South Sydney v Canterbury-Bankstown
Sun Feb 9, 5:00pm
Late Changes
McInnes, Lupi, Centrone, PJ Lose, Brydan Williams and Areaiiti have been added to the bench.
WIN 28-20
The South Sydney Rabbitohs have defeated the Bulldogs in the Back to Belmore trial by 28-20 in front of 5913 Members and supporters. The Rabbitohs began the match in uncharacteristic fashion, giving away three penalties that marched the Bulldogs up the field and into perfect attacking position. Drury Low finished off a sleek backline movement to give the Bulldogs an early 4-0 lead. Souths hit back half way through the first half through Beau Champion, who steamed onto a perfectly timed ball after a well-orchestrated set-play to level it all up at four points apiece – Adam Reynolds missing the conversion from out wide. On the back of another penalty, the Rabbitohs were in again through Dylan Walker, who in much the same fashion as the earlier Champion try hit the ball at speed. Reynolds made no mistake with the conversion to take the lead at 10-4. Things got worse for the Dogs when on the ensuing kick-off they sailed the ball over the touch-line on the full, giving the Rabbitohs another opportunity in good field position. But the red and greens failed to convert the opportunity to points. With the first half winding down, the Bulldogs hit back through a barnstorming San Kasiano, who planted the ball adjacent to the posts to level up the scores at 10 apiece. But Souths weren’t done yet, with Adam Reynolds putting a perfectly weighted kick in for Luke Keary into the in-goal to score, but the try was disallowed on the grounds that the pass to Reynolds was forward. At half-time, both sides made drastic changes to their line-ups – the Bulldogs with an entirely new set of players. Among the changes for the Rabbitohs was the injection of Lote Tuqiri onto the wing, and Cameron McInnes at hooker. The Bulldogs were first in to score through front-rower Lloyd Perrett, who crashed over adjacent to the posts to give the home-side the lead again. Pat Templeman converted to make it 16-10, but the Rabbitohs hit straight back with Dylan Walker answering back with his second of the afternoon out wide. Walker converted his own try to lock it all up at 16 apiece. The Rabbitohs’ Cameron McInnes was determined to break the dead-lock, with the replacement hooker showing great skill to duck under multiple Canterbury defenders to plant the ball over the line adjacent to the posts. Walker converted to make it 22-16 in the red and green’s favour. The Bulldogs’ Pat Townsend was next to score after taking a pass back on the inside from a Bulldogs break – Templeman was unable to convert, leaving the Rabbitohs ahead 22-20 with just under 13 minutes remaining. Rabbits replacement Chris Centrone though was unperturbed, increasing the side’s lead with his four-pointer on the touch-line. Dylan Walker converted to give the Rabbits an eight-point-buffer with seven minutes left.
6 min 0-4
18 min 4-4
26 min 10-4
36 min 10-10
44 min 10-16
47 min 16-16
55 min 22-16
65 min 22-20
73 min 28-20
Walker 2, Champion, McInnes, Centrone tries
Walker 3 from 3, Reynolds 1 from 2 goals
Crowd 5,913
Referee S.Hayne / L.Phillips
Penalities 0-0
Scrums 0-0
Other FG Matches
60-16 Mudg St Geo-Ill b Mudgee
24-12 Ende Cronulla b Manly
20-12 MRSt Canberra b Melbourne
52-12 NISC Newcastle b First Nation
32-8 Camd Wests-Tig b Penrith
32-8 Redc Nth Qld b Brisbane
60-14 ASpr Parramatta b Wests-Tig
36-18 NHar Gold Coast b Warriors
46-22 Hami Wigan b Warriors
Judiciary News
No one was charged out of the match.
