2011 NRL Premiership - Round 26

South Sydney v Newcastle

Newcastle International Sports Centre

Fri Sep 2, 7:35pm

Selected Round 26 Teams

Late Changes

LOSS 24-40

The South Sydney Rabbitohs have fallen short of securing a spot in the top eight, having gone down 40 points to 24 against the Newcastle Knights at Ausgrid Stadium in Newcastle tonight (Friday). 30,729 Members of supporters, a large proportion of which were in loud voice behind the Rabbitohs, saw Akuila Uate score four tries and Nathan Merritt a double, as the Knights all but wrapped up eighth spot on the ladder. The Rabbitohs had come to the end of a tough run of games which developed into a miracle fightback in the back end of the season, including wins over top eight contenders the Dragons and the Cowboys. The Rabbitohs were under pressure from the outset with the Knights dominating field position and halfback Chris Sandow and winger Fetuli Talanoa suffering wrist and ankle injuries respectively in the first few minutes of the game. They fought on, but it was the Knights who scored first through hooker Isaac De Gois in the seventh minute of play. Kurt Gidley converted to give the Knights a six-nil lead. It did not take long for the home side to score again when Jarrod Mullen put Antonio Kaufusi into a hole, scoring under the black dot. Gidley scored to extend the Knights lead to 12 after just 12 minutes. The Knights struck again in the 15th minute when Chris Houston scored after Mullen strolled through a gap in the Rabbitohs left side defence. Gidley converted again to go out to an 18-point lead after 16 minutes. The Rabbitohs managed to make the most of the limited field position they were getting, earning a repeat set from a cross field bomb. On the first play of the new set, the ball was swung to the right, with captain Michael Crocker drawing in the defence and putting Shaune Corrigan away for a try out wide on the right hand side of the field. Sandow converted from wide out to reduce the deficit to 12 after 21 minutes. The Rabbitohs went straight back on the attack, with Issac Luke using his strength to bend the line and off load to Nathan Merritt who raced 30 metres, only to be taken into touch by a Kurt Gidley try-saving tackle. The Rabbitohs put themselves under pressure with more handling errors, and it would cost them dearly when Newcastle winger Akuila Uate scored in the 27th minute, beating two defenders to dive over and score in the right hand corner. Gidley converted from out wide to take the scores to 24-6 in favour of the home side. The Knights attacked again, with Dylan Farrell pulling off a try-saving tackle on James McManus, holding him up over the line in the 30th minute. Uate scored his second try in the 35th minute when a loose Rabbitohs pass found Adam MacDougall. He dished it off to Uate who raced 40 metres to score. Gidley converted to extend the lead to 24 points. The Knights were camped in Rabbitohs territory for the remainder of the half, but did not cross for any more points and the Knights finished the half leading 30 points to six. The Rabbitohs handling errors were hurting them, thwarting any attacking plans they may have had over the first 40 minutes. The Knights seemed to be finding the holes in the Rabbitohs defence, an area that needed tightening in the second stanza. Both sides came out firing, with De Gois almost scoring in the 45th minute only to have Merritt jolt the ball loose from his grip over the goal line. In unusual circumstances, the game was stopped in the 48th minute for an ambulance to leave the field, with police and ambulance officers trying to assist a member of the crowd at the southern end of the field. The game was stopped for about five minutes. When play resumed, it only took the Knights a couple of minutes to post points, Uate beating three defenders to score in the right hand corner, taking the scores 34-6. The Rabbitohs were trying everything they could, trying to find their rhythm and add some spark. It was Chris Sandow who provided it in the 56th minute when he broke the Knights defence up the middle and drew the fullback to put Merritt away under the black dot. Sandow took a quick conversion, taking the scores to 34-12 with 23 minutes left in the match. Eight minutes later the Rabbitohs scored through Chris McQueen. A long break from Issac Luke accompanied by captain Michael Crocker gave the Rabbitohs great field position. The ball was swung wide to the left for McQueen to get inside Adam MacDougall to score. Sandow took another quick conversion, reducing the deficit to 16 with as many minutes left on the clock. With 14 minutes left on the clock, the Rabbitohs seemed to have found another gear. They were up in the Knights faces in defence and putting pressure on them in attack. The Rabbitohs continued to throw everything they could at the Knights over the final ten minutes, never giving up, but they were quickly running out time to score the tries they needed to peg back the Newcastle lead. Knights fans started to get very nervous when Nathan Merritt scored his second try for the night in the 73rd minute, with memories of last weeks game coming flooding back when they let a big lead against the Bulldogs slip. Dave Tyrrell made the big bust, putting Merritt away under the posts. Sandow converted to reduce the lead to 10 points. With the clock ticking away, the Rabbitohs continued to try and pierce the Knights defence. But it was the Knights who would post the final try. Uate scored his fourth try of the night when scooped up loose ball after the Rabbitohs were throwing everything they could at the Knights side. Adam MacDougall converted to take the final scoreline to 40 points to 24. On a positive note, Nathan Merritt is way out in front on the top try scorers list for 2011, adding another two to his total. Hopefully Chris Sandows eight points tonight will also keep him at the top of the point scorers list at the end of this round of Rugby League. The Rabbitohs did everything they could in the second half to peg back Newcastles lead. They never gave up and were in with chance of stealing an unlikely upset in the final minutes. Rabbitohs Members and supporters can be very proud of the performance of their team in the full context of the season. A very young playing group took the team within one win of a finals appearance. With injuries knocking out a large chunk of the Rabbitohs more experienced players, experience at both Club and International level, the young players stood tall and did their Club proud. The Rabbitohs farewelled a number of players and coaches tonight, with those moving on to other Clubs or other ventures. On behalf of all Rabbitohs Members and supporters we thank them for the contribution they have made to the Club, making it a stronger Club as we look towards season 2012.


