Wollongong Stadium
Sat Aug 11, 7:30pm
WIN 24-14
The South Sydney Rabbitohs have secured their first victory in Wollongong in 18 years by defeating the St George Illawarra Dragons at WIN Stadium tonight (Saturday) by 24 points to 14 in front of 18,382 fans. The Rabbitohs looked to have let the game slip from their grasp, only to take control late in the second half to record their 10th win of the season and their first in Wollongong since 1989. As has been par for the course for the past few games, the Rabbitohs had got away to a handy lead in the first half, only have it eroded away in the minutes before half time. South Sydney opened the scoring in the third minute of play when Jeremy Smith scooted 65 metres to score next to the sticks. The Dragons were looking for a long kick with the ball hitting Smith's legs. He charged through, picked up the loose ball and scored. Joe Williams converted to give the Rabbitohs an early six-point lead. The game see-sawed for the next 15 minutes, with the Rabbitohs controlling play and blowing a couple of chances to extend their lead. They finally crossed in the 20th minute through winger Paul Mellor, who flew high above the pack to snap up a Joe Williams cross field bomb to score in the right-hand corner. Williams missed the conversion to give the Rabbitohs a 10-nil lead midway through the first half. The Dragons struck back with two late tries to winger Tom Hewitt, both coming from Jamie Soward kicks in the 30th and 34th minutes. Soward missed both conversions from the touchline to trail by two at the break. The Rabbitohs again controlled the play for the first 20 minutes of the match and let their opposition back into the game. The Rabbitohs made plenty of metres to get in good field position but failed to capitalise often enough. Roy Asotasi, Peter Cusack, John Sutton and Luke Stuart were making good metres up front and Nathan Merritt looked dangerous chiming in from the back. The Dragons' play revolved around Soward on the left, with Gasnier fairly well contained on the right. The Rabbitohs opened the second half in exciting fashion with Dean Widders and Nathan Merritt making breaks and earning 80 metres for their team mates, but the Rabbitohs couldn't finish it off with points. The Dragons capitalised on three sets of six in the Rabbitohs 20 metre area when replacement Rangi Chase scored from his own grubber kick. It looked as though Chase knocked the ball on over the line, however the video referee decided the try was good and awarded the four-pointer as benefit of the doubt. Soward kicked the conversion to give the home side the advantage for the first time in the match 14-10. The Rabbitohs sprung to life in the 62nd minute when Jeremy Smith again plucked a kick out of the air and raced 80 metres down field to set up the next raid on the Dragons line. Jamie Soward committed a professional foul by lying on the tackled player, leaving his side with 12 men for the next ten minutes. The Rabbitohs pounced in this opportunity with Paul Mellor scoring his second try for the night in the 63rd minute. A beautiful grubber in goal by Williams was collected by Mellor were ran around to score near the posts. Williams conversion gave the Rabbitohs a two-point advantage with 15 minutes left on the clock. The Dragons attacked from the next set and would have scored through Chris Houston if not for a miraculous try-saving tackle from Nathan Merritt. Ferocious defence from captain Roy Asotasi forced an error from the Dragons in the 70th minute of play setting up the Rabbitohs next attacking raid. The red and greens scored two minutes later through Yileen Gordon, who received a quick tap on from Williams, then goose stepped his way over the line. Williams converted from the left hand touchline to give the Rabbitohs 22-14 lead with only seven minutes left on the clock. From the next set the Rabbitohs attacked again with Asotasi popping a beautiful pass to set up a Merritt break, who nearly scored under the sticks. A penalty for lying on the tackled player set up a Williams penalty goal, giving the Rabbitohs a 10-point advantage with four minutes to play. The Rabbitohs held the Dragons out for the remainder of the game to record their 10th win of 2007 and keep their top-eight dreams alive. Roy Asotasi was a stand out for the Rabbitohs in the second half, with halves Joe Williams and Jeremy Smith guiding their team around the park in the second forty minutes. Nathan Merritt was a sensation at the back, causing the Dragons all sorts of problems. The Dragons go-to man in Mark Gasnier was shut down all night by the Rabbitohs solid defence.