NYC Cup Trial
v Canterbury, Belm Sun Feb 9 3:00pm
WIN 36-28
Late Change Lose was called up to FG and Kavanagh started the game. The South Sydney Rabbitohs’ NYC side has scored a 36-28 victory over the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the second fixture of today’s Back to Belmore clash. In a see-sawing match that saw some strong performances from Rabbitohs across the park, Coach Ben Gardiner’s men built on their performance against the Cronulla Sharks from last week. The Bulldogs were in first when five-eighth Brandon Cox crossed out wide, with the conversion attempt unsuccessful less than ten minutes into the match. But a second try just two minutes later had the Rabbitohs on the ropes early, trailing 8-0. The Rabbitohs hit back just before the first drinks break though, with Eden Syme showing good speed to outpace the Dogs defence to make it 8-4. With the Bulldogs applying sustained pressure to the Rabbitohs line, Cox eventually went in again adjacent to the posts to make it 12-4 in the home-sides favour. But Rabbitohs’ replacement forward Nick Millar brought the red and greens back into the game with his four pointer to make the score 12-8. With the first half winding down, a determined Joe Gardiner hit the ball on the burst for the Rabbitohs before crashing over to make it 12 apiece. On the resumption, it didn’t take long for the Rabbitohs to draw blood with centre Tom Hughes bagging the points to break the deadlock and 16-12. But the Bulldogs were quick to hit back, with Jake Kamire spinning out of two Rabbitohs defenders before powering over the try-line to level it all up again. The two sides continued to trade blows with Ofa Felila the next man in red and green to bag points, before Taylam Halls added his name to the score-card as well to make it 24-16. The men in red and green looked well in control when Tom Hughes raced over for his second of the afternoon to make it 28-16, and things didn’t get better for the Dogs when they sailed the kick-off over the touch-line on the full. Souths took full advantage with Chad Porter bagging a try of his own coming off the bench. The Bulldogs hit back with two tries to narrow the scores to 32-28 with 10 minutes in the match remaining. But with four and a half minutes remaining, Rabbitoh five-eighth Wallace Tangiiti strolled over to all but seal the match.
8 min 0-4 11 min 0-8 20 min 4-8 24 min 4-12 32 min 8-12 39 min 12-12 52 min 16-12 45 min 16-16 48 min 20-16 52 min 24-16 59 min 28-16 61 min 32-16 63 min 32-20 66 min 32-24 70 min 32-28 Hughes 2, Syme, Millar, Gardiner, Felila, Halls, Porter, Taangiiti tries no goals were attempted
NSW Cup Trial
v Canterbury, Belm Sun Feb 9 1:00pm
WIN 42-36
The North Sydney Bears bagged a hard-fought victory over the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the opening Back to Belmore match today at Belmore Sports Ground by 42-36. Norths found themselves down early after the Bulldogs put on a slick play to slice through the Bears defence before drawing in the fullback to go over for a converted try. But the Bears squared it all up just moments later when front-rower Ronny Alovili crashed over on the after Norths carted the ball up-field well, Matt Evans converting to make it six apiece. North’s were at it again shortly after, with Jesse Roberts crossed the line out wide before Evans added the extras to make the score 12-6 leading into the first drinks break. After the break, Canterbury were in again when a perfectly weighted chip into the in-goal was taken by a flying blue and white winger on the fly to touch down just inside the touch-line to again square the ledger. A penalty against the Bears for holding a Bulldogs player back allowed the Dogs to go further ahead when halfback Lindon McGrady strolled through a gaping hole in the Bears’ defence for a converted try, taking the score out to 18-12 in the home-sides favour. With less than a minute left in the first half, Bears five-eighth Matt Evans seized an opportunity to break through the Dogs defence, streaking 40 metres to touch down under the posts. Kurt Aldridge converted to make the score at half time 18 apiece. After the break, McGrady was at it again – the little halfback stepping through a stagnated Bears defensive line before planting the ball over the stripe to again take the lead. Levi Dodd added the extras to make it 24-18 in the Bulldogs’ favour. The Bears’ Tui Paiova capitalsed on a massive break shortly after though – the Bears having gone almost the length of the field to cross. With the conversion from the touch-line missed, the Bears trailed by two points – but not for long. A bizarre missed catch by the Bulldogs’ fullback allowed Shae Jarvis to cross to regain the lead, Matt Evans converting to give the lead back to Norths at 28-24. The Bears’ hunger began to grow, with a game of hot-potato out wide resulting in a try to Jackson Williams – Norths extending the lead to 32-24 at the final drinks break. Williams was in again after the break, taking a long pass out wide before streaking over untouched under the posts. Matt Evans converted to make the score 38-24. But the Bulldogs weren’t quite done yet. Lindon McGrady racked up his hat-trick for the Bulldogs with by racing in for a converted try to make it 38-30 with 12 minutes remaining. With seven minutes left, the Bulldogs were in again through five-eighth Nathan Massey with Levi Dodd again adding the extras to make it 34-36. Jesse Roberts put the win beyond doubt with mere minutes remaining when he ran 35 metres to score virtually untouched, making it 42-36 in the Bears’ favour.
