The South Sydney Rabbitohs’ Pathways sides came away with a win and a loss against the Canberra Raiders at Accor Stadium on Saturday, while a young forward made a strong impression on his NRL debut.
NSW Cup Round 13: South Sydney Rabbitohs 26 def Canberra Raiders 20
Despite having just three NRL squad members in their side, the NSW Cup Rabbitohs were victorious against the high-flying Canberra Raiders in a back-and-forth contest, prevailing 26-20. Without star fullback Blake Taaffe – who deputised for Latrell Mitchell in the NRL side – it was up to halves Dion Teaupa and Dean Hawkins to get the ball rolling, combining to put Richie Kennar over in the corner for the first try of the night.
Canberra struck back with two quick-fire tries, but half an hour in, it was Shannon Gardiner over for the Red and Green after backing up a strong run from Peter Mamouzelos, who provided a superb offload at the line.
The Raiders returned serve late to take a 14-12 lead at the break, and while it took nearly 20 minutes for the scoreboard to tick over, it was in favour of the Rabbitohs with Mamouzelos going over after splitting the ruck in two.
The Cardinal and Myrtle refused to let up after a the Raiders went in to level the scores, before suddenly being down to twelve men with ten minutes remaining as youngster Josiah Karapani touched down for the winning play off a ricocheting grubber kick.
Rabbitohs Head of Elite Pathways and Development and Head Coach Joe O’Callaghan was proud of the performance, particularly under the adversity the side went through both during the week and in the match.
“It just seems to be the way our season is going isn’t it?” he said.
“We’re twelve games in and there has only been one game where I’d say we haven’t been in the contest. You can see through our for-and-against that we’ve been in most matches and have either won by a few or lost by a few.
“I want to give the boys a big wrap – it was a pretty inexperienced side with injuries and Origin duty playing a big part. We only had three players from the NRL squad which is quite low. The Raiders have done quite well so far and weren’t affected by Origin as much and were probably favourites.
“There was a real ‘next man up’ mentality at the Club this week, whether you were playing NRL or NSW Cup, and they showed plenty of character when we were down a man and the score was 20-all. “They finished off with a try and hung on, and we’ve shown in recent weeks we can find a way to win. This puts us three points outside of the top five, and while there is still a while to go, every time we get a win like this, it makes the finals achievable.
“It sounds strange with him going to the sin bin, but I thought Peter Mamouzelos had his best game of the year so far, setting up two tries and scoring one himself. He played the majority of the game and was the only real constant in our middle as we rotated quite a bit.
“Dean Hawkins had a great captain’s knock and showed what he can do at NSW Cup level. He controlled well with his kicking and at no point did he get flustered. Your team can always perform when your captain and halfback can keep his head on his shoulders.
“We’ve won three of the four matches this month, so we’re on a good roll heading into the second half of the season.”
Jersey Flegg Cup Round 13: South Sydney Rabbitohs 18 def by Canberra Raiders 32
It was a disappointing end to the match for the Jersey Flegg Cup against the Canberra Raiders, who were run down in the final half hour after taking a healthy lead.
The Rabbitohs took a 12-4 advantage at the break, and extended soon after with Tyrone Munro crossing to extend to fourteen points – however a late surge from the Raiders saw the Red and Green on the back foot for the remainder of the contest.
It was an unfortunate result for the side who had won their last two matches, and still remain within the top five with the competition reaching its halfway point.
For O’Callaghan, the final result stands as a learning experience for the young side, despite the disappointing finish.
“It was a bit of a funny one this week,” he said.
“There’s something about that Canberra team. They’re not tracking too well but both times they’ve been able to get us this season.
“The boys were up 18-4 and it was a strange final half an hour with the Raiders scoring five tries. We had control, but unfortunately, as you can get in Jersey Flegg football, we probably relaxed a bit and thought we had done enough for the day.
“Our opponents got a couple of quick tries and when the other team gets momentum, it can be very hard to swing it back, and they learned that the hard way.
“In a positive, we’re still in the top five and are holding a place there, with a big match against the Melbourne Storm this week.
“We’ve got a couple of players coming back into the forward pack, while we’re hopeful young Ethan Ferguson, who has come in as a mid-season signing, will take the field.”
Pathways Highlight: Duncan Debuts
In a real highlight for the Rabbitohs Pathways program, 21-year-old forward Tallis Duncan was called up to make his NRL debut on Saturday night against the Raiders, putting in a solid performance in his first outing in the Cardinal and Myrtle.
The head-gear clad lock made a strong impression on coaches and pundits alike, chopping down opponents with his trademark defence and poking through the line with his clever footwork in another successful story for the Black Rabbits Elite Player Program.
“Tallis is a great example of why we set up our Black Rabbits Elite Player Program,” O’Callaghan explained.
“He came to us as a talented junior rep player, but he needed some personal focus and that’s what the program does with those players.
“He spent three years in the program and has gone from SG Ball Player of the Year and Jersey Flegg Player of the Year to being blooded in the NSW Cup, where he spent a good three months to prepare for the NRL.
“The great thing about our Club is that we can be patient with our young talented players. We don’t have to rush young guys through our system and the way we’ve brought Tallis along, he showed on Saturday that he was more than ready for it. He got put on in a pretty tight situation and he handled it really well.
“There are some really good success stories - Ben Lovett who debuted against Manly and handled a tough situation playing in Golden Point, while Tyrone Munro was named on the extended bench this week, which shows how close he is to making his NRL debut.
“We’re very excited, but we don’t have to rush them and throw them into the deep end. Davvy Moale is probably the best example of that. “He was probably physically ready to play week-in-week out NRL at 18, and I think everyone could see the potential, but if you don’t prepare a player mentally, you can actually hurt their development quite a bit.
“We slowly gave him drips and drabs over the last few years and now he’s a regular in the forward pack. We went through the process slowly, and we’re keen to do something similar with these guys like Tallis coming through.
“People are excited about guys like Thomas Fletcher and Jye Gray and we want to let them know that we’re not building the aeroplane as we’re flying it. We don’t want to just have them debut – we want them to be ten-year first-graders.”
Moving Forward
Both Pathways sides make a welcome return to Redfern Oval for the first time in 2023 in a Saturday afternoon double header against the Melbourne Storm at 1 pm and New Zealand Warriors at 3 pm respectively.
For O’Callaghan, Saturday not only marks an opportunity for both sides to kick off the second half of their seasons in a winning fashion, but for Rabbitohs Members and supporters to get their footy fix while the NRL side travels to the Gold Coast.
“This will be our first game of Rugby League back at Redfern Oval since moving out to our Centre of Excellence at Maroubra,” he said.
“We’re really, really excited to get back there, and with free entry, it’s a great way for our Sydney-based Members and supporters to get their weekend footy fix.
“The Jersey Flegg match will be fifth against sixth on the ladder, while the NSW Cup side take on the Warriors who are flying high in the top four. It’ll be a big test for both teams, and the more Members and supporters we get out there, the better.
“It doesn’t get much better than a double header on a Saturday afternoon at Redfern.”
