Rabbitohs Fall Short in Perth After Second-Half Cowboys Surge
South Sydney’s return to Perth for the 13th time brought a fierce and fast-paced contest against the North Queensland Cowboys, but despite moments of brilliance from the Rabbitohs, a second-half surge by the visitors proved decisive in a 24-16 defeat.
The Cowboys struck first through a Scott Drinkwater penalty goal following a scrum infringement, before South Sydney responded swiftly with a debut try to new recruit Euan Aitken. Latrell Mitchell’s delayed pass at the line created the space, but his conversion attempt drifted wide.
Momentum swung back North Queensland’s way just before halftime, with Murray Taulagi crossing in the corner after sharp ball movement from Dearden, Drinkwater and Purdue. Despite completing fewer sets, the Cowboys held a narrow 6-4 lead at the break, while Jye Gray led all players in run metres with 120 in the first 40.
The Rabbitohs came out firing after the break and Jai Arrow stormed onto a short ball from Jayden Sullivan to barge over and reclaim the lead. But the Cowboys soon levelled through Sam McIntyre, who grounded a clever Reece Robson grubber out of dummy half.
What followed was a rapid double blow from rookie centre Jaxon Purdue, who punished two Rabbitohs errors to cross for a pair of tries in the space of three minutes. His first came from a slick linebreak between Sean Keppie and Lachlan Hubner, and his second was the result of a brutal tackle from Tom Dearden on Jack Wighton that forced a turnover and led to Jason Taumalolo sending Purdue away.
Down 22-10, the Rabbitohs refused to go away. Jye Gray sparked hope with a brilliant try that saw him combine with Mitchell in a run-around before diving over. But any chance of a comeback was dashed in the final minutes when Keppie was placed on report and sent to the sin bin for a high tackle on Drinkwater, who then kicked a penalty goal to secure the 24-16 win. The Rabbitohs will rue key errors and a lack of execution in the second half but can take confidence from patches of enterprising football, particularly from Gray, Mitchell and Sullivan.