Merritt 2, Corrigan, McQueen tries
Sandow 4 from 4 goals

Crowd      30,729
Referee    S.Hayne / M.Cecchin

Penalities  2-2
Scrums      3-10

Other FG Matches

32-12 Woll St Geo-Ill b Penrith
18-6  MtSm Warriors   b Nth Qld
30-22 Ende Wests-Tig  b Cronulla
32-12 Robi Parramatta b Gold Coast
36-22 StAu Canterbury b Canberra
18-10 Lang Brisbane   b Manly
40-8  SFS  Syd Rstrs  b Melbourne

            W D  L B Diff PT 
MELBOURNE  19 -  5 2 +213 42
MANLY      18 -  6 2 +208 40
BRISBANE   18 -  6 2 +139 40
WESTS-TIG  15 -  9 2  +89 34
ST GEO-ILL 14 1  9 2 +142 33
WARRIORS   14 - 10 2 +111 32
NTH QLD    14 - 10 2  +97 32
NEWCASTLE  12 - 12 2  +52 28
Canterbury 12 - 12 2  -40 28
Souths     11 - 13 2  -31 26
Syd Rstrs  10 - 14 2  -83 24
Penrith     9 - 15 2  -87 22
Cronulla    7 - 17 2 -129 18
Parramatta  6 1 17 2 -153 17
Canberra    6 - 18 2 -200 16
Gold Coast  6 - 18 2 -286 16

Judiciary News

No one has been charged out of the match.

U20 National Youth Toyota Cup - Round 26

v Newcastle, 5:20pm

LOSS 16-46

Late changes - team was 1-17. In the Toyota Cup match, the South Sydney Rabbitohs finished their season with a 46 points to 16 loss to the Newcastle Knights at Ausgrid Stadium. The Knights led 22-nil at half time, and despite signs of a comeback from the Rabbitohs in the second half, the home side went away with the game to record a convincing 30-point victory. The Rabbitohs tried hard all season, but unfortunately could only record four wins and a draw for the season.

 9 min  0-6
        0-12
32 min  0-18
39 min  0-22
        0-28
        0-34
52 min  0-40
63 min  6-40
70 min 12-40
72 min 16-40

Sisifa, Jarrett, Vale tries
French 2 from 3 goals

Final Line Up
                             T  G/A  FG
Flbk - Vale, Kieran          1  -     -
Wing - Lolesio, Paul         -  -     -
Cntr - Jaeger, Reece         -  -     -
Cntr - Takapu, Arthur        -  -     -
Wing - Sisifa, David         1  -     -
5/8  - Koroisau, Apisai      -  -     -
Half - French, Kurt          -  2/3   -
Prop - Vaingalo, Keliti      -  -     - 
Hook - Brennan, Darryl       -  -     -
Prop - Bryant, Hamish        -  -     -
SRow - Jarrett, Brett        1  -     -
SRow - Turner, Kyle          -  -     -
Lock - Matthew, Blake        -  -     -

Int  - Tuiavii, Jordan       -  -     -
Int  - Cooper, James         -  -     -
Int  - Place, Matt           -  -     -
Int  - Schuster, Roy         -  -     -

                             3  2/3   -

Other NYC Matches

30-24 Woll Penrith    b St Geo-Ill
28-20 MtSm Warriors   b Nth Qld
26-10 Ende Cronulla   b Wests-Tig
24-18 Robi Gold Coast b Parramatta
38-28 StAu Canterbury b Canberra
62-0  Lang Brisbane   b Manly
28-14 SFS  Syd Rstrs  b Melbourne