3 min 6-0
26 min 10-0
30 min 10-4
34 min 10-8
52 min 10-14
63 min 16-14
72 min 22-14
75 min 24-14
Mellor 2, Smith, Y.Gordon tries
Williams 4 from 5 goals
Crowd 18,382
Referee S.Clarke
Penalities 8-3
Scrums 4-8
Min Tac Pe MT LB HU DR m Er OL K
Merritt 80 3 - 1 1 15 1 137 2 - -
Talanoa 77 5 - - - 13 8 95 1 1 -
Vagana 80 11 1 6 - 9 5 56 3 - -
Gordon 80 17 - 3 1 11 4 95 2 - -
Mellor 80 4 - 1 1 10 5 85 - - 1
Williams 80 8 - 5 - 1 - 7 - - 10
Smith 80 8 - 1 - 8 1 120 2 1 7
Cusack(c) 65 30 1 1 - 17 - 132 - 1 -
Rigon 39 20 - 3 - 7 6 107 - - -
Asotasi(c) 60 34 - 2 - 15 - 127 - 2 -
Sutton 44 15 - 2 - 9 - 71 - 1 1
Faalogo 58 27 - 1 1 12 - 103 - 2 -
Rogers 70 28 - 4 - 8 1 61 1 1 1
Luke 41 17 - 3 - 6 4 56 1 - -
Widders 49 17 - - 1 7 - 77 1 1 -
Stuart 37 25 - - - 8 - 65 1 - -
Greenfield 20 12 1 3 - 7 - 57 - 2 -
TOTAL 281 3 36 5 14 12 20
Completion Rate - 28/40
Other FG Matches
26-22 Tels Sydney b Wests-Tig(GP)
50-16 Gosf Manly b Newcastle
30-6 MtSm Warriors b Gold Coast
25-24 Parr Cronulla b Parramatta(GP)
52-4 Tels Bulldogs b Canberra
14-6 Olym Melbourne b Brisbane
30-26 Penr Nth Qld b Penrith(GP)
W D L B Diff PT
MELBOURNE 18 0 3 1 +270 38
MANLY 17 0 4 1 +244 34
PARRAMATTA 12 0 9 1 +58 26
NTH QLD 12 0 9 1 -103 26
WARRIORS 11 1 9 1 +135 25
BULLDOGS 11 0 10 1 +84 24
BRISBANE 10 0 11 1 +71 22
WESTS-TIG 10 0 11 1 +6 22
Souths 10 0 11 1 -8 22
Sydney 9 1 11 1 -169 21
Gold Coast 9 0 12 1 -94 20
Cronulla 8 0 13 1 +35 18
St Geo-Ill 8 0 13 1 -72 18
Canberra 8 0 13 1 -111 18
Newcastle 8 0 13 1 -242 18
Penrith 6 0 15 1 -100 14
Judiciary News
No one was charged.
Reserve Grade - NSW Premier League - Round 22
v St George-Illawarra, Wollongong Stadium 5:30pm
LOSS 24-34
The North Sydney Bears unbeaten run has come to end with a 34-24 loss to the St George-Illawarra Dragons at Win Stadium. Scott Geddes, Jaiman Lowe, Eddie Paea, and Daniel Irvine returned to the North Sydney line up, with Jardine Bobongie moving to the bench. The Dragons were the first to score in the seventh minute through a try to Ronald Prince. On the back of a penalty for off-side, the Dragons spun the ball and Prince crossed over out wide. Ryan Powell converted for a 6-0 lead. The match looked like being a real tight top of the table tussle, with both sides working hard to get on top. It was the Bears who crossed next in the 20th minute. Norths ran the ball on the last tackle with David Peachey stepping through the defence before off loading to Greg Nichols who barged over in the corner. Eddie Paea converted from the sideline to draw the scores level at 6-all. Four minutes later the Dragons were back in front after a good interchange of passes down the blind side drew the Bears defence across before a centring kick found Tony Caine unmarked. Powell’s conversion made it 12-6 to the Dragons. In the 30th minute the Bears hit back again with interchange forward Ryan Verlinden crashing over from close range. Paea made it 2/2 and the scores were locked up again at 12-all. A fantastic individual try to Paea four minutes before the break put the Bears in front for the first time. In a run reminiscent of his effort against the Titans, Paea took the ball ran at the line, dummied and stepped through before stepping past the fullback and crossing untouched. Paea converted his own try and the visitors went to the sheds 18-12 ahead. The second half started with the Dragons peppering the Bears line, but the Bears held firm including one play where Jardine Bobongie, Peachey, and Ben Lowe came from no where to hold the Dragons up over the line. The Bears extended their lead in the 49th minute with a try to Peachey. Eddy Pettybourne made a bust down the Dragons’ right hand side and drew the fullback before passing to an unmarked Peachey who still found time to dummy with no one near him. It looked like the Bears might run away with it like in previous weeks, but the Dragons were the next to score in the 56th minute. A clever chip from the Dragons’ five eighth found space and Sam Isemonger regathered and scored his first try of the night. Powell’s conversion made it 24-18 to the Bears. Six minutes later, the Dragons had pulled the deficit back to two with a try to Frank Samia in the corner. Powell was unable to convert from the touchline. After receiving back to back penalties, the Dragons had possession inside Norths’ 20m zone. On the third tackle, the Dragons spun it to the left and James Jimenez crossed in the corner and the Dragons led for the first time since the 36th minute. Powell converted from out wide for a 28-24 lead. With six minutes to go, Isemonger barged over from dummy half for his second try. Powell converted to make the full time score 34-24 to the Dragons.
