Western Sydney Stadium
Sun Jul 5, 6:30pm
Dargan and Nicholls were trimmed 24 hours before the game. Sironen and Corey Allan were 18th men.
WIN 26-10
Another devastating season-ending injury to rising Rabbitohs centre Braidon Burns has taken the gloss off a rugged 26-10 South Sydney win over Canterbury. Burns suffered a dislocated kneecap when Souths looked to have the hard-fought victory in the bag, continuing a wretched run for the 23-year-old. Burns has impressed decent judges in his 31 NRL games but those have been strung together across four seasons as hamstring and knee issues, and a badly broken ankle, have kept him stuck on the sidelines. Coach Wayne Bennett confirmed fears for the worst that surfaced when Burns fell awkwardly on his right knee late in the match and needed the medicab to leave the paddock. "He's dislocated his knee cap so he'll probably be gone for the season," Bennett said. "It's the last three or four years I understand, I think he's finished each season with different leg injuries. "He's a 10/10 bloke who tries his hardest for you, he's great to have around the club. So it is hard but it's the game we play and the risk you take. "We've all spoken to him. You don't know what to say. You feel his pain and you can't do anything for him, that's what it is but it doesn't make it easy. On him or the coaching staff." For Souths their first 40 minutes of rust was followed by a far more rugged second stanza, edging them past a dogged Canterbury outfit and back within sniffing distance of the top eight. The Bunnies big guns barely fired a shot for the first half at Bankwest Stadium on Sunday night, before Cody Walker and Adam Reynolds rallied the cavalry for a 16-point win. Reynolds simply couldn't kick one straight as 56 per cent of first half possession only amounted to an 8-6 Rabbitohs advantage. But after the break the pint-sized half laid on one try from the boot and would've had another but for a wicked bounce bamboozling James Roberts. Instead it was Walker going to the line with intent for the first time in the 58th minute, he and Cameron Murray trading roles for Walker to power over from a short ball. That made for a 10-point ball game, not that the Bulldogs were to be daunted. As they often do, they hung tough and hung in, twice trimming the Rabbitohs lead to within striking distance, but lacking the strike to go further. As a result their efforts amounted to a fourth-straight loss, the last thing besieged coach Dean Pay needs with a verdict on his future still unknown. South Sydney move back into the winners' circle and ninth position, behind Cronulla and Wests Tigers by the smallest of points differential margins. They made it look a formality early on. That wasn't the case throughout, but Alex Johnston's third-minute try loomed ominous – the Souths speedster putting his best asset on show after being told there is no room for him at Redfern in 2021. It was Latrell Mitchell sending him on his way with a catch and pass on the red and green side of halfway, Johnston duly leaving Dallin Watene-Zelezniak for dead as he went in, away and 60 metres for the first try. The Rabbitohs' left edge continued to gather steam and Damien Cook joined them as he went close to sneaking over, Souths settling instead for a 25th minute penalty goal and an 8-0 lead. Errors undid the cardinal and myrtle while Canterbury's halves Brandon Wakeham and Kieran Foran began to run with relish. The latter copped a dislocated finger late in the half for his troubles. The former put the Dogs at ease with a clever 35th-minute chip kick for Canterbury's first points, straight into the in-goal and the arms of Marcelo Montoya. Upon the resumption Reynolds found his range straight away, grubbering for Jaydn Su'A's first try in Rabbitohs colours. Raymond Faitala-Mariner gave the Bulldogs hope when he crashed over in the 54th minute. But Walker gave Souths breathing room soon enough, while Gagai got his try in the end, snaffling an intercept as the Bulldogs pressed with one last attacking raid and running 95 metres.
