South Sydney have maintained their unbeaten start to the NRL season but needed all of their experience and class to see off a highly-competitive Wests Tigers side 20-6 at ANZ Stadium.
The fortunes of the two sides have run in opposite directions over the past four years with the Tigers not featuring in the finals since 2011 and Souths becoming a NRL powerhouse under Michael Maguire.
But the future looks bright for the Tigers and in Luke Brooks, Mitch Moses and James Tedesco they have three playmakers who should feature prominently for many years to come.
But for all of their potential the Tigers are a long way from being the finished article.
The same cannot be said of the reigning premiers who even when not at their best, know how to win.
The Tigers started like a house on fire and looked to have scored in the opening minute only for Pat Richards to be denied by the video referee for being in an offside position.
Kevin Naiqama was then halted by a last-ditch tackle from Alex Johnston in the right corner as the Tigers took the game to the premiers.
The Rabbitohs struggled to find their groove in attack with George Burgess grassing the ball on first tackle in front of the Tigers’ posts and a Joel Reddy pass to put Dylan Walker in the clear a metre forward.
Farah opened the scoring to give his side a deserved lead just before the half-hour mark when he regathered his own grubber-kick and dived under a pile of bodies to touch down.
But the Rabbitohs’ response was immediate and predictably it was Greg Inglis who was the architect.
An Adam Reynolds pass found the fullback and his swift ball found Johnston who scored his 24th try in only his 21st appearance.
On the stroke of halftime Reynolds’ perfect kick found the outstretched arm of Walker and the hosts went in to the break leading 10-6.
Seven minutes into the second half Inglis pounced after latching onto a Reynolds pass and ran over Tedesco to score.
A spiteful period threatened to spiral out of control on at least three occasions with Martin Taupau barging into the back of Reynolds off the ball, an act that infuriated the home side.
A series of flashpoints ensued between both teams with Taupau and Isaac Luke at the centre of most of them.
It took until the 75th minute for Walker to add his second try and ice the win, but the centre could face a stint on the sidelines with a suspected broken hand.
hugh jarse
Guest
that would be either '77 or '79
Birdy
Guest
Just on the tigers away jumper.... They can't be serious
Statler and Waldorf
Roar Guru
It was probably called by the ref purely because it was JR :)
pjm
Roar Rookie
Moses is just there because of his uncle benny.
Birdy
Guest
Even though the tigers have a very young side I think the st George side that won the '78 (?) GF had an average age of 22. That's cause for optimism .
ferret
Guest
What impressed me yesterday was that the Tigers seemed more composed and stuck with a game plan. In the past they've gone for the "miracle" play but yesterday they played structured footy and looked the better for it.
ferret
Guest
I like the Superleague where the video ref is miked up and you can hear his explanation / thought processes as he goes along. You may agree or not but at least you know where they're coming from. At present commentators speculate endlessly, putting "words" into the video refs mouth, when in fact they could have a completely different reason. If I was going to be shouted down for a bad decision at least I'd like it to be my decision and not someone's misinterpretation.
ferret
Guest
I wrote to the NRL last year complaining about Hadley, especially calling the Broncos games, as there is no real love for him north of the Tweed. The NRL thanked me for my comment but pointed out that it is out of their hands. The contract was awarded to Ch9 and they appointed whomever they wanted. Fair enough, but it must drive the NRL mad when Warren and Gould go off script and make negative comments about aspects of the game which really are peripheral but are dragged out on national TV. I'm not saying some criticism isn't legitimate but Gould and Warren are forever second-guessing the refs and acting as judge, jury and executioner! Would be nice if the NRL got right of reply and highlighted all of Rab's mistakes during the call. Yesterday's game was a cracker and there was plenty of footy to analyze without wandering off on a tangent.
steveng
Roar Rookie
They are not like the old refs like the great Col Pearce (with no video ref assistance) that would have pulled up forward passes by the thousands which 95% of them today are intentional and they are let go and the game continues as if nothing has happened. And as the video ref is becoming an integral part of decision making in the NRL he should be able to call and to pull up a blatant forward pass or an unintentional forward pass when he sees it or when the referee goes for a video decision and he didn't include a forward pass in his review.
