It was another great game of rugby league on Friday night.
The Sydney Roosters and the South Sydney Rabbitohs played a tough and entertaining brand of rugby league, which after the hiatus was a pleasure to see.
The final score of 22 points to 12 did, though, reflect the ability of the Roosters over their crosstown rivals.
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Souths were definitely no easy-beat team at all, and look like real contenders to at least make the finals. Souths’ main players who were pivotal in the game were Tom Burgess, Damien Cook, Cameron Murray and Adam Reynolds.
However, Latrell Mitchell looked very flat in the first half. Mitchell was never really in the game and made very few tackles, however he helped set up Souths’ first try.
At the back end of the second half, Latrell Mitchell certainly started to come good and made entries into the back line a lot more than in the first half.
Souths could have let the game get away from them, but they held their composure to not let the Roosters dictate the game.
The Roosters were able to have significant runs at times due to some poor tackles from Souths, which led to valuable metres being gained.
The Roosters are blessed to have at their disposal Brett Morris, James Tedesco, Jake Friend and Boyd Cordner as well as Luke Keary steering them around the park.
There were very few mistakes from the Roosters except the mistakes that led to three sets of six on their own line, which ended in a try for Souths.
It was a great game of rugby league. We know not every game for the remainder of this season will be like the one played tonight.
If we can just accomplish a handful of memorable games, this season won’t be the disaster many thought it would be after the hiatus, including myself.
All in all, it was a great game both teams should be proud of.
Dan67B
Roar Rookie
Oldest rivalry as both foundation clubs and been around since 1908.
Michael Butterfield
Roar Rookie
I want to know why the roosters players were not penalised for pushing the Souths defenders in the tackle, they are allowed to push their player with the ball but not allowed to touch the defenders, I also note the Raiders & Broncos players doing the same thing, this tactic stopsbthe defenders from putting the ball carrier on the ground & allows for a quicker play the ball. I noted on a number of occasions the reset button was stuck in Ashley Klien's gullet, he should not be reffing, he is not up to it & has never been up to it, I nearly spewed when I read he was to ref the game.
Cadfael
Roar Guru
Of the three games so far, I thought Klein had the poorest from the referees. Too much wrestle, too slow to get players of the tackled player and fartoo many high tackles around the head and neck (most not deliberate but still high).
qwetzen
Roar Rookie
Note to Fox Sports Marketing: 'Oldest rivalry' does not mean "greatest rivalry". Most fans couldn't give a rodents which of these two poorly supported teams wins their clashes.
Nat
Roar Guru
That's just Klein though, he's got to be in the game. There were plenty of opportunities for the restart that the other blew in the 2 games previous. I didn't mind the game itself, it was pretty continuous just not at the same pace. Like you, I thought Souths were going to fold at the 60 but they kept it competitive. I have a thought on the 6 again. I reckon on the 3 consectutive 'restart' it is an auto penalty and 5 in the bin. In the situations like Parra and NQ getting multiple restarts early in the game, that early dominance can lead to points. As we've seen (for 100yrs) ruck penalties are subjective. The attacking has the option of 2 points or play on. For the team giving away the penalty, I doubt they use it strategically because 1) there are 2 restarts prior so potentially 18 tackles to defend. 2) They lose a player automatically and highly likely they will be in poor field position. Maybe they give away 2 quick restarts to achieve the penalty but that could be viewed as a Professional foul = 10min, not 5.
souvalis
Roar Rookie
As a spectacle, I don’t think it was a great game at all. Referee seemingly didn’t get the memo and gave us a reminder of what we had was a far poorer version of the game we expect now. Souths were never going to win with a rookie at 6 forced to run the side next to the veteran half who must have got out of bed to play, and a fullback ( in the most important position on the field) on a workload / current fear factor that just doesn’t cut it for a Top 8 side..it doesn’t get easier next week unfortunately.
Rellum
Roar Guru
Of course it didn't look any different. There was no 6 again calls.
jimmmy
Roar Rookie
I thought exactly same thing Taree. If it was Reffed like Thursday night, there would have been multiple 6 agains ruled . The ruck speed was noticeably slower last night. Tonights game is a crucial one. The Storm are champions at slowing the ruck and the Raiders are not too bad either. If the Ref can clean up this game we are on a winner.
Taree Raider
Guest
Trent Robinson said in the press conference that his teams defence didn't look any different to before the 'six again' rule. He's right. The chooks were still wrestling in the ruck, just like they alway have. That slowed Souths attack. Perhaps it was the fact that the Ref was a bit too timid in this area. But if the Roosters & in particular the Storm are allowed to continually slow down the ruck they will continue to dominate. Here's hoping that the game changes away from the strangulation tactics of the most successful teams of the past 15 years.