Last night’s clash at ANZ Stadium was arguably one of the most desperate matches of the 2016 season so far.
Both teams had something drastic to prove.
On the one hand, Souths were facing the prospect of equalling their longest losing streak during the Michael Maguire era.
At the end of last year, they lost four matches in a row, ruling them out of the finals.
Losing four again so soon was something that needed to be avoided at all costs if this year’s finals were going to feel like a serious possibility.
On the other hand, the Tigers were facing the prospect of an even more sustained and humiliating losing streak.
Over the last couple of weeks, they’ve shown us just how far they can descend, and just how much more they can disappoint their fans.
That they ended up winning last night is a testament to their greater desperation.
While the Bunnies have hit hard times, they’re one of Sydney’s prestige teams: they’ve got a stable infrastructure, club culture and local mythology to fall back upon.
Straddled between Leichhardt and Campbelltown, more and more alienated from Balmain and still in need of a proper clubhouse, the Tigers have much more to lose.
With every game of footy it feels as if they’re fighting for their very existence.
Sometimes that can make them seem almost unbearably vulnerable, but sometimes it can produce the steely determination we saw last night.
That kind of footy only comes from a team who are backed into a corner with no room to move.
In front of an astonished home crowd, Souths conceded twenty points in nearly as many minutes.
While a try from Kirisome Auva’a just before halftime put the Bunnies back in the picture and another from Dane Nielsen at the 49th minute reduced the margin to two, the Tigers never stopped fighting back.
Minutes after Nielsen scored his first four points for the Rabbitohs, Jordan Rankin beat Greg Inglis to a grubber from Luke Brooks which he then converted just as deftly.
As always, James Tedesco shone, planting the Steeden at the same second as Adam Reynolds for the first try of the night, and setting up Rankin’s first try with a beautiful cut-out pass moments later.
While the match couldn’t have been more brutal, there was something great about seeing Teddy and Reynolds effectively – if inadvertently – playing as one.
It was like a glimpse of a Blues partnership we will probably never get to see if Laurie Daley continues to select Josh Dugan and Mitchell Pearce at every opportunity.
It was worrying, then, to see Tedesco taken off for the second half with a shoulder issue, especially since Mitchell Moses had also sustained a quad injury during warmup.
Still, it was amazing to see how the Tigers managed to retain their momentum without him.
Ironically, what the boys in orange and black probably needed at this stage was a game in which their star fullback wasn’t in the spotlight for the entire eighty minutes.
While Tedesco has shone in virtually every match this year, the team also has to function as a team.
Finding themselves devoid of their no. 1 may actually have provided them with that little bit of extra desperation they needed to cross the line eight points ahead of Souths.
For a match that felt as if it was going to provide the Bunnies with a key turning point in their season, then, last night’s showdown was a bit of an upset for both parties.
At one point, it felt as if the Tigers might just manage to school the Rabbitohs as dramatically as they had been schooled by the Raiders the weekend before.
While that didn’t happen, let’s hope that the victory motivates both teams as they prepare to take on the Eels and Bulldogs next weekend.
3 Hats
Guest
Dave Tyrrell ONLY played 12 minutes against the Tigers and went off injured and did NOT return. This 6m per carry average is RUBBISH, that stat is from Round 3 onwards. If you take the ENTIRE 9 Rounds including the first 2 where he did make good metres. So far Tyrrell has played 264 minutes in total. 7 Games 59 Carries for 466m at an Average of 7.9m per carry. Dave Tyrrell is there primarily for his defence, he is a worker, He is not there for his attack. http://www.nrl.com/telstrapremiership/playerstats/playerprofile/tabid/10898/clubid/11/playerid/782/seasonid/44/default.aspx
up in the north
Roar Rookie
I didn't claim that the Blues lost nine of ten series because of Farrah. But I do think they might have a better chance of winning if they took another option at hooker instead of him. Too many times they select what they perceive as safe players who aren't elite level players.