            W D  L B Diff PT 
WARRIORS   19 1  4 2 +357 43
NTH QLD    17 -  7 2 +249 38
CRONULLA   16 1  7 2 +107 37
MELBOURNE  16 -  8 2 +107 36
SYD RSTRS  15 1  8 2 +116 35
CANTERBURY 14 - 10 2 +201 32
WESTS-TIG  12 2 10 2  +78 30
NEWCASTLE  12 1 11 2  -22 29
Brisbane   11 2 11 2 +201 28
Penrith    12 - 12 2 -191 28
St Geo-Ill 10 2 12 2  -32 26
Parramatta 10 1 13 2   -9 25
Canberra    8 1 15 2  -66 21
Gold Coast  5 1 18 2 -312 15
Souths      4 1 19 2 -427 13
Manly       4 - 20 2 -451 12 

NRL Club Championship

            W D  L B Diff PT 
MELBOURNE  35 - 13 4 +374 79
Warriors   33 1 14 4 +468 75
Nth Qld    31 - 17 4 +301 70
Brisbane   29 2 17 4 +340 69
Wests-Tig  27 2 19 4 +167 64
Canterbury 26 - 22 4 +161 60
St Geo-Ill 24 3 21 4 +110 59
Syd Rstrs  25 1 22 4  +33 59
Newcastle  24 1 23 4  +13 57
Cronulla   23 1 24 4  -22 55
Manly      22 - 26 4 -243 52
Penrith    21 - 27 4 -238 50
Parramatta 16 2 30 4 -162 42
Souths     15 1 32 4 -458 39
Canberra   14 1 33 4 -266 37
Gold Coast 11 1 36 4 -578 31

Reserve Grade - NSW Cup Round 25

v Wentworthville, Ringrose Park, Saturday Sep 3 3:00pm

LOSS 26-28

Late Changes - Ranieri was out, Matapuku started second row 5 minutes into the game Wentworthville open the scoring to take the early lead. 0-6. Mundine punt kicks and once again Johnston leaps high to score. 4-6. Bears score again when Florimo does a inside pass to Mansour who fends the fullback and scores. Mundine converts 10-6. 20 minutes in the half Wentworthville scores in the corner to tie the match up, 10-10. It remains that way up to halftime. After the break Hawkins flings ball over his head from a kick that was about to go out and Nichols scores. 14-10. 58 minute mark and Falloon dummies and scores, Mundine converts. 20-10. 4 minutes later Wentworthville hit back, 20-16. Bears alo hit back a few minutes later as Mundine grubbers, scores and converts with 14 minutes on the clock. 26-16. But with 10minutes to go Wentworthville score 2 quick tries to take the lead 26-28 after some risky Bears play and its 26-28. Wentworthville hang on for a win.

 5 min  0-6
10 min  4-6
15 min 10-6
20 min 10-10
48 min 14-10
58 min 20-10
62 min 20-16
66 min 26-16
70 min 26-22
72 min 26-28

Mansour, Johnston, Nichols, Mundine, Falloon tries
Mundine 3 from 5 goals

Final Line up 
                             T  G/A  FG
Flbk - Mansour, Josh         1  -     -
Wing - Johnston, Curtis      1  -     -
Cntr - Nichols, Greg         1  -     - (c)
Cntr - Judd, Blake           -  -     -
Wing - Hawkins, Jack         -  -     -
5/8  - Mundine, Matt         1  3/5   -
Half - Florimo, Jay          -  -     -
Prop - Burgess, George       -  -     -
Hook - Falloon, Beau         1  -     -
Prop - Areaiiti, Neccrom     -  -     -
SRow - Matapuku, Joey        -  -     -
SRow - Molan, Brock          -  -     -
Lock - Webster, Dean         -  -     -

Int  - Retzlaff, Herman      -  -     -
Int  - Shearer, Jake         -  -     -
Int  - McKinnon, Brendan     -  -     -
Int  - Pettyborne, Kennedy   -  -     -

                             5  3/5   -

Other NSW Cup Matches

16-16 MtSm Auckland   d Wests
24-20 Leic Canterbury b Balm-Ryde
46-30 Ende Cronulla   b Manly
40-10 Wind Newtown    b Windsor

                W D  L B Diff PT
CANTERBURY     17 -  5 3 +226 40
AUCKLAND       16 1  6 2 +283 37
CRONULLA       16 1  6 2 +209 37
NEWTOWN        15 1  7 2 +114 35
WENTWORTHVILLE 12 1 10 2  -83 29
NORTHS          9 1 12 3  +62 25
CENTRAL COAST  10 1 12 2  -76 25
BALMAIN-RYDE    6 2 14 3  -83 20
Wests           7 1 15 2 -182 19
Windsor         6 1 16 2 -243 17
Manly           6 - 17 2 -217 16

