Sat Apr 10, 5:30pm
Late Changes
Crocker dropped off the 5 man bench.
WIN 28-10
The South Sydney Rabbitohs have won their third game in a row after defeating the Newcastle Knights at Bluetongue Stadium in Gosford tonight, 28 points to 10 in front of 16,098 Members and supporters. Winger Nathan Merritt bagged a double as the Rabbitohs took home the two competition points despite playing below their best. The Rabbitohs got away to a slow start, when Knights front rower Daniel Tolar scored in the seventh minute. It did not take the Rabbitohs long to bounce back when Merritt scored his first try in the 12th minute. A fantastic bust by hooker Issac Luke set up the try, with the video referee awarding Merritt the four-pointer. Luke converted to give the Rabbitohs a two-point advantage. 21 minutes later, centre Beau Champion scored his seventh try in four games. The Knights tried to grubber kick the ball in behind the Rabbitohs’ defensive line, but Champion stopped the ball with his boot, picking up the loose ball and racing 60 metres to score under the posts. Luke converted to take the score to 12-4 in favour of the home side at the half time break. The video referee denied Chris Sandow a try just three minutes in to the second half after he failed to ground a bomb which was dropped by Knights fullback Shannon McDonnell. The Knights were first to post points in the second stanza when Akuila Uate raced down the right hand touch line to score. Wes Naiqama converted taking the Knights total to 10 points. It was all South Sydney from that point on, with Fetuli Talanoa scoring in the 62nd minute. It was an unusual try with giant Rabbitohs second rower Dave Taylor moving into dummy half, scooping the ball up in one hand, running to the line and dropping the ball on his boot for a grubber kick into the left hand corner, a kick that found Talanoa for the four-pointer. Just three minute later South Sydney scored again with Merritt scoring his second try. The Rabbitohs were forced to run the ball on the last tackle after the Knights got up in the faces of the South Sydney kickers, but quick hands paid off as the ball went from the left edge to right wing, giving Merritt a narrow passage to down the right wing to scoot along and score. Luke converted to extend the Rabbitohs’ lead to 12. Fullback Rhys Wesser was then awarded a try by the video referee in the 78th minute, after second rower Sam Burgess offloaded, John Sutton grubber kicked, and Wesser pounced. Luke converted again to finish the coring at 28 points to 10 in favour of the red and greens. Rabbitohs Head Coach John Lang was pleased to head back to Sydney with the two competition points. “It was a tough game, a tough win,” Lang said. “We weren’t as good as a last week, and Newcastle were very committed. It was a good win for us. “I don’t think the score reflected the nature of the contest. I’m very pleased with the effort.” Coach Lang said Issac Luke’s form is improving each week. “Issac’s in terrific form. He’s played better in every game this year,” Lang said. “I think he’s just getting more experience. He played well for the Kiwis in the Four Nations tournament last year and that experience is helping his games with us. “He’s also not rushing things any more. He’s playing the full 80 minutes and he can pick the times that he when he tries things.” Lang said big second rower Sam Burgess, along with the rest of the team, was guilty of trying too hard at times. “I think Sam and the whole team tried too much too early,” Lang explained. “Sam’s effort was good tonight, playing 80 minutes, but we weren’t as good as last week.” When asked about Dave Taylor’s grubber kick for the Talanoa try, Lang responded with a wry smile. “I don’t want to talk about it,” he said. “I definitely haven’t coached him to do that!” “We hung in well tonight and we had that bit of class to get us home.” Five-eighth John Sutton said his side still have not reached their peak. “I think our attack is still coming together, and we have a lot of work to do,” Sutton said. “I think our defence is good though. We’ll work hard to get things right before the Parra game next week.”
