and it stays 36-20, fulltime.
10 min 4-0
15 min 4-6
22 min 4-10
30 min 4-16
45 min 4-20
50 min 4-24
53 min 10-24
63 min 10-30
66 min 10-36
70 min 16-36
77 min 20-36
Nichols, Johnston, McKinnon, Shearer tries
Florimo, 1 from 2, Mundine 1 from 2 goals
Final Line up
T G/A FG
Flbk - Hawkins, Jack - - -
Wing - Johnston, Curtis 1 - -
Cntr - Apps, Deon - - - (c)
Cntr - Judd, Blake - - -
Wing - Nichols, Greg 1 - -
5/8 - Mundine, Matt - 1/2 -
Half - Florimo, Jay - 1/2 -
Prop - Areaiiti, Neccrom - - -
Hook - Falloon, Beau - - -
Prop - Renieri, Alex - - -
SRow - Retzlaff, Herman - - -
SRow - Molan, Brock - - -
Lock - Webster, Dean - - -
Int - Shearer, Jake 1 - -
Int - McKinnon, Brendan 1 - -
Int - Matapuku, Joey - - -
Int - Apps, Ryan - - -
4 2/4 -
Other NSW Cup Matches
39-20 Crst Canterbury b Auckland
40-30 Brok C Coast b Manly
34-12 Leic Wntwrthvll b Balm-Ryde
24-8 Camp Wests b Windsor