Fri Sep 13, 7:30pm
Selected Preliminary Semi-Final Teams
CyberView from the Hill - Last Week
CyberView from the Hill - This Week
Late ChangesT.Burgess, Keary were out. L.Burgess, started prop, S.Burgess second row, Tyrrell prop, Lima lock, Asotasi bench, McQueen bench.
WIN 20-10
South Sydney are one win away from a grand final berth after some staunch defence and a helping hand from the video referee delivered a 20-10 NRL qualifying final win over reigning premiers Melbourne at ANZ Stadium. The Rabbitohs ran out comfortable three-tries-to-two winners to book a preliminary final berth in a fortnight, but they were spared what would have been a frantic finish when the man in the video box intervened to deny Billy Slater his second try of the night. Trailing 14-6 with 16 minutes remaining, the Storm were coming home hard when a Cooper Cronk kick was spilled by Nathan Merritt, with Slater pouncing on the loose ball to score. Referee Jared Maxwell awarded the four-pointer only for video official Bernard Sutton to take the try off the Storm, ruling Will Chambers had impeded Merritt in the contest for the ball. It was a body blow to the Storm's charge - the knockout punch coming three minutes later when Greg Inglis danced his way past a few defenders before finding Issac Luke to make it 20-6. The Storm fired a last shot when Will Chambers crashed over but it was all too late - the South Sydney defence which had held for much of the game rewarded with a deserved victory, their first over the Storm in Sydney since 2004 and just their fourth finals win since 1971. It leaves Melbourne to face the winner of Sunday's Canterbury-Newcastle elimination final in a sudden-death semi-final next weekend. The Rabbitohs can put up their heels, having taken advantage of their chances in the opening period before leaning on a defence which had been carved up last week by the Sydney Roosters to take a 14-0 halftime lead. It was a nervous Bunnies side early with a penalty and early Sam Burgess knock-on, but Burgess repaid his team when he came up with the hit which forced Justin O'Neill to spill the ball - Adam Reynolds spreading it to an unmarked Farrell to cross out wide. Lima got over the line through sheer will power as the Storm's discipline went out the window via five straight penalties, Sisa Waqa denied a reply when Farrell held him up in the in-goal just before the break. It was a different Storm after the break with Slater scoring off the back of a scrum win, but when he was denied a second, it was all over for the visitors. The Storm will be hoping for some good news on Waqa after he fell heavily on his head late in the contest in an incident which saw Farrell placed on report. Earlier, Souths prop Roy Asotasi was placed on report for a questionable crusher tackle on Jason Ryles. Rabbitohs coach Michael Maguire pointed to his side's defence as the key, and was adamant they are ready to improve on last year's preliminary final loss. "As a squad we're 12 months down the track from where we were," Maguire said. "I think we're a much improved team from this time last year, that's for sure." Storm mentor Craig Bellamy was left lamenting the Slater no-try call that went against his side. "He said (the referee) Will took Merritt out - at the same time I think Goodwin was escorting Will and knocked him off balance so Will couldn't have a proper shot at the ball," Bellamy said. "I don't think Will intentionally went in there to take him out. "I think that was a real tough call actually." Storm skipper Cameron Smith admitted the time had come for his side to make a stand. "We need to make a decision as a team where we want to go now for the rest of the season," Smith said. "We've got three possible games, we've got to turn it around real quick from that performance tonight."
