South Sydney Admirable in Defeat Against Sharks

The South Sydney Rabbitohs have suffered a heartbreaking defeat at the hands of the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, going down 14-12 in Gosford in the final game of NRL Super Saturday.

With the weight of possession and several crucial calls going against them, the Rabbitohs did very well to stay in the contest. They defended with incredible heart, and refused to give up even when they were down by eight points with three minutes to go.

In attack, Jye Gray was instrumental for South Sydney, running for a team high of 151m, setting up a try and putting on two line-breaks.

It was not enough however, to sway the result in their favour when it counted, with the Sharks too good as they held on for the win.

The Sharks were first to trouble the scorers when they received a penalty in range of the posts. Nicho Hynes slotted the goal for a 2-0 lead after eight minutes.

Hynes seemed to have orchestrated the away side’s first try of the game, putting second rower Billy Burns through a gap close to the line.

However, the pass was called forward, and the Rabbitohs were off the hook after a tough start to the game.

South Sydney squared the ledger with a penalty goal of their own after Jack Wighton wasn’t allowed to play the ball correctly due to interference in the ruck. Isaiah Tass made no mistake with the kick, levelling the scores at two all at the 20 minute mark.

The Sharks again looked to have scored the first try of the game through a darting run from Hynes, however closer inspection from the bunker revealed that Lewis Dodd had held his opposite man up with a spectacular defensive effort. The Sharks then dropped the ball on the next play in what was a fantastic win for the Red and Green defence.

In a half of football where they had just 43% possession and spent plenty of time defending their own line, the Rabbitohs managed to take the unlikeliest of leads into halftime when Jye Gray put Tyrone Munro over in the right corner just seconds before the siren.

Tass missed the difficult conversion and South Sydney went to the break leading the Sharks 6-2.

It took the Sharks just three minutes to hit back after the halftime, with Ronaldo Mulitalo diving over in the corner to level the scores. Hynes slotted the kick and Cronulla-Sutherland took the lead for the second time in the game.

The Rabbitohs were reduced to 12 men for 10 minutes when Jack Wighton was controversially ruled to have shoulder-charged Toby Rudolph after the two clashed heads.

Fortunately, the Rabbitohs defended admirably as they did in the first half, and didn’t concede any points during this period.

The South Sydney defence began to show cracks after such a monumental effort in the first 60 minutes, with Blayke Brailey bagging the Sharks’ third try of the game at the hour mark after Mulitalo gathered in a high kick from Braydon Trindall to put Brailey over from close range.

South Sydney continued to chance their arm, shifting the ball both sides of the field in a bid to get back into the game.

A linebreak on the left to Alex Johnston saw South Sydney get into attacking territory before shifting back to the right on the next play. Debutant Ashton Ward put a kick in for Munro, who was a fingertip away from gathering in the ball and scoring if not for an extremely unlucky bounce.

On the other side of the ball, the Rabbitohs continued to defend with plenty of heart as Jye Gray and Lachlan Hubner combined with a huge effort to prevent Will Kennedy and Braydon Trindall from putting the game beyond doubt for the Sharks.

Wighton sent a big kick downfield with a minute and a half to go, and an incredible bounce saw Will Kennedy touch the ball on its way out to give South Sydney possession 15m out.

They managed to score through Junior Tatola, who suffered an injury in the act of scoring and left the field as Tass kicked the conversion to put the scores at 14-12 in favour of the Sharks with 20 seconds to go.

The Rabbitohs had two plays to get back ahead of the Sharks. However, they were unfortunately unable to score in that time, sealing their defeat, but leaving South Sydney Members and fans incredibly proud of their side.

Match Snapshot

• The Sharks opened the scoring with a Nicho Hynes penalty goal in the 8th minute.
• The Rabbitohs hit back with an Isaiah Tass penalty goal in the 19th minute.
• Jye Gray and Tyrone Munro combined for the first try of the game, putting South Sydney ahead 6-2 at the break.
• Ronaldo Mulitalo crossed for the Sharks to in the 43rd minute to take back the lead for the away side.
• Jack Wighton was sent to the sin bin in the 45th minute for a shoulder charge on Toby Rudolph.
• Blayke Brailey scored the Sharks’ third try of the game at the 60-minute mark.
• Junior Tatola scored the final try of the game for South Sydney in the 80th minute, putting his side within two points of the Sharks with 20 seconds to go.
• South Sydney were unable to score in the final two plays of the game, leaving the final score 14-12 in favour of Cronulla-Sutherland.

Play of the Game

Tonight's play of the game goes to Junior Tatola, who crossed for South Sydney's second try of the game in the 80th minute to keep their faint hopes of a comeback alive. Tatola put his body on the line, suffering an injury in the act of scoring. While it was not enough to get the Rabbitohs the win, it was certainly a gutsy piece of play from Tatola, who reached out after crashing into the defence, getting the ball to the line by barely a blade of grass.

What’s Next?

The Rabbitohs will travel north to Brisbane next Friday. They’ll be at Suncorp Stadium to do battle with the Broncos, kick-off at 8pm.