3 min 6-0 Johnston try Reynolds goal
25 min 8-0 Reynolds goal
35 min 8-6
HT 8-6
41 min 14-6 SuA try Reynolds goal
54 min 14-10
58 min 20-10 Walker try Reynolds goal
79 min 26-10 DGagai try Reynolds goal
Johnston, SuA, Walker, D.Gagai tries
Reynolds 5 from 5 goals
Referee P.Gough
Crowd 3,858 (Match played with 25% capacity restricted attendance due to COVID-19)
Scrums 5-5 (1H 1-3 )
Penalities 2-6 (1H 3-1 ) Diff 0-1
6 Again 1-4 (1H 1-3 )
Final Line Up -
Min Tac Pe 6A MT LB Rn DR m Er OL K TA T G/A FG
Flbk - 1 - Mitchell, Latrell 80 2 - - 1 - 10 - 100 1 - - 1 - - -
RWng - 2 - Gagai, Dane 80 8 - - 2 - 23 1 304 3 1 1 - 1 - -
RCnt - 4 - Roberts, James 63 14 1 1 1 - 10 2 100 1 1 - - - - - [0-54,70-80]
LCnt - 3 - Graham, Campbell 80 21 - - 2 - 19 - 168 - 1 - - - - -
LWng - 5 - Johnston, Alex 80 6 - - 1 1 14 - 196 - - - - 1 - -
5/8 - 6 - Walker, Cody 80 18 2 - 1 1 14 1 91 1 1 2 - 1 - -
Half - 7 - Reynolds, Adam 80 24 1 - 2 - 6 - 39 - - 18 1 - 5/5 - (c)
Prop - 8 - Tatola, Junior 49 29 - - - - 13 - 131 - - - - - - - [0-27,57-80]
Hook - 9 - Cook, Damien 80 47 - - 1 - 15 8 129 1 2 1 - - - -
Prop - 10 - Burgess, Tom 48 29 - - - - 15 - 143 1 - - - - - - [0-22,54-80]
SRow - 11 - Su'A, Jaydn 80 31 1 - 4 - 14 - 127 1 2 - - 1 - -
SRow - 12 - Lowe, Ethan 80 38 - - 3 - 13 - 112 1 1 - - - - -
Lock - 13 - Murray, Cameron 64 49 - 1 1 - 16 - 107 - 1 - 1 - - - [0-32,48-80]
Int - 14 - Knight, Liam 35 27 - - - - 10 - 104 1 1 - - - - - [22-57]
Int - 16 - Sele, Hame 27 27 1 2 1 - 7 - 63 - - - - - - - [27-54]
Int - 17 - Burns, Braidon 16 4 - - - - 3 - 27 1 - - - - - - [54-70]
Int - 19 - Mago, Patrick 16 11 - - - - 7 - 57 - - - - - - - [32-48]
385 6 4 20 2 2001 12 11 22 3 4 5/5 -
Completion Rate - 28/38 74%
Opposition Offloads - 8
Effective 1st Tackles
0 min 11m KO
1 min 39m Reynolds kick
3 min 0m TRY
7 min 7m Reynolds kick
9 min 26m Reynolds kick
12 min 39m CB 6A / SS Err(Mitchell) 12m SCR-P(Reynolds)
14 min 67m Walker kick 49m SS-6A(Murray)
15 min 69m DO / CB NO TRY
18 min 15m CB Err SCR / Walker kick SCR
19 min 29m Reynolds kick
21 min 4m Reynolds kick
22 min 42m CB Err / SS Err(Lowe) SCR
25 min 0m CB Err / P GOAL
27 min 31m DGagai kick 19m / SS-6A(Sele)
29 min 55m Reynolds kick 34m SS P(SuA)
31 min 36m CB Err / Reynolds kick COF
33 min 98m SS Err(Knight) 65m / SS-6A(Sele) 87m / SS P(Lowe) 96m / SS P(Walker) / (CB TRY)
37 min 1m KO
39 min 19m Reynolds kick SS Err(DGagai) SCR
half time
42 min 0m P / TRY
44 min 10m ChOv
46 min 49m CB Err / Reynolds kick SS Err(Roberts)
47 min 15m CB Err / SS NO TRY SS Err(DGagai)
49 min 9m Reynolds kick COF
51 min 94m Reynolds kick COF 5m SS P(Walker) 40m / SS-6A(Roberts)
54 min 69m DO / (CB TRY)
56 min 16m KO
57 min 16m Reynolds kick COF
58 min 0m CB Err CB-CC SCR / TRY
60 min 14m Reynolds kick
62 min 41m Reynolds kick COF
64 min 86m SS Err(DCook) SCR
65 min 76m DO
67 min 65m CB Err / SS Err(SuA)
68 min 0m CB Err / DCook kick
70 min 16m SS Err(Burns) SCR
73 min 0m SCR / Reynolds kick CIG
74 min 40m SS Err(Walker)
76 min 66m SCR / SS Err(Burgess)
77 min 80m CB Err SCR / Reynolds kick 8m / SS P(Roberts) SS-CC
79 min 0m CB Err TRY
Average effective 1st tackle location
- 34.2m - for the whole match
- 32.6m - 1st half
- 35.5m - 2nd half
Other First Grade Matches
27-25 LngS Melbourne b Syd Rstrs (GP)
22-16 Bruc Canberra b St Geo-Ill
42-4 WSS Parramatta b Nth Qld
40-10 Robi Cronulla b Gold Coast
26-16 Gosf Warriors b Brisbane
19-12 WSS Penrith b Wests-Tig
14-12 Brok Newcastle b Manly
W D L B Diff PT
PARRAMATTA 7 - 1 - +108 14
PENRITH 6 1 1 - +52 13
MELBOURNE 6 - 2 - +67 12
NEWCASTLE 5 1 2 - +51 11
SYD RSTRS 5 - 3 - +132 10
CANBERRA 5 - 3 - +37 10
CRONULLA 4 - 4 - +28 8
WESTS-TIG 4 - 4 - +28 8
Souths 4 - 4 - +26 8
Manly 4 - 4 - - 8
Nth Qld 3 - 5 - -32 6
Warriors 3 - 5 - -93 6
St Geo-Ill 2 - 6 - -46 4
Gold Coast 2 - 6 - -127 4
Brisbane 2 - 6 - -127 4
Canterbury 1 - 7 - -102 2
Judiciary News
No one has been charged from the match.
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