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South Sydney has recorded its first win of the season with a second half surge that took them to 28-16 over the Sydney Roosters.
While not a proper boilover, it is worth remembering that the Roosters were $1.60 favourites going into the game, with Souths 0-2 after close defeats to Melbourne and Brisbane.
From moment one, however, it was clear that the Bunnies were up for the occasion. The Roosters had no match for their early enthusiasm and pressure.
The storyline around Joseph Manu and Latrell Mitchell meeting again after last year’s fireworks was a little overblown – though both scored tries – and instead, the narrative that will matter will be Jason Demetriou’s first win in the top grade and the emergence of Lachlan Ilias as a replacement for the departed Adam Reynolds.
“I felt like this has been coming,” said Demetriou. “We needed to build our season: I thought we were slow against the Broncos and unlucky last week.
“From the kick off tonight, we got back to what works for us, made life hard for the Roosters and then capitalised on it.”
Ilias might not have been man of the match – that was surely Cameron Murray – but his performance was vital to the good things about the Bunnies at Accor Stadium.
The young half, in just his fourth NRL game, managed to kick smartly and steer his team around the field, producing the kind of steady hand, inflected with influential moments, that Reynolds made his trademark.
A pass that created a try for Cody Walker, minutes after the Roosters had pulled it back to 12-10, was huge, as was a tackle on Sitili Tupouniua just before halftime that could have seen the teams go in level.
“I’ve said every week that he’s doing his job and he’s doing it well,” said Demetriou of Ilias. “The biggest thing is that he’s holding his end up defensively.
“He’s a young half and the hardest thing you’ll do in first grade is defend in the front line. He’s got a real physical presence, he’s not overawed and that keeps him calm with the footy. And his little pop pass to Cam that set up Cody Walker’s try really showed his maturity as well.”
It was a night for those that don’t always get the headlines at the Rabbitohs. Taane Milne, already on his fourth NRL club in just over 30 NRL appearances, had perhaps his best game in top grade and threw in some crunching defence out wide.
Keaon Koloamatangi might be able to say the same, turning in an 80 minute performance that saw him dominate one of the elite packs in the competition.
Top of the pile, however, was Bunnies captain Murray. As well as opening the scoring, he was second top of the running chart and the tackle count, leading his team from the front.
The coach was effusive about his captain, who sat next to him in the post-match press conference covered in his own blood from a wound on his head.
“I benched him last week so it’s worked a treat!” said Demetriou. “That’s why he’s captain of the team: the last two weeks, he’s done exactly what we know he’s capable of and what has a massive impact on the team.”
Demetriou had spoken in the week leading up about his admiration for Roosters coach Trent Robinson, and said that defeating the Roosters was a challenge that he was proud that his team met head on.
“I don’t see it too much as being against him (Trent Robinson),” he said. “I hung my boots up a lot time ago. It’s just a challenge and you get excited, because I know how well prepared they are and how meticulous the Roosters are when it comes to game planning.
“When you go up against a team like that, it challenges you as a coach. I think what we did well this week as keep it about us.
“We were focused on what we needed to go and kept it about improving on what we did in the second half against Melbourne – the players did that.”
Souths came firing out of the blocks, but couldn’t have expected the generosity of the Roosters. Murray grabbed the opener after very soft defence in the middle, before a collective brain fade handed the Bunnies a second.
Manu tried a quick tap, passed to James Tedesco and his attempt to put Billy Smith through a hole hit the winger in the stomach. Murray was on the spot to pick up and slip the ball to Alex Johnston to stroll into the corner.
It was emblematic of a Roosters performance littered with errors. Eight in the first half – three from Tedesco alone – resulted in a 60% completion rate.
“It was pretty poor,” said Robinson. “We started off poorly and gave a lot of possession to the opposition, and from 12-0 down, tried to work our way back into.
“We did at the back end of the first half, but we were impatient to play our footy. We lacked the maturity tonight.
“We didn’t want to take our time to apply our pressure. We’re still a team trying to find its way how to play under new leaders. We couldn’t get it together but it’s early season – that’s a good mirror for us about where we want to get to.
“We could have got back at halftime, but we were waiting for a shift. You have to work harder than that and we didn’t.”
The Roosters, who won two Premierships while also topping the error count, were never likely to be deterred by the lack of success.
On their next set, they brought out the big guns: Sam Walker to Luke Keary to Tedesco and then Manu, who was too big and strong for Cody Walker before returning the ball to Tedesco to score.
Souths needed the halftime siren more than the Roosters – who had all the ball and all the field position for the last ten minutes of the half – but by the time it came, they would have been proud of their defensive effort.
There was a brief glimmer for the Roosters to begin the second stanza. Manu battered through Jacob Host and then Mitchell to exorcise that particular demon from last season, but it was fleeting.
Souths struck back immediately as Ilias came up with a perfect long pass that drew in Sitili Tupouniua and sent Cameron Murray through a hole. He found Cody Walker to do the rest.
Mitchell nearly squared the ledger with Joseph Manu, touching down after an Alex Johnston kick – only for the bunker to rule that the winger had kicked the ball after it had bounced.
Koloamatangi then crashed over from dummy half – only to again be denied by the bunker – but with 15 minutes to play, he wasn’t to be denied and gave Souths an unassailable lead.
All that was left was for Mitchell to put a tin hat on it, racing 50m after a Joey Manu drop to add gloss to the scoreline. Daniel Tupou managed to grab one back in garbage time for the Roosters, but the deal was long done.