8 min 6-0
21 min 8-0
25 min 14-0
54 min 14-6
66 min 20-6
71 min 20-10
Luke, Lima, Farrell tries
Reynolds 4 from 4 goals
Crowd 21,609
Referee S.Hayne / J.Maxwell
Penalities 8-7
Scrums 5-5
Min Tac Pe MT LB HU DR m Er OL K TA T G/A FG
Flbk Inglis 80 4 - 1 - 14 - 119 - 1 - 1 - - -
LWng Merritt 80 3 - 2 - 7 1 45 - - - - - - -
LCnt Goodwin 80 21 1 4 - 11 3 75 - - 2 - - - -
RCnt Walker 80 21 - 4 - 9 - 83 1 1 - - - - -
RWng Farrell 80 6 1 - - 13 4 135 2 - 1 - 1 - -
5/8 Sutton 80 18 - 1 - 6 1 55 - 1 5 - - - -
Half Reynolds 80 29 1 1 - - - - - - 12 - - 4/4 -
Prop Burgess.L 35 19 - 1 - 7 - 55 - - - - - - -
Hook Luke 80 39 - 2 1 11 10 95 - - 2 1 1 - -
Prop Tyrell 35 17 - - - 8 - 64 - - - - - - -
SRow Te'o 63 27 - 2 - 3 - 24 - - - - - - -
SRow Burgess.S 80 34 1 1 - 21 1 151 1 1 - - - - -
Lock Lima 55 28 1 1 1 15 - 118 - - - - 1 - -
Int Asotasi 21 10 1 - - 4 - 36 - - - - - - -
Int McQueen 41 24 - 4 - 7 - 56 1 - - - - - -
Int Clark 25 17 - 1 - 3 - 29 - - - - - - -
Int Burgess.G 45 29 1 2 - 18 - 141 1 - - - - - -
TOTAL 346 7 27 2 1281 6 4 22 2 3 4/4 -
Completion Rate 33/37 89%
Opposition Offloads 10
Effective 1st Tackles
0 min 56m Reynolds kick 18m / SS P(Lima)
3 min 90m M Err SCR / SS Err(SBurgess) SCR
5 min 19m M Err / Sutton kick COF
7 min 20m Reynolds kick COF
8 min 0m M Err TRY
10 min 28m Sutton kick COF
11 min 70m SS Err(Farrell)
12 min 70m DO
14 min 11m M Err SCR / Luke kick
16 min 18m Luke kick
21 min 0m P / P / P GOAL
23 min 17m Reynolds kick COF
25 min 0m M Err SCR P / P / TRY
28 min 79m Reynolds kick SCR 18m SS P(Lima) 49m / SS P(Asotasi)
30 min 72m DO
32 min 22m Sutton kick COF
34 min 99m Sutton kick ChDn Goodwin kick COF 46m / SS P(Goodwin) 87m / SS P(Reynolds)
38 min 66m DO
39 min 60m Sutton kick NO FIELDGOAL COFIG 28m / SS P(SBurgess) (M NO GOAL)
half time
42 min 11m SCR / Reynolds kick COF
43 min 75m SS Err(Farrell) SCR
46 min 14m M Err SCR / Reynolds kick
47 min 39m SS Err(McQueen)
49 min 25m P / Reynolds kick SCR
52 min 23m M Err SCR / Reynolds kick
53 min 100m SS Err(Walker) SCR (M TRY)
57 min 20m Goodwin kick
58 min 17m Reynolds kick
60 min 28m Farrell kick DIG
62 min 64m DO / (M NO TRY)
64 min 0m P / Sutton kick COF CIG
65 min 0m Reynolds kick CIG
66 min 0m TRY
69 min 67m M ShKO
70 min 96m DO 69m / SS P(Farrell) / (M TRY)
74 min 24m Sutton kick COF
76 min 21m M Err / Reynolds kick
79 min 30m M Err / P / SS Err(GBurgess)
Average effective 1st tackle location
- 38.2m - for the whole match
- 41.9m - 1st half
- 34.4m - 2nd half
If you now remove the tries
- 46.9m - 1st half
- 36.3m - 2nd half
Other FG Matches
4-0 (1v4) SFS Sydney b Manly
20-18 (5v8) SFS Cronulla b Nth Qld
22-6 (6v7) StAu Canterbury b Newcastle
Judiciary News
Roy Asotasi was placed on report for a crusher tackle in the 28th min however no further action was taken.
Dylan Farrell was placed on report for a tackling Melbourne winger Waqa in the air. However the MRC decided to not lay any charges.
NYC Cup Minor Prelimary Semi-Final Souths Sydney (7) v Warriors (6)
5:15pm
LOSS 18-20
Late Changes Gosieswki, Whitelaw were out. Felila started wing, Phillips five-eighth, Watts bench. Final line up -
Flbk - Alex Johnston Wing - Ofa Felila Cntr - Jaiden Hawkes Cntr - Aaron Gray Wing - Siosaia Tanginoa 5/8 - Tyronne Phillips Half - Christian Hazard Prop - Daniel Smith Hook - Cameron McInnes (c) Prop - Duncan Low SRow - Tulsa Saumamao SRow - Brad Croad Lock - Jeremy Fuller Int - Jake Watts Int - Jackson Garlick Int - Joseph Nakhoul Int - Lincoln Kavanagh
6 min 0-4 13 min 6-4 31 min 10-4 35 min 14-4 52 min 14-10 60 min 14-14 67 min 18-14 73 min 18-20 Tangionoa, Gray, Hazard, Felila tries Gray 1 from 4 goals Other U20 Matches 27-26 (4v1) StAu Canterbury b Canberra 48-22 (2v3) SFS Penrith b Sydney 26-22 (5v8) SFS Wests-Tig b Brisbne
NSW Cup Major Preliminary Semi-Final
(3) v Newcastle (2), Leic Sun Sep 15 6:10pm
WIN 32-28
Late Changes Tyrrell, L.Burgess, Fepuleai were out. Keary started half, Starling prop, T.Burgess prop, Leslie second row, Lowe lock, Koroisau bench. Final line up -
