South Sydney Rabbitohs have defeated the Parramatta Eels 42 points to 26. It was a contest dominated by attack, with several big momentum swings and plenty of errors from both sides.
The Rabbitohs ultimately played to the nature of the contest better than their opponents by capitalising on their opportunities in the key moments.
Despite controversially being a man down for ten minutes, Rabbitohs managed to come out on top thanks to a Keaon Koloamatangi double, as well as an immense effort by Latrell Mitchell, who rose to the occasion in Indigenous Round to lead his side to victory.
A multitude of errors from Parramatta saw South Sydney dominate possession and field position in the early part of the game. After missing a number of opportunities, Souths were finally able to capitalise in the eighth minute through Jai Arrow, who crashed over after a nice ball from Damien Cook at dummy half.
A penalty against the Eels saw Souths straight back on the attack after their first try. It didn’t take long for them to trouble the scorers for a second time, this time with Koloamatangi reaching through the defence to score his first try of the game.
Dion Teaupa was next to post points for the Red and Green. A slick dummy and an incisive run saw him split the Parramatta defence to cross the line untouched for the Rabbitohs’ third try of the night, and the first of his career.
Alex Johnston then crossed for his 190th NRL try, equalling the great Billy Slater as the second-greatest try-scorer in premiership history after finishing off a nice backline movement from the Rabbitohs.
Parramatta finished the first half the stronger of the two sides. They dominated possession in the final ten minutes of the half, resulting in tries to Blaize Talagi and Sean Russell.
Interim captain Latrell Mitchell was then controversially sent to the sin-bin for a questionable hip-drop tackle two minutes before the break. This left South Sydney with a 22-12 lead going into halftime, but with 12 men on the field for the first eight minutes of the second half.
Parramatta were quick to make the most of their one-man advantage, utilising the overlap to score through Morgan Harper on the right-hand side of the field to reduce South Sydney’s lead to just six points.
A penalty for offside saw Souths push their lead out to eight points. Teaupa slotted the goal from in front, absorbing enough time in the process to allow Mitchell to return to the field straight after the kick.
Back to their full 13-man complement, albeit with Wighton and Arrow undergoing HIAs, South Sydney were quick to reassert their dominance on the contest, with Sean Keppie scoring his first try as a Rabbitoh after pouncing on a Cook grubber.
While Arrow was able to pass his HIA and return to the field, Jack Wighton was not so lucky after being unfortunately ruled out by the independent doctor. The ensuing reshuffle saw Mitchell go to five eighth, Johnston to fullback, Cook found himself at left centre while Taane Milne pushed out to the wing.
A try to Maika Sivo saw the Eels get to withing eight points of the Rabbitohs with 14 minutes remaining, to give their fans hope of a comeback. It wasn’t to be though, with Cook putting the game beyond doubt after scoring off a perfectly-weighted grubber kick from Mitchell, which put South Sydney out to an unassailable 14-point lead with nine minutes to go.
Souths managed to crack the 40-point mark with one final try in the 77th minute. A towering bomb from Mitchell proved too difficult for Eels’ fullback Talagi to handle. It was all too simple for Koloamatangi, who picked up the scraps and strolled over for his second try of the night.
The Eels managed to bag a consolation try with two minutes to go through Sivo, but it was too little, too late, with Souths winding up victorious over Parramatta 42-26.
Match Snapshot
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Jai Arrow opened the scoring for Souths, crashing over off a Damien Cook short ball in the 8th minute
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Keaon Koloamatangi scored shortly after, reaching through a couple of would-be Parramatta tacklers to plant the ball down under the posts
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Dion Teaupa scored the first try of his young career after spotting a yawning gap in the Eels’ defence close to the line
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Alex Johnston brought up try number 190 to equal the great Billy Slater as the second-greatest ever try-scorer, crossing in the corner after a nice final pass from Latrell Mitchell
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Blaize Talagi opened up Parramatta’s account, scoring untouched on the right side of the field at the half-hour mark.
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Sean Russell bagged Parramatta’s second try as the final scoring play of the first half, leaving the half-time score at 22-12 in favour of Souths.
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Latrell Mitchell was sin-binned for a hip drop in the 38th minute, leaving the Rabbitohs down to 12 men for the first eight minutes of the second half
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The Eels scored first in the second half through Morgan Harper who crossed in the right corner of the field
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Dion Teaupa slotted a penalty goal to extend South Sydney’s lead to eight points
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Sean Keppie scored after capitalising on a Cook grubber kick
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Maika Sivo scored for the Eels to put his side eight points behind with 14 minutes remaining
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Damien Cook scored to seal the result for South Sydney in the 71st minute.
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Koloamatangi bags his second try of the night after Talagi puts down a Mitchell bomb
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Sivo seals his double with a consolation try in the 78th minute.
Play of the Game
Tonight’s play of the game goes to Damien Cook and Latrell Mitchell, who combined to conjure up a match-sealing try while both playing out of position. Five-eighth Mitchell received the ball on the last tackle, and threaded the needle with a perfectly-weighted grubber kick into the in-goal. It was all too easy for hooker-turned-centre Cook, who managed to ground the ball while surrounded by Parramatta defenders, putting his team out to a 14-point lead with 9 minutes remaining.
What’s Next?
South Sydney will have their second bye of the season in round 13. They will then travel to the Gold Coast to play the Titans in round 14. The Rabbitohs will have plenty of confidence going into this clash, having won their last eight consecutive clashes against the Titans.
