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The South Sydney Rabbitohs have retained the Charity Shield for the fourth straight year with a hard fought 18-14 win over the St George Illawarra Dragons.
MORE: COOK STARS AS SOUTHS BEAT DRAGONS
Although the Dragons did take the lead early in the second half thanks to Siliva Havili, back-to-back tries from Kirisome Auva’a and Ed Murphy down the right flank would put the game away.
Euan Aitken made the last 10 minutes interesting with a late try, but the Rabbitohs did enough defensively to hold on to the victory.
Final score
St George Illawarra Dragons 14
South Sydney Rabbitohs 18
The NRL season is just around the corner, and we’ll get real football this weekend with the annual Charity Shield clash at ANZ Stadium. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 5:30pm AEDT.
St. George have had an active summer, with numerous gains and losses. While the loss of Trent Merrin will hurt, they picked up some handy backs with Kurt Mann, Kalifa Faifai Loa, and Tim Lafai all joining the Red V over the offseason.
Mose Masoe will also come back to the NRL in 2016, while Dunamis Lui, Sebastine Ikahihifo and Josh McCrone will all look to create waves at their new club. With Paul McGregor set to start his second full season at the helm of the club, the Dragons will have high hopes for 2016.
The Rabbitohs didn’t have as many transactions over the summer as their opponents, but they may have more of an impact on their 2016 squad.
South Sydney lost five regular first graders in Issac Luke, Ben Lowe, Glenn Stewart, Chris McQueen and Dylan Walker. Although they did grab Sam Burgess back from rugby union, it remains to be seen whether the big Englishman will be able to thrive without those key players.
Damien Cook looks like a good pickup for the Rabbitohs, while Michael Oldfield and Hymel Hunt will both be vying for spots in the backline. Souths fans always have high hopes, but it could be a down year in Redfern.
The Rabbitohs retained the shield for the third straight year in 2015 after a 12-all draw, and they’ll be looking to make in four on the trot in this one.
One of the biggest storylines this weekend though could be Russell Packer. The former Warrior avoided deportation over the summer, and he’ll be looking to repay the faith that the Dragons have put in him.
Prediction
The Rabbitohs have lost a few of their regulars to the All-Stars match, so the Dragons are trotting out a stronger side. They should have enough firepower to take this one.
Dragons by 8
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