8 min 0-4
13 min 6-4
34 min 12-4
53 min 12-10
63 min 16-10
66 min 22-10
79 min 28-10
Merritt 2, Champion, Talanoa, Wesser tries
Luke 4 from 5 goals
Crowd 16,098
Referee S.Lyons/P.Haines
Penalities 8-3
Scrums 8-8
Min Tac Pe MT LB HU DR m Er OL K TA
Wesser 80 8 - 2 - 9 1 97 2 - - -
Merritt 80 4 - 1 2 10 1 72 - - - -
Best 80 10 - 1 - 12 3 114 - 2 - -
Champion 80 11 - 6 - 6 1 96 1 - 1 1
Talanoa 80 4 - 1 - 10 5 85 1 - - -
Sutton 80 21 - 3 - 7 2 55 - 2 8 1
Sandow 80 23 - 5 - 5 1 37 2 - 7 -
Stuart 60 24 - - - 15 - 117 1 - - -
Luke 80 19 - 4 1 14 10 134 1 2 2 1
Asotasi 10 7 - - - 1 - 18 - - - -
Burgess 80 31 - 5 - 16 1 138 2 1 - -
Taylor 43 23 - 2 - 7 - 61 1 1 1 1
Lowe 80 42 1 4 - 11 - 87 - - 1 -
Geddes 35 20 - - - 10 - 96 - - - -
McPherson 42 19 1 1 - 16 - 139 1 - - -
Crossman 21 14 1 - - 5 - 54 1 - - -
Clark 29 11 - 1 - 4 3 32 1 - - -
TOTAL 291 3 36 3 1432 14 8 20
Completion Rate 29/40
Effective 1st Tackles
2 min 26m SCR / Sandow kick DIG
3 min 80m SS Err
5 min 90m DO / (Nw TRY)
9 min 75m SS Err / SCR
11 min 0m P / TRY
14 min 27m Sandow kick
16 min 26m SCR / Sutton kick DIG
18 min 22m Nw Err / SCR / SS Err / SCR
20 min 42m / Sandow COF
21 min 68m DO
23 min 14m Nw Err / SCR / Sutton kick COF
25 min 74m Nw Err / SS Err / SCR
27 min 46m Nw Err / SCR / SS Err
28 min 4m Nw Err / SCR / Sutton kick COF
31 min 15m P / SS Err / SCR
32 min 0m TRY
34 min 30m Sutton kick COF
36 min 28m Sandow kick
39 min 10m Nw Err / SCR / SS Err / SCR
40 min 60m Wesser kick OOF
half time
42 min 48m Sutton kick / (SS NO TRY) 20m / SS P
45 min 28m Sutton kick COF
48 min 16m P / SS Err / SCR
50 min 53m P / SS Err / SCR / (Nw TRY)
54 min 79m SS P
55 min 28m Nw Err / Sandow kick
56 min 67m SS Err
58 min 96m SS Err / SCR / (Nw NO TRY)
60 min 20m Nw Err / SCR / Sandow kick COFIG
61 min 0m P / Taylor kick TRY
63 min 0m TRY
66 min 34m Luke kick
68 min 97m DO 81m / SS P
71 min 66m P / Sutton kick COFIG 29m / SS P
75 min 12m P / Lowe kick
77 min 0m P / Sutton kick TRY
80 min 20m Champion kick
Average effective 1st tackle location
- 37.8m - for the whole match
- 36.9m - 1st half
- 39.1m - 2nd half
If you now remove the tries
- 40.9m - 1st half
- 47.4m - 2nd half
Other FG Matches
34-16 Woll St Geo-Ill b Brisbane
20-16 Robi Gold Coast b Melbourne
23-16 Town Wests-Tig b Nth Qld
30-24 StAu Warriors b Canterbury
40-12 Brok Manly b Cronulla
28-6 Penr Penrith b Sydney
24-14 Parr Canberra b Parramatta
W D L B Diff PT
ST GEO-ILL 4 - 1 - +56 8
WESTS-TIG 4 - 1 - +25 8
MELBOURNE 4 - 1 - +25 8
GOLD COAST 4 - 1 - +17 8
MANLY 3 - 2 - +52 6
WARRIORS 3 - 2 - +38 6
SOUTHS 3 - 2 - +35 6
PENRITH 3 - 2 - +30 6
Sydney 3 - 2 - -11 6
Nth Qld 2 - 3 - -16 4
Canberra 2 - 3 - -33 4
Canterbury 1 - 4 - -6 2
Parramatta 1 - 4 - -34 2
Newcastle 1 - 4 - -48 2
Cronulla 1 - 4 - -57 2
Brisbane 1 - 4 - -71 2
Judiciary News
Ben Lowe has been placed on report for a high tackle during the match and has been charged with a grade 2 careless high tackle. Ben will miss one game after pleading guilty to a grade two careless high tackle charge. Lowe will miss one game and will accumulate 66 carry over points for the tackle made in the 72nd minute of last week’s victory over the Newcastle Knights.