Flbk - Justin Hunt Wing - Andrew Everingham Cntr - Shaune Corrigan Cntr - Matt King Wing - Curtis Johnston 5/8 - Darren Nicholls (c) Half - Luke Keary Prop - Tom Burgess Hook - Nathan Peats Prop - Josh Starling SRow - Bennett Leslie SRow - Kyle Turner Lock - Ben Lowe Int - Apisai Koroisau Int - Joey Matapuku Int - Greg Nichols Int - Matt Hyland
The North Sydney Bears earned a week off after a late Matt King try held off a determined Newcastle Knights 32-28 in the qualifying final at Leichhardt Oval on Sunday evening. Nothing separated the sides at halftime before the Bears skipped clear immediately following the break but only secured their fourth straight victory in a frantic final four minutes - placing them one win away from a berth in the VB NSW Cup Grand Final. Newcastle set out to extend a four match winning streak but were under early pressure when Bears winger Andrew Everingham capitalised on repeat sets to cross out wide in the sixth minute. Part time kicker Justin Hunt raised the flags from touch for a 6-0 advantage. The clock stopped in the 16th minute when Knights half-back Adrian Davis was stretchered up the tunnel before a Korbin Sims try had the Knights smiling again three minutes later, the scores levelled from a well-executed inside ball from hooker Chris Adams. Prop Toka Likiliki soon had Newcastle rolling up the middle which replacement forward Dylan Smith put to good use when his second phase ball opened space for winger Josh Mantellato to cross in the right corner which he duly converted for a 12-6 Knights lead after 29 minutes. To the relief of all, Adrian Davis returned to the field in the 30th minute and Newcastle looked set for a halftime lead until Bears late inclusion Luke Keary drifted left before turning a lovely inside ball to Justin Hunt who stormed through an opening to level the scores 12 all at the break. Norths asserted their authority with back-to-back tries in the 43rd and 46th minutes to jump clear 22-12. Captain Darren Nicholls scored the first when King defused a pin-point Keary bomb before offloading in traffic which was followed by Hunt's second from another inside pass. A vital twelve point Bears margin was denied after Hunt sprayed a conversion attempt from point blank range. The Knights struck back after 51 minutes when replacement hooker Chad Redman was controversially awarded a try from dummy-half which some considered a double movement. Mantellato's extras reduced the deficit to four. The Bears controlled possession and field position for the next fourteen minutes and only managed to add a further four points for a crucial eight point margin from two Apisai Koroisau penalty goals advancing to 26-18 with fifteen minutes remaining. A forward pass ruling saved the Knights from another Keary-Hunt inside ball combination in the 69th minute. Toka Likiliki charged the line after the scrum paving the way for Siuatonga Likiliki to barge over down the right edge before Mantellato made for a two point gap with nine on the clock. With the match up for grabs, North Sydney lifted, pressuring Newcastle for repeat sets that ended with King's try putting the game beyond doubt in the 76th minute after slick hands from Nathan Peats and Keary helped to create a 32-24 score line. Knights winger Chanel Mata'utia closed out the scoring in the final minute with a consolation try in the south-east corner. The Bears victorious 32-28 after Newcastle ignored the final conversion attempt.
8 min 6-0 20 min 6-6 30 min 6-12 39 min 12-12 44 min 16-12 53 min 22-18 59 min 24-18 65 min 26-18 72 min 26-24 77 min 32-24 79 min 32-28 Hunt 2, Everingham, D.Nicholls, M. King tries Hunt 3 from 4, Koroisau 3 from 3 goals Other NSW Cup Matches 24-22 (4v1) Ende Windsor b Cronulla 40-26 (5v8) Leic Newtown b Wentworthville 34-24 (7v6) Wests-Tigers b Auckland
Semi-Final Weekend - Sep 20-21
NRL Semi-Finals
Other FG Matches
(1) Sydney BYE
(2) Souths BYE
18-16 MRSt (6v3) Newcastle b Melbourne
24-18 SFS (4v5) Manly b Cronulla
NYC U20 Semi-Finals
Other NYC Matches
(1) Canterbury BYE
(2) Penrith BYE
58-6 SFS (6v3) Warriors b Sydney
36-16 SFS (4v5) Canberra b Wests-Tig
NSW Cup Semi-Finals
Other NSW Cup Matches
(1) Windsor BYE
(2) Norths BYE
38-10 Leic (3v6) Newcastle b Wests-Tigers
54-18 Leic (4v5) Cronulla b Newtown