Tiger
Guest
Farah was the starting 9 in the last series they won, and since he finally made it back into the side, each series has been very close. He holds the record for most tackles in a origin match (60, with none missed) and regularly tops the tackle count. He wasn't playing in the debacle of game 3 last year and is still NSW's best option. How anyone can think it's his fault the blues have lost nine of the last ten series (the majority of which he was not involved in) is beyond me.
Tiger
Guest
And I suppose you want Robbie Farrah to get paid 500k to play elsewhere..
Paul
Guest
How would you know Billy how would you or anyone else know?
steveng
Roar Rookie
Keary's kick (when he had 4 players overlap) was just plain and simply dumb! If he would have passed the ball it would have been a certain try and that try would have been about 8-10 minutes before Souths scored their next lucky try with Goodwin.
steveng
Roar Rookie
lol yes it sure does, as the sadness of Redfern Oval was bad enough to see!
Epiquin
Roar Guru
It kind of loses some poignancy when you have to explain it like that...
steveng
Roar Rookie
Btw, I've changed my 'Avatar' to a picture of when 'Redfern Oval' was being demolished and the red and Green specs that you see is the seats being thrashed by a dozer, which is pretty much the same what's happening at Souths and to our side these days.
ChubbzyK96
Guest
BEst of both worlds, put Cody Walker into fullbac, the guy is very talented and has been unfortunate to only play the amount of games he has.
Epiquin
Roar Guru
Very true and it's actually when they decided to throw the ball around that they did their best work
Bonza
Roar Rookie
Excellent point - Tyrell features in plenty of Big Hits montages on youtube....unfortunately he's never doing the tackling.
steveng
Roar Rookie
Spot on 'Souths Yobbo'! I've been saying that for a while now that GI should be in the centres (and/or he's not interested and needs a break) Cook, Walker were in and out of the side like yoyos and Madge hasn't utilised (and doesn't want to utilise his other players) his reserve of players, just like he didn't do that last year, there is something terribly wrong at the Bunnies and what you have pointed out is definitely on the cards of what is happening there.
jimmmy
Guest
Epi one thing I have noticed creep into the game is Playmskers choosing kick over run as a default option. Kearny bombed one, Reynolds too. Several other games I have watched , over the weekend , same thing. Brooke's Moses, Mbye Hastings, etc always think kick first when they make a break or gret the ball by backing somene up. Surely they have seen JT play a few games. The Cows always think pass first then hold onto it then kick. In that order. I know youth is impatient but this kick craziness has to go.
steveng
Roar Rookie
That will come next week for the Bunnies when the Eels get to them, I hazed a guess what the score will be next week???
BlakeW
Guest
Michael. With form like that, Mary McGregor may be interested in signing you.
Epiquin
Roar Guru
Judging by the comments on this thread, it seems like everybody turned the game off after the first 30 minutes. After the 30 minute mark, Souths really turned a corner and played their best footy since the thrashing of Newcastle in Round 2. Inglis looked disinterested? Only for for the first 30 minutes. Then he really got involved in attack and looked like the Inglis of old? Burgesses were useless? Only for the first 30 minutes. Then they made great metres and delivered plenty of offloads Reynolds added nothing to their attack? Only for the first 30 minutes, then he kicked and passed his team back into the game It's like they found their heart just before half time and remembered how good they can be. Their attack was really exciting at times and they looked a lot more like the Bunnies of old. It was just too little too late and they defended very poorly - not collecting kicks and wingers coming in off their wing.
P. Marlowe
Guest
Cheers - I think I was reading 'The Long Goodbye' when I first logged into the Roar...
turbodewd
Guest
wow, I didn't know GI was the captain. he wasn't inspiriational at all. McGuire is picking this squad...rests on his head.
The Barry
Roar Guru
It was hard to get excited watching this game. It seemed more likely to be a case of who wasn't going to lose rather than who was going to win it.