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South Sydney have retained the Charity Shield after drawing 12-12 with the St George Illawarra Dragons on Saturday Night.
SOUTH SYDNEY 12
ST GEORGE 12
In a match that clearly showed the teams in preseason mode, both teams made plenty of errors, in an entertaining clash.
After going down 12-0 in the 52nd minute, South Sydney scored two tries in the last 15 minutes, to save the game and record a draw to retain the trophy.
In the first half though, they struggled, as the Dragons started better against an inexperienced line-up.
Missing Adam Reynolds, Greg Inglis, John Sutton, Glen Stewart and George Burgess, the Bunnies struggled for possession in the opening fifteen minutes.
When they got the ball, they would make mistakes, and knock the ball on a few occasions in the match.
What kept them in the match was their goal line defence which stopped the first chance just four minutes into the match.
Mitch Rein lunged forward with the ball trying to get it over the line for the first try of the match.
He was just short as South Sydney held him up.
20 minutes later though, they couldn’t stop Benji Marshall.
Marshall, who played his first Charity Shield match for the Dragons, would provide some individual brilliance for the first try.
After the Dragons got a scrum 30 metres out, Marshall got the ball, sold a dummy to Luke Keary, and ran past the Bunnies defence for a try.
That gave the Dragons a 6-0 lead at half time.
They extended the lead not long after half time with a try to Charly Runciman.
He got the ball from a lunging Eto Nabuli, near the touchline, and scored to put the Dragons 12-0 up.
They held on to the lead, and looked like winning the match, with 20 minutes to go.
On mistake though changed the match.
A poor pass from Marshall gave the Rabbitohs a way back into the match.
Sam Manuleleua would intercept the pass and run 75 metres to score for the Bunnies.
Ten minutes later, another mistake from the Dragons, would level the match.
A knock on would give South Sydney a scrum feed 35 metres out.
Isaac Luke would then put Chris Grevsmuhl through to level the scores up and create an interesting last five minutes.
Both teams tried to score but neither could find the vital breakthrough.
The draw is the fifth one in the Charity Shield and gives the Rabbitohs the trophy after winning it last year.
They now have three titles in the last five months of football.
The Bunnies will now try to add a fourth one against St Helens in the World Club Series in two weeks.
The Dragons will also travel to England and play a trial match before the final.
South Sydney will look to continue their red hot form in the NRL when they take on the St George Illawarra Dragons in the Charity Shield tonight. Join The Roar for a live blog of the match from 7:30pm AEDT.
The last six months for the South Sydney Rabbitohs have been incredible. After breaking their 43 year premiership drought in the NRL Grand Final last year, the Rabbitohs added the Auckland Nines trophy last weekend with a win over Cronulla in the final.
In a match that went to extra time, after a brilliant conversion from the sideline by the Sharks to tie up the contest, Matt King scored the winning try to seal the title.
The Rabbitohs now have a chance to add the Charity Shield title against the Dragons tonight. If they win tonight, and then take out the World Club series title against St Helens on February 22, the Bunnies could hold four titles in the space of five months.
Looking to stop them will be the Dragons, who are looking to bounce back after a lean 2014. For the third season in a row, the Dragons missed the top eight, and finished in 10th position on the ladder.
They will be looking to avoid the same fate and make the finals for the first time since 2011.
The Dragons have the perfect chance to prepare for the season by facing the Premiers of last season. Over the off-season, the Dragons have been very active in the market, replacing and adding plenty of players to the squad.
From 2014 to 2015, 13 players have left the club, with 11 players arriving. The biggest player to leave the club was Brett Morris who moved to the Bulldogs.
In return the Dragons have signed George Rose, Dane Nielsen and Kris Keating – from the Super League – to lead the charge towards the top eight.
The Bunnies have also had off-season changes with six players leaving the club. Three of them, Sam Burgess, Ben Te’o and Apisai Koroisau, all played in the Premiership winning team.
Burgess will be the biggest loss for the Bunnies after his heroic performance in the Grand Final. He was also one of the leaders for the Rabbitohs.
To replace him South Sydney has signed Tim Grant and Glenn Stewart.
Tonight’s Charity Shield match is just the second contest between the two to feature a Premiership winner. In 2011, when the Dragons won their first Premiership in 2010 since 1979, they became the first Premiers to compete in the Shield.
Tonight is the 32nd Shield match between the two with the Dragons winning 16 times in those matches. The Bunnies have won 11 matches with the other four being draws.
In recent matches though, the Bunnies have dominated. They have won seven of the last ten, including the last two contests between the two.
The Rabbitohs are the favourites with the bookies for the match and have named a strong squad for the clash.
Apart from John Sutton and Greg inglis, who have been rested, the Bunnies have named a full strength line-up for the match. The 24 man squad includes Glen Stewart and Tim Grant who are in line to make their debut for the Bunnies.
The Dragons have named a 26 man squad for the match with Ben Creagh to captain the team. They have also named a close to full strength squad for the important match. Only Trent Merrin and Kris Keating are out with All Star duty.
This promises to be a big battle between the halves and the forwards of each team. The battle between Gareth Widdop/Benji Marshall and Luke Keary/Adam Reynolds will be something to look out for.
After his MVP performance last week in the Auckland Nines, Reynolds will be hoping to continue his form this week. He will also be hoping his hamstring is fine after tweaking it in the final against Cronulla.
The battle of the forwards will also be interesting. How the Dragons shut down one of the leading forward packs in the NRL will be fascinating to watch.
For the Rabbitohs it will be interesting to see how they go without Sam Burgess. We will get that answer in some way tonight.
On paper, and form, the Rabbitohs look to be too strong for the Dragons. They have plenty of attacking options and Keary and Reynolds look to be starting 2015 in nice fashion after last week at the Auckland Nines.’
I predict them to win the Charity Shield and remain in the hunt for four titles in their trophy cabinet in the space of five months.
Prediction: Rabbitohs by 10 points
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