0-6
6-6
6-12
12-12
18-12
24-12
24-18
24-22
24-28
24-34
Nichols, Verlinden, Paea, Peachey tries
Paea 4 from 4 goals
Final Line Up
T G/A FG
Flbk - Peachey, David 1 - -
Wing - Simmonds, Reece - - -
Cntr - Paulson, Germaine - - -
Cntr - Nicholls, Greg 1 - -
Wing - Boston, Troy - - -
5/8 - Champion, Beau - - -
Half - Paea, Eddie 1 4/4 -
Prop - Geddes, Scott - - -
Hook - Irvine, Daniel - - -
Prop - Lowe, Jaiman - - -
SRow - Lowe, Ben - - -
SRow - Pettybourne, Eddy - - -
Lock - McPherson, Shannon - - -
Int - Bobongie, Jardine - - -
Int - Ta'akimoeaka, Conrad - - -
Int - Verlinden, Ryan 1 - -
Int - Wynyard, Dave - - -
4 4/4 -
Other Reserve Grade Matches
27-26 MtSm Auckland b Bulldogs
20-18 Parr Parramatta b Cronulla
36-22 Leic Balm-Ryde b Canberra
22-21 Gosf Newcastle b Manly
50-32 Hens Newtown b Wests
W D L B Diff PT
BULLDOGS 14 0 6 2 +25 32
NEWCASTLE 12 1 6 3 +29 31
BALM-RYDE 11 1 7 3 +37 29
PENRITH 11 0 8 3 +135 28
ST GEO-ILL 10 2 8 2 +54 26
NORTHS 10 0 9 3 +51 26
PARRAMATTA 10 1 9 2 +92 25
CANBERRA 9 0 10 3 +60 24
Cronulla 8 0 11 3 -29 22
Auckland 9 0 11 2 -60 22
Manly 8 1 11 2 -48 21
Newtown 6 2 12 2 -12 18
Wests 5 0 15 2 -338 14
NSWRL Jersey Flegg - Under 20's - Round 22
BYE
Other U20 Matches
30-22 StAu Canberra b Canterbury
32-6 Leic Balmain b Central Coast
46-12 StAu Wests b Sydney
16-14 Parr Parramatta b Cronulla
22-12 Brok Newcastle b Manly
40-0 Penr Penrith b Norths
30-18 Balmain b Sydney (Rd13 catchup)
W D L B Diff PT
PENRITH 17 1 2 2 +285 39
PARRAMATTA 14 1 5 2 +216 33
CANTERBURY 12 2 5 3 +130 32
CANBERRA 13 2 5 2 +104 32
BALMAIN 12 2 5 3 +69 32
NEWCASTLE 10 0 9 3 +90 26
MANLY 9 2 9 2 +16 24
WESTS 8 0 11 3 +1 22
Souths 7 1 11 3 -98 21
Cronulla 6 1 12 3 -19 19
Sydney 6 0 14 2 -208 16
Norths 4 0 15 3 -284 14
C.Coast 2 0 17 3 -366 10