NYC Round 5
v Newcastle, 3:15pm
WIN 48-34
No late changes to the starting line up. In the Toyota Cup match, the Rabbitohs mounted a stunning first half comeback to defeat the Newcastle Knights 48 points to 34 at Bluetongue Stadium. The Rabbitohs trailed 22-nil after only 12 minutes, but fought back to trail 28-26 at half time. The Rabbitohs went on with it in the second half to notch a big win in Gosford.
Mundine 2, Mansour, Vaivai, Farrell, McGrady, Judd, Peats, Shearer tries
Reynolds 6 from 9 goals
Other NYC Matches
26-14 Woll Brisbane b St Geo-Ill
22-22 Robi Gold Coast d Melbourne
38-28 Town Wests-Tig b Nth Qld
36-30 StAu Warriors b Canterbury
30-16 Brok Manly b Cronulla
40-12 Penr Sydney b Penrith
40-22 Parr Canberra b Parramatta
W D L B Diff PT
NTH QLD 4 - 1 - +89 8
MANLY 4 - 1 - +40 8
MELBOURNE 3 1 1 - +60 7
SYDNEY 3 1 1 - +33 7
SOUTHS 3 - 2 - +44 6
WESTS-TIG 3 - 2 - +34 6
CANBERRA 3 - 2 - +18 6
NEWCASTLE 3 - 2 - -34 6
CRONULLA 2 1 2 - 0 5
Gold Coast 2 1 2 - -30 5
Brisbane 2 - 3 - -7 4
St Geo-Ill 2 - 3 - -20 4
Warriors 1 1 3 - -20 3
Parramatta 1 - 4 - -66 2
Penrith 1 - 4 - -71 2
Canterbury - 1 4 - -54 1
NRL Club Championship
W D L B Diff PT
MELBOURNE 7 1 2 - +85 15
Manly 7 - 3 - +88 14
Wests-Tig 7 - 3 - +51 14
Sydney 6 1 3 - +24 13
Gold Coast 6 1 3 - -13 13
Souths 6 - 4 - +79 12
Nth Qld 6 - 4 - +73 12
St Geo-Ill 6 - 4 - +40 12
Canberra 5 - 5 - -5 10
Warriors 4 1 5 - +18 9
Penrith 4 - 6 - -43 8
Newcastle 4 - 6 - -82 8
Cronulla 3 1 6 - -75 7
Brisbane 3 - 7 - -82 6
Parramatta 2 - 8 - -100 4
Canterbury 1 1 8 - -60 3
NSW Cup Rd5
v Shellharbour
North Sydney OvalSat Apr 10, 3:00pm
LOSS 17-24
Jamie Simpson was a late inclusion replacing Mark Talanoa. Jackson dropped off the bench. A late penalty goal ended North Sydney Bears' hopes of scoring their first win of the NSW Cup rugby league season. The Bears kicked a field goal with seven minutes left to lead Shellharbour Dragons 17-16 at North Sydney Oval on Saturday. But then backrower Zeb Tawha was penalised for hampering a kick chaser. The Dragons landed the goal, then scored in the final minute to win 24-17. "It was a fair call. I can't be upset about that," coach Wayne Lambkin said. "When you're looking for that first win everyone can get over-exuberant." Lambkin said the Bears, who led 10-6 at half-time, played well. "Our first 40 minutes were particularly good, but we don't have enough big forwards," he said. Shellharbour led 16-10 well into the second half before the Bears clawed back. The home side looked to have the upper hand before they opted for the field goal. "I didn't ask for the field goal but, in the end, you leave it up to the players on the field," Lambkin said. "It did put us in front for a while so I can't say it was a bad move, but maybe we could have played out another couple of sets." In only his second game back from injury, Daniel Sayegh took on the tough work up front and made 37 tackles. "This match really showed how instrumental the front row position is," Lambkin said. "When you're down troops and you want to win games, possession and penalty counts need to be in your favour. "We got beaten 10-5 in the penalties, which indicates our discipline is not the greatest."
