South Sydney fullback Greg Inglis helped his side continue their surge towards premiership favouritism on Friday night with a two-try effort in their 28-10 win over top-eight NRL rivals North Queensland.
Inglis iced the victory with a 90m four-pointer in a performance that will add weight to his claims of taking the Queensland No.1 jersey from incumbent Billy Slater.
The Cowboys, led by an all-star display from captain Johnathan Thurston and a double to winger Antonio Winterstein, fired plenty at the home side but ultimately became their eighth victims of the year.
They also played without luck all game, having two tries denied by video referees Chris Ward and Luke Patten.
The Rabbitohs overcame a slow start to move into outright first position on the NRL ladder, where they can be joined by Melbourne who play Penrith on Sunday.
The Burgess brothers were central to South Sydney’s success – Sam scoring the opening try while all of the Rabbitohs’ points came while barnstorming George was on the field.
The monster bench prop ran for 188 metres in two stints after entering the fray in the 22nd minute, and Souths scored twice in the six minutes that followed.
First, Sam Burgess crashed over from close range, then centre Bryson Goodwin finished off what will be a contender for try of the year.
An innocuous Adam Reynolds banana kick was poached by Chris McQueen before going through four more sets of hands and eventually resting with Goodwin.
Nathan Merritt gave NSW selectors another timely reminder of his attacking exploits when he crossed for his 10th try of the season late in the match.
Earlier, the Cowboys’ Winterstein opened the scoring with a simple overlap out wide.
The classy winger was unlucky not to have a double by the halftime break after he was denied by the video referee who found a knock-on in the lead up.
Brent Tate was also denied by the men upstairs when he appeared to cross right on halftime.
Winterstein completed his double in the 46th minute, snaring a magnificent Thurston cross-field kick to keep the game interesting before Merritt’s match sealer.
Rabbitohs centre Beau Champion was unable to finish the match after injuring his hamstring in the second half.
nopuritan
Guest
thanks mate you've articulated my thoughts perfectly.
Bulldog
Guest
Marco - the old scoreline defence does not cut it. When the Cows denied two tries in first half it would have resulted in them being ahead at half time rather than 12-4 down. Being behind on the scoreboard leads to them throwing more caution to the wind to try and win the game. They make som errors and the score blows out. Also the Inglis try where he bounces the ball is another dodgy call which adds to score line. Cowboys were badly treated by the refereeing... It is the inconsistency that is so annoying.
Nathan of Perth
Roar Rookie
Heh heh heh heh - Souths now clear on top of the ladder, brilliant. Long may it be so. Loved hearing the Burrow sing on friday night! Love that Botany Road song.
marco
Guest
okay so south's had a few decisions go their way. It was decisive win.well done.
ciudadmarron
Guest
Well said... Funny how they manage to get it right for this code but not the other though.
B. A Sports
Guest
Mate that game highlighted everything that is wrong with rugby league. Souths didn't get 50% of the 50-50 calls, they got 100% of the 50-50 calls! Even the non-calls like Bowen getting decked after passing the ball and Burgess dropping the ball two tackles before Merritt crosses off a pass from Goodwin which was no flatter than a pass thrown by Bowen 10 minutes earlier which was called forward. If the calls were 100% reversed the controversies would be the talk of that game, but because it wasn't a Sydney team getting burnt, it t will go through to the keeper with nothing more than a whimper. By the way, is anyone not convinced that there is some sort of deal between Burgess,Souths and Channel 9? Like he has to get 6 MOM awards and the money that goes with it?! He wasn't in the five best players on the field!
Meesta Cool
Guest
I believe that for once the media are doing bthe right thing - by ignoring it,,, the way tese bogans think, one flare this week getting media attention leads to 5 next, 15 next. and so on.. Don't give erm credit and let the security march em away quietle and this fad will not take off.
nopuritan
Guest
i'm keen to see if daniel anderson has anything to say about the refereeing performance in this game. The cowboys were robbed by the men in pink. as were the rabbitohs - they will never know if they could have beaten the cowboys fair and square. If there wasn't a loooong history of bad refereeing decisions that advantage sydney teams, you could put it down to a bad week for the refs but they are so consistently wrong when it comes to the cowboys games i can no longer give them the benefit of the doubt. the only winners last night were the rabbits fans in crowd. they got every penalty they bayed for. There's something rotten in the NRL and it's been festering for a long time.
GoCowboys
Guest
Not sure about the crowd figure but the flares were disgusting go back to soccer whoever did those and why isn't the media coming down and showing these disgusting pictures to stop it happening like they do with the soccer
Stu
Guest
Refs anyone? I'm not sure either team was a loser but the refs surely were.
Monopoly Man
Roar Rookie
Crowd figure?
oikee
Guest
The bunnies were too big, and too strong. As for the refs, gee whiz, Daniel's Caribbean refs had a shocker. 2 try's diss-allowed while one allowed for the Bunnies. "Killing the contest" is now prime time talk of the muppets on nine commentary. Speaking of such, if Fittler and Johns get any more gigs we all might end up jumping off the grandstand. Plain awful commmentary. Nine should be ashamed of themselves for dishing up this rubbish, and Joey has turned the term immortal into nothing but a common street joke.
Worlds Biggest
Guest
The Bunnies are showing mental toughness not seen before. They hang tough and then make teams pay. Great stuff.
Meesta Cool
Guest
I still remember some Bunny fans crying that Inglis was a cheat and should be rubbed out of the game!,,, ohhh how time changes opinions.
Razza
Guest
Here come the wabbits. Another cracking game of Rugby League, but spoilt by bad ref and video ref decisions ???, it beats me how many interpretations of one rule can be used in the game, I wont mention any one incidents it might look like I am taking the great win away from Souths, but in the area of, grounding the ball for a try, knocking on and knocking back with the ball rolling forward and forward passing and line ball, these are the main rules that I saw that can be addressed in the game. Two of rule differences I mentioned resulted in one team scoring two tries that were allowed and the other team having a try disallowed on one rule difference. It is a grey area when one team can be pulled up for a rule breach and another team gets let off and that happened in the above as I mentioned, I don't think it would have made much of a difference to the outcome of the score, but the rules are for all to follow and the refs are no exception, it has been going on for too long. Come on NRL, tidy the rules up and you might see more bums on seats at the games as followers of teams are getting sick of this one sided rulings that give one team an advantage on the scoreboard. Souths are playing like the Storm and I cant wait for that next meeting between the two, it should be a cracker and other teams should sit up and take notice, the Wabbits are playing like back in the 60's, red hot and on fire. "GO THE EAGLES"
Steve
Guest
I'm happy to wait for the Souths attack to click as long as there defence does not change, mighty job bunnies, I have never ever seen this kind of defence from Souths in the 35 years I have been supporting them. It's unreal, thank you !! -- Comment from The Roar's iPhone app.