5 min 0-6 9 min 6-6 21 min 12-6 24 min 12-12 31 min 12-18 39 min 18-18 49 min 18-24 52 min 22-24 55 min 28-24 62 min 32-24 67 min 38-24 68 min 38-30 73 min 38-36 78 min 42-36 Roberts 2, J.Williams 2, Alovili, Evans, Paiova, Jarvis tries Evans 4 from 5, Moran 2 from 4 goalsNSWRL U18 SG Ball Trial
v Balmain, Ersk, Sat Feb 8 10:30am
WIN 36-14
tries goal
NSWRL U16 Matthews Trial
v Balmain, 9:00am
WIN 16-8
tries goals
Feb 1/2 Weekend
NYC Cup Trial
v Cronulla, Ersk Fri Jan 31 5:45pm
DRAW 20-20
There were no late changes. Match was played in 3 thirds of 26.5 minutes. The South Sydney Rabbitohs NYC side grabbed a draw in their first trial match of the year against the Cronulla Sharks at Erskineville Oval this afternoon (Friday) – the 300 odd rugby league starved fans in attendance being treated to a see-sawing match, finishing at five tries apiece. Rabbitohs Coach Ben Gardiner was pleased with his side’s effort, particularly their goal-line defence. “I was really happy with their effort,” said Gardiner. “Particularly pleasing was our goal-line defence – considering that we didn’t do a good job of holding the ball. “Obviously like all games of this nature, we have some improvement, but it was just really good to see the boys get out there and really compete.” After a mistake riddled opening third, typical of a summer trial, the Rabbitohs found themselves down two tries to nil, despite a spirited effort late in the stanza on the Cronulla line that saw Souths come within inches of scoring. Shortly after the drinks break, the red and greens returned serve through Cameron Moran, who broke through the Cronulla defence out wide to post first points for the home-side. Poor ball-handling again let Souths down shortly afterwards, with Cronulla able to put sustained pressure on the red and greens before again crashing over under the sticks to make it three tries to one. But eight minutes before the second break, the Rabbitohs hit back when Aaron Booth ducked under two Cronulla defenders before putting the ball over the line to narrow the gap to one try. Then on the stroke of the second break, the Rabbitohs squared up the ledger when Devon Makoare-Boyce broke through the Cronulla line before sprinting 35 metres to score – evading three Sharks defenders in the process to make three tries apiece. On the resumption, the Rabbitohs were the first to go in through Tim Davidson, who finished off a sharp backline movement to score out wide – Souths taking the lead for the first time in the match. But the revival lasted mere minutes when the Sharks tested the Rabbits close to the line and came up with another try to square the ledger at four tries apiece. With the two sides locked in an arm-wrestle that saw both squander opportunities, a Rabbitohs knock on from a last tackle kick was enough for the Sharks to capitalise out wide to make it 5-4. But the Rabbitohs’ Makoare-Boyce had other ideas – the energetic replacement putting on a vicious step before eventually scoring to level it all up at five tries all at full-time. Despite the scrappiness of the game, Gardiner is certain that the quality of ball-control and fluidity will improve in the weeks leading up to round one. “You tend to expect those sorts of things at this time of year – the drop balls and the like. But I’m confident that in the weeks leading into the first round, we’ll have improved.”
14 min 0-4 21 min 0-8 29 min 4-8 34 min 4-12 45 min 8-12 53 min 12-12 56 min 16-12 59 min 16-16 69 min 16-20 74 min 20-20 Makoare-Boyce 2, Moran, Booth, Davidson tries no goals were attempted
Jan 18 Weekend
NSWRL U18 SG Ball Trial
v Central Coast, Ersk, Sat Jan 18 5:15pm
WIN 16-8
NSWRL U16 Matthews Trial
v Central Coast, 4:00pm
WIN 40-8
NSWRL U16 Matthews Trial
v Cronulla, 5:00pm
LOSS 8-12
T.Brown, R.Macintosh tries no goals attempted