steveng
Roar Rookie
Yeah, the Rabbits were not that impressive yesterday, they dropped allot of ball and bombed at least 2-3 tries with fundamental mistakes, the West/Tigers were very impressive and look like a good side that will improve as the season goes by. As far as the Ch9 and Ray Warren is concerned they have really used their "use by date" they are getting old and complacent and should not be really calling the games, last week Ray Warren really made some fundamental mistake and called a blatant goal dropout when it was really a 25 tap and if you listen to his call closely he and all the Ch9 commentary they make so many fundamental mistakes that it borders on school boy knowledge and the most annoying is that they get off on a different tangent and talk about everything and anything which is not related to either RL or the game that they are calling. If the NRL are fair dinkum then they have to really scrutinise the commentators and the coverage of the NRL to the next TV broadcasters that they give the contract to. But in saying all this who is there to give this most lucrative contract to? Ch7, Ch10 the ABC, SBS TVS NITV who btw have allot of RL from NZ and Indigenous games and they do a better call then most of the Ch9 coverage's...lol???
The Barry
Roar Guru
Everyone's favourite Josh Reynolds got penalised for one against the Panthers
planko
Guest
I think the referee should be able to stipulate what the video ref can look at. For example Just check grounding. Then the video ref is just looks at that. Thoughts...
planko
Guest
I agree but what it means to the competition is that on their day they will take a few TOP 8 teams to task.
Statler and Waldorf
Roar Guru
"“when’s a forward pass really offside and a penalty?” debate went on and on yesterday (as it does every week)" while I don't like the commentary team I would like to know the answer to this question I reckon that no penalty has been given for intentional forward pass for 20 years, why do the refs ignore this rule?
Dogs Of War
Roar Guru
Non-kickers can't put others onside. I did think their was a case for Richards not getting involved in the intial play (ie offside) because he didn't go to the footballer and really was about 10m away from the play, and when the opposition lost the ball he became onside at that point and should have been allowed to participate.
Dogs Of War
Roar Guru
THey are only 20 though. I think given a couple more years to bulk up, and also get more experience (as most half's don't start coming into there own till they hit 50 NRL games), they could be something special. But it's a long road, and they need to be managed properly.
The eye
Guest
I might be going off early here but the Tigers young big 3 is turning out to be just the big 1..Luke and Moses are looking very ordinary..done nothing eye catching whatsoever...still look good targets in defence,too.
hugh jarse
Guest
insert standard disclaimer here: yes, I'm a Tigers supporter. 2 things. 1. I have a problem with the channel 9 commentators making their mind up about who will win before the opening whistle. Twice RW made comments about the Souths 'putting it to bed' and, I think 'closing it out' with 15 minutes to go. All of them attributed the closeness of the game to the Rabbitohs being 'a bit off their game' Bah. 2. Why do the refs bother telling the video ref what to check? The Richards try was given a try by the on field ref, asking the VR to check grounding and contact. But no, it went back to a chaser being off side. How does that work? The on field refs were clearly happy with that factor. Related to this, can someone explain whether a non-kicker can put other players onside as they run through? I thought that this was the case in league but not union. At least they were consistent in disallowing a similar try from Souths.
The Barry
Roar Guru
After wins versus the Titans and Dragons I wanted to see more of the Tigers before I started claiming them top 8 chances. They're a good side. I like the balance in their team between some of their big men like Galloway, Woods, Tapau, Sue and some of the skillful, creative players they have like Sironen, Farah, Brooks, Moses and Tedesco. They need luck with injuries (who doesn't) and I still think it might be a long season for Brooks, Moses and Tedesco who've got one full season of first grade between them.
Birdy
Guest
I'm a late comer to the woods band wagon he had a blinder yesterday I'm really starting to believe the tigers could have a big season. Tedesco had a not so good game by his own standard and they still pushed the bunnies all the way.