- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
South Sydney Rabbitohs 18
Canterbury Bulldogs 32
The Canterbury Bulldogs have recorded a much needed win this evening against the South Sydney Rabbtiohs in dominating circumstances at ANZ Stadium. The final score line probably doesn’t replicate just how dominant the Bulldogs were throughout the game, with the Rabbitohs picking up three tries in the later stages.
The forwards for the Bulldogs, particularly James Graham, Greg Eastwood, Frank Pritchard and Sam Kasiano were all brilliant in overpowering and outmuscling the Rabbtiohs pack, making things easy for the likes of Trent Hodkinson and Moses Mbye, the former of who in particular had a brilliant game. Mbye really sparked to life in the second half with Shaun Lane providing some awesome impact off the bench as well.
For the Rabbitohs there really wasn’t much to like about the performance. They struggled badly on the defensive end for most of the night making poor reads and giving away penalties whilst their execution in attack was poor for the majority, only looking half decent late in the second half on a couple of occasions. Far too many errors marred their game tonight and made it hard for them to compete with the Bulldogs.
Late in the second half Greg Inglis also copped a severe looking knee injury and went off the field which could cruel the rest of the South Sydney Rabbitohs season.
The try scoring started fairly early in the piece, with Damien Cook the fill in hooker grabbing the first try in just the 10th minute from a beautiful Frank Prithcard offload. No one was a chance of stopping him after some poor defensive reads earlier in the play allowed Pritchard to get the ball in that sort of position.
Sam Perrett was the next one over the line as the Bulldogs continue to hold all the territory and possession with the try coming in the 17th minute off a pearler of a Trent Hodkinson pass. From the middle he passed long to the right leading to Perrett scoring nearly untouched.
The next one was to Brett Morris as Mbye found a hole and passed to Rona who found Pritchard. From there it was a spectacular one handed flick pass offload which lead to Morris running away with ease.
Following that third try though, the Rabbitohs has about 5 or 10 minutes where they were camped on the Bulldogs defensive line, however their attacking execution was poor, although full credit must go to the Bulldogs defence.
The final try of the half came to Sam Perrett in the last minute. Going down for a field goal, the Hodksinon attempt was charged down. The deflection sent the ball hurtling towards the dead ball line which Cook was able to bat back in for Perrett to score his second. An awesome try it was.
The Bulldogs had just about the perfect first half and took a 22-0 lead into the half time break, meaning it was an uphill challenge for the Rabbitohs in the second.
During the second half, The Rabbtiohs looked marginally better than the first however it wasn’t until the last 15 minutes that they really looked like coming to life. They were also able to control for a short period of time when James Graham was taken off with a concussion test.
The Bulldogs just continued their smashing style and were never letting the Rabbitohs come back into the game.
The Rabbitohs did strike first in the second half through Bryson Goodwin off a perfectly executed John Sutton chip kick.
However the joy and chances to come back into the game for the Rabbitohs were short lived as Graham came back onto the field and the Bulldogs grabbed back control of the game, setting a try up for Curtis Rona in the corner off a perfectly executed set play.
The game moved into an arm wrestle type stance for the final 20 minutes with Alex Johnston the next to score for the Rabbitohs off a ball from Greg Inglis who got one out the back from Adam Reynolds.
Four minutes later, the Bulldogs ruined any cance of a miracle come back with Shaun Lane scoring for the Bulldogs.
The final try of the game was with five minutes to go, consolation more than anything for Jason Clark as some very soft marker defence allowed him over.
In the end a commanding, and incredibly important victory for the Bulldogs over the Rabbitohs who may struggle to get any more wins before the finals.
Last time the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Canterbury Bulldogs met it was Good Friday, and the match ended in controversial circumstances. Their second meeting of 2015 has plenty at stake, so join The Roar for live coverage from 7:30pm (AEST).
Good Friday saw the Rabbitohs run out winners in a game that was close all the way.
Attempting a field goal, Adam Reynolds had his legs taken out by Bulldogs captain James Graham. A penalty was awarded, David Klemmer was sent off, and Bryson Goodwin slotted the winning penalty goal for the Rabbitohs.
South Sydney have been in solid form all season to sit inside the top four, although there was a scare against Penrith and a loss to Manly before they bounced back to beat North Queensland last Thursday night.
The Bulldogs have been inconsistent this season, sit just inside the top eight, and need three victories from their last three games to guarantee a top-eight berth.
In team news, the Rabbitohs lose half Luke Keary, with John Sutton moving out of the second row to replace him. Jason Clark is elevated into the starting side and Chris Grevsmuhl joins the bench. Paul Carter will play hooker in place of the suspended Issac Luke, with Glenn Stewart, Nathan Brown, Joel Reddy and Cody Walker all on an extended bench.
The Bulldogs meanwhile cop a massive blow with hooker Michael Lichaa injured, replaced by Damian Cook.
This game looks to be a battle of the forward packs, particularly the battle of the Poms. James Graham versus George Burgess could go a long way to deciding this game.
Prediction
The Rabbitohs looked good last week and should just pip the Bulldogs. Only just.
Rabbitohs by 1.
Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 7:30pm (AEST) and don’t forget to comment in the section below.