The Canberra Raiders have recorded their biggest ever victory over the South Sydney Rabbitohs in a 50-point smashing at ANZ Stadium.
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Canberra had over 60 per cent possession, and capitalised on a sloppy Souths outfit throughout the match, running in 10 tries to one in what was a complete team effort.
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Souths made errors left right and centre throughout the game and despite having a couple of stretches where they held all the momentum, possession and territory couldn’t find a way around the defence.
The Raiders forwards paved the way for the big win, with Shannon Boyd, Josh Papalii, Elliot Whitehead and Junior Paulo getting things off to a brilliant start before Clay Priest and Luke Bateman did plenty off the bench.
Their halves, Blake Austin and Aiden Sezer were able to capitalise on all of this and they simply ran away with the contest.
The try scoring opened in just the fifth minute with Elliot Whitehead crossing on the right hand side after a cross field kick which was caught by Jordan Rapana.
It took 20 minutes for the Raiders to cross again with Rapana finding his way over in the corner. He would get into dummy half and go straight through the line, catching the defensive players napping.
Edrick Lee then ambled over in the corner off an Aiden Sezer grubber kick. It beat the challenge of Jarrod Croker and Lee followed up to touch down in the corner.
Joey Leilua would then cross a couple of minutes later from long range. Adam Reynolds put in a chip kick over the top, with the ball going to Leilua who put the foot down, ran straight through the defensive line and another 50 metres or so to score.
The final play of the half saw another try for the Raiders as Leilua put a grubber kick in for the corner out of dummy half and Rapana would run onto it to score.
At halftime, the score was already 26-0, and it was a case of by how many rather than who.
The second half was more of the same as the Rabbitohs continued to turn the ball over and the Raiders continued to make them pay.
There was another stint during the early second half where the Rabbitohs had all the possession and field territory, forcing repeat sets and while they scored once they just couldn’t find a way to score.
Jack Wighton would be first to score in the second half though, with Cameron McInnes dropping the ball cold for the Rabbitohs on halfway and Wighton running all the way to score off the error.
The Rabbitohs would finally get themselves on the scoreboard through John Sutton with a crash over effort off a short ball from Damien Cook.
Jarrod Croker would then cross after the Raiders put on a good play to the left, passing the ball through Sezer, Wighton and then an offload to Hodgson before Croker crossed in the corner.
Blake Austin would then score, running straight through a hole in the line from an Aiden Sezer pass before Elliot Whitehead ran onto a ball from Jordan Rapana to grab his second try of the day.
The final try came to Iosia Soliola as the last play of the game, running 50 metres down the touchline to put the icing on the cake.
The Raiders then, moving back into the top four with a massive win over the Rabbitohs.
Final Score
Canberra Raiders 54
South Sydney Rabbitohs 4
Stats
Tries: Rabbitohs (1), Raiders (10)
Goals: Rabbitohs (0/1), Raiders (7/10)
Possession: Rabbitohs (39%), Raiders (61%)
Completions: Rabbitohs (19/27), Raiders (31/36)
All runs: Rabbitohs (118), Raiders (181)
All run metres: Rabbitohs (1024), Raiders (1872)
Line breaks: Rabbitohs (3), Raiders (7)
Offloads: Rabbitohs (9), Raiders (13)
Tackles: Rabbitohs (359), Raiders (213)
Missed tackles: Rabbitohs (25), Raiders (17)
Penalties: Rabbitohs (3), Raiders (4)
Errors: Rabbitohs (11), Raiders (8)
The Roar’s NRL MVP
3 – Elliot Whitehead
2 – Aiden Sezer
1 – Jordan Rapana
Doc79
Roar Rookie
Rapana is the new Michael Hancock, slippery as hell and hard to tackle one on one.
Dingo
Guest
Canberra wouldn't have many followers in the west but if 10 000 were there they were back to counting members who weren't there - surely there weren't 4,000 in the bar in the early afternoon. When the camera was facing the eastern side for 10 secs I did a rough count though there were a few in the bleachers. The western side of course was thin. They are breaking my heart - they seem to go thru the motions without outward desire - BTW Burgess shoulder charged Bateman and nothing - Inglis braces himself after a kick and gets 3 weeks???? Consistency someone
steveng
Roar Rookie
This is the culmination of Madge saying week in and week out that we are working on things. The Rabbits have let go of allot of good players and now they are left with the worst bunch. There is no heart and no spirit at the Rabbits and next year who knows what will happen, if they continue the way that they did this year they will be bottom of the ladder dwellers and things will not come good. Things don't look good, that's for sure.
Agent
Guest
true, the raiders didn't do anything that special. The Rabbitohs were hopeless though, they will come 15th this year and thank their lucky stars the Knights exist.
Your kidding
Guest
Good point. Add st george as well as a merge. Crowd of 10000 to see sydneys biggest club vs a finals side ?! What the ! And the state government wants to spend multi millions of tax payers money on bigger and better stadiums. Why?
Bonza
Roar Rookie
I thought so too and Qld thought so too, but NSW didn't pick him because Loz never had a beer with him or whatever stupid reason. Like the 80s when we handed Qld a few series through not picking Brett Kenny against Wally. Really hope to see Raiders do some damage in September.
Marco
Guest
Shocking result for the rabbits. A poor spectacle as well. The burgess factor looks a bit silly now.
Ian
Guest
The scary thought is that the Raiders didn't need to go above about 3rd gear today and still ran in 50.
Jimmmy
Guest
Leileua was unstoppable but his combination with Rapana is really something special.
Bonza
Roar Rookie
Raiders dangerous all over the field, not as structured/predictable as Cowboys/Storm and some serious size in forwards. Ricky's chair assaults might soon be a thing of the past. Wouldn't begrudge them a comp.
The eye
Guest
Thought Joey Leilua was the most dangerous player on the field..how ironic was that smile from him when Rapana went himself into the defence instead of giving it to an unmarked BJ ? Thats appreciation for ya...
Muzz
Guest
Maybe a touch. They should merge with the Broncos who are also rabble.
Razor
Guest
Cant believe the Rabbitohs turn over so much possession every week.
eagleJack
Roar Guru
You're enjoying this aren't you Muzz :)
jamesb
Guest
They have spent too much on Sam Burgess. With not much room in the cap, they are forced to sign average fringe first graders.
Muzz
Guest
James Packer wants a refund. It's not the smartest move making Sam Burgess the captain when half the playing group resent his salary and what was required to accommodate him.
Jimmmy
Guest
The Rabbitohs were terrible but gee the Raiders are a good side to watch. I can't believe they don't get a look in on free to air TV I haven't seen a centre , wing combination like Leileua and Rapana since Gidley and Tahu. They can read each other's minds. Not sure if they can go all the way but I would not like to play them in a finals match if they are on their game.