Wounded Inglis sparks Souths NRL win
A wounded Greg Inglis played the role of one-armed bandit as South Sydney beat Parramatta 24-6 in their NRL clash at ANZ Stadium on Saturday night.
The Rabbitohs scored four tries to one as they consolidated a spot in the top eight.
Parramatta remain last after falling to their ninth defeat in 11 games.
Backing up from Wednesday’s second State of Origin game, the Queensland star strained a medial ligament in his elbow midway through the first half and had a bandage applied to the afflicted area.
But it didn’t stop the mercurial fullback throwing a sensational pass to winger Justin Hunt for the Rabbitohs’ second try in the 29th minute.
Returning for the second half, Inglis threw a more conventional pass to Dylan Farrell for the Rabbitohs’ third try in the 42nd minute.
Inglis also produced a couple of big defensive plays in the wet and slippery conditions, including a vital tackle to deny Matthew Keating a try and defusing a bomb with aplomb.
While Inglis shone, Parramatta’s primary game breakers – fullback Jarryd Hayne and former South Sydney halfback Chris Sandow – were unable to spark their side.
In the battle of the No.7s, Sandow was outpointed by his successor Adam Reynolds, who set up the Rabbitohs’ first try with a perfectly-weighted chip kick to winger Nathan Merritt.
Reynolds won the most significant head-to-head duel between the two in the 68th minute, when he showed great pace and tenacity to deny Sandow a try.
The former Souths man took an intercept about 80 metres out and looked certain to score until Reynolds caught him and shoved him over the sideline just short of the Souths line.
Reynolds kicked two terrific first-half conversions from near the sideline and finished with four from four.
Sandow tried hard to spark Parramatta with a variety of kicks and made a half break in the first half, but missed critical tackles in the lead-up to two of Souths’ tries, as the Rabbitohs consistently ran at their old halfback.
Parramatta’s only points came in the 58th minute through a try to Reni Maitua, converted by veteran winger Luke Burt, who on Friday announced he would retire at the end of the season.
They couldn’t get any closer,and veteran lock Michael Crocker sealed the win when he crashed over Sandow for the game’s final try in the 76th minute.
© AAP 2013
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The Crowd Says (5) | Page 1 of Comments
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- Greg Inglis, NRL, Parramatta Eels, South Sydney
June 17th 2012 @ 7:26am
steve b said | June 17th 2012 @ 7:26am | Report comment
Kearney came out and said yesterday that Sandow was ready to step up to the mark and start taking a leadershop roll,,he was in reserve grade two weeks ago..Kearney and Sandow must be drinking the same bad water ,,because Kearney cant think straight and Sandow cant run straight,,, he couldn,t lead a horse to water if he was standing in it,,how are Parra going to go forward if the halfback can only run sideways kicks on every third tackle and wouldn.t know what second phase play is ,,and how much and how long did we sign this guy for..i had an argument some months ago with Scott Woodward ( guru ) here on the roar over his comments about Sandow in which i was standing up for Sandow and saying you need to give him a chance ,,Scott it pains me to say it but you were 100% right mate ,this guy is not the no 7 we were hoping for,, to say the least..Ive said it before and i will say it again a coach puts confidence in his side,, he gets each man on the same page to play tor each other,, Kearney cannot do this no matter what hes tried,, hes not the man for parra ,,,its time …
June 17th 2012 @ 1:13pm
steve b said | June 17th 2012 @ 1:13pm | Report comment
News flash ! The tea lady at Parra reckons Kearney gone by the end of the week !!!
June 17th 2012 @ 1:03pm
Bearfax said | June 17th 2012 @ 1:03pm | Report comment
Where to from here for Parra. Souths played like a top 4 side and could easily make the grandfinal if they can avoid losing too many of their stars to injury. But Parra are losing their two most consistent players at the end of this year in Hindmarsh and Burt. Who’s left to inspire in this team. Moimoi probably but there’s not much else happening amongst a set of players who should be doing much better. If Hayne could achieve Thurston like consistency and dominance, instead of relying always on his ad hoc (though at times brilliant) occasional incisions they may have some chance for ’13. Personally, with the players they’ve got I would be using Hayne at five eighth and develop his skills there. Young Hopoate is a natural full back for them when he returns in ’14 (wasted anywhere else but full back or centre). Lussick is a good acquisition to start to get some grunt back in the forward pack to support MoiMoi, now that Hindmarsh is gone.
But honestly. They need to start looking for another coach. Get tired of going on about their poor defensive structure and inability to develop attacking strategies. Last night it was only the sheer ad hoc brilliance of a couple of plays such as those by Sandow, that gave them hope. They need a good coach to get the best out of these brilliant but generally erratic and unfocused stars in Sandow and Hayne. With the two Hopoates soon to make their impact there, they’ll need a steady couple of halves to set their backline in motion.
June 19th 2012 @ 9:37am
Betrand said | June 19th 2012 @ 9:37am | Report comment
Support you Bearfax, Great comments……..
June 19th 2012 @ 11:22am
Andrea said | June 19th 2012 @ 11:22am | Report comment
The players need to step up. They are professionals. They are getting paid to play well for their team. They aren’t doing their job properly so it reflects poorly on their coach. The coach needs to be able to match the evolution of our great game and I dont think Kearney has done that. The Bunnies have evolved and it shows in how well they are playing at the moment. They have faith that their game plan is going to work and that if they do their job, adlibbing here and there, they will come away with the win. Confidence is the key and Eels dont have that, either in their coach or their abilities.