12 min 0-6
20 min 6-6
33 min 10-6
50 min 10-10
55 min 10-16
60 min 16-16
65 min 17-16
77 min 17-18
80 min 17-24
Simpson, Johnston, Nichols tries
Paea 2 from 3 goals
Williams fieldgoal
Other NSW Cup Matches
12-10 Leic Balm-Ryde b Melbourne
30-24 Crst Canterbury b Windsor
30-28 Ende Wentwrthvl b Cronulla
44-22 Hens Newtown b Auckland
32-22 Leic Wests b C Coast
W D L Diff PT
CANTERBURY 4 - 1 +46 8
WENTWORTHVILLE 4 - 1 +14 8
BALMAIN-RYDE 4 - 1 -9 8
NEWTOWN 3 1 1 +61 7
WINDSOR 3 1 1 +33 7
SHELLHARBOUR 3 - 2 +15 6
CRONULLA 2 1 2 +74 5
WESTS 2 1 2 +3 5
Melbourne 1 - 4 -11 2
Auckland 1 - 4 -64 2
Central Coast 1 - 4 -86 2
Norths - - 5 -76 -
NSWRL U18 SG Ball Rd9
v Cronulla, Redf, Sat Apr 10 1:30pm
LOSS 0-44
30 min 0-20
no tries
no goals
Other U18 Matches
30-22 Prth Manly b Westrn-Reds
44-24 NSO Parramatta b Norths
24-22 SMry W Syd Acad b Sydney
34-28 Seif Canberra b Balmain
32-14 Koga St George b Illawarra
32-22 Olym Canterbury b Melbourne
32-6 Camp Wests b Penrith
40-16 Wyng Newcastle b C Coast
W D L Diff PT
CRONULLA 8 - 1 +176 16
WESTS 8 - 1 +156 16
PARRAMATTA 7 - 2 +210 14
CANTERBURY 7 - 2 +210 14
MELBOURNE 7 - 2 +69 14
SYDNEY 6 - 3 +112 12
PENRITH 6 - 3 +110 12
NEWCASTLE 6 - 3 +107 12
Souths 4 - 5 +27 8
Canberra 4 - 5 +24 8
W Syd Academy 3 - 6 -92 6
Manly 3 - 6 -126 6
St George 3 - 6 -200 6
Balmain 2 - 7 -95 4
Norths 2 - 7 -112 4
Illawarra 2 - 7 -164 4
C Coast 1 - 8 -192 2
Western-Reds 1 - 8 -196 2
NSWRL U16 Matthews Rd9
v Cronulla, Ende, 12:00pm
WIN 46-6
A.Gray 2, K.Dennison, J.Haider, R.Elz-Zbaideh, J.Delprado, A.Johnston, T.Phillips tries
L.Lucas 7 from 8 goals
Other U16 Matches
68-6 NSO Parramatta b Norths
40-20 SMry W Syd Acad b Sydney
22-18 Seif Canberra b Balmain
66-0 Koga Illawarra b St George
66-6 SMry Canterbury b SW Syd Acad
28-6 Camp Penrith b Wests
72-6 Wyng Newcastle b C Coast
W D L B Diff PT
PARRAMATTA 8 - - 1 +325 18
PENRITH 8 - 1 - +162 16
NEWCASTLE 6 1 1 1 +186 15
SOUTHS 6 - 2 1 +192 14
ILLAWARRA 5 1 2 1 +160 13
MANLY 5 1 2 1 +38 13
WESTS 6 - 3 - +56 12
CANTERBURY 5 - 3 1 +42 12
Canberra 4 1 3 1 -2 11
Balmain 3 - 5 1 +56 8
Sydney 4 - 5 - -2 8
Cronulla 3 - 5 1 -44 8
C Coast 2 1 6 - -202 5
W Syd Academy 2 - 7 - -143 4
Norths 1 1 7 - -192 3
St George 1 - 8 - -282 2
SW Syd Academy - - 9 - -352 -