Weekend - Sep 9-11

NRL - Quarter Finals


18-8  MRSt (1v8) Melbourne  b Newcastle
42-8  SFS  (2v7) Manly      b Nth Qld
40-10 Lang (3v6) Brisbane   b Warriors
21-12 StAu (4v5) Wests-Tig  b St Geo-Ill

U20 National Youth Toyota Cup - Quarter Finals


54-6  Lang (1v8) Warriors   b Newcastle
48-26 StAu (2v7) Nth Qld    b Wests-Tig
28-12 SFS  (3v6) Cronulla   b Canterbury
26-10 MRSt (4v5) Melbourne  b Syd Rstrs

Reserve Grade - NSW Cup Quarter Finals

(6v3) v Cronulla-Sutherland Storm, Endeavour Field, Sun Sep 11 3:00pm

LOSS 20-28

Late Changes - Matapuku, Pettyborne, Retzlaff and R.Apps dropped off the bench. Before the match has kicked off the Bears wre confirmed as progressing through to the next next week of the finals Cronulla score first early in the game, 0-6. Bears hit back with two tries, to Nichols and G.Burgess and lead 12-6. Mundine takes a penalty kick and extends the lead to 14-6, 10 minutes out from halftime. Then McKinnon goes over and it 20-6 at halftime. With only 20 minutes on the clock, Cronulla hit back with two tries to reduce the deficet to 18-20. And in true Bears fashion they steal defeat out the jaws of victory when Cronulla score with 3 minutes to go and then again on the bell.

10 min  0-6
14 min  6-6
23 min 12-6
30 min 14-6
40 min 20-6
60 min 20-12
65 min 20-18
73 min 20-22
80 min 20-28

Nichols, G.Burgess, McKinnon tries
Mundine 4 from 4 goals

Final Line up 
                             T  G/A  FG
Flbk - Mansour, Josh         -  -     -
Wing - Johnston, Curtis      -  -     -
Cntr - Nichols, Greg         1  -     - (c)
Cntr - Judd, Blake           -  -     -
Wing - Hawkins, Jack         -  -     -
5/8  - Mundine, Matt         -  4/4   -
Half - Webster, Malcolm      -  -     -
Prop - Burgess, George       1  -     -
Hook - Falloon, Beau         -  -     -
Prop - Areaiiti, Neccrom     -  -     -
SRow - Reniaeri, Alex        -  -     -
SRow - Molan, Brock          -  -     -
Lock - Webster, Dean         -  -     -

Int  - Retzlaff, Herman      -  -     -
Int  - Shearer, Jake         -  -     -
Int  - McKinnon, Brendan     1  -     -
Int  - Florimo, Jay          -  -     -

                             3  4/4   -

Other NSW Cup Matches

24-22 Belm (1v8) Canterbury b Balm-Ryde
28-14 MtSm (2v7) Auckland   b C Coast
34-29 Hens (4v5) Newtown    b Wntwrthvll

Weekend - Sep 16-18

NRL - Semi Finals

      BYE  (1)   Melbourne
      BYE  (2)   Manly
13-12 Lang (3v5) Brisbane   b St Geo-Ill
22-20 SFS  (6v4) Warriors   b Wests-Tig

U20 National Youth Toyota Cup - Semi Finals

      BYE  (1)   Warriors
      BYE  (2)   Nth Qld
14-4  SFS  (3v5) Cronulla   b Syd Rstrs
22-20 Lang (6v4) Canterbury b Melbourne

Reserve Grade - NSW Cup Semi Finals

(3v6) v Newtown, Leichardt Oval, Sun Sep 18 3:00pm

WIN 17-16

Late Changes - Leslie starts centre, Judd at lock, D.Webster on the bench. Retzlaff, R.Apps, Matapuku, Pettybourne drop off the bench. The crowd is about 2500 for the first Bears av Newtown finals match since 1943. 13 minutes in Newtown score and hit the lead, 0-4. 9 minutes later Judd finds space to score over near touch line. Mundine converts, 6-4. 8 minutes fromthe break, Johnston dives over to score in corner, most of his body was in the air over the line, but he got the ball down. Mundine converts. 12-4. A few minutes before the break Newtown score, following mistake from kickoff, 12-10 and halftime. Immediately after the break Newtown scores try to regain lead, 12-16. At the 61 minute mark , fight breaks out and Curtis Johnston put on report. 7 minutes from the end, Leslie scores 1 metre in from touch, Mundine unsuccessful. 16 all With two minutes on the clock Malcolm Webster lands field goal. 17-16. But the match is not over. With 10 secs on the clock the Bears concede a penalty, 31m out, near sideline. Siren goes before kick. Newtown kick goes wide, North Sydney wins 17-16, and progress to the preliminary final.

13 min  0-4
22 min  6-4
32 min 12-4
36 min 12-10
41 min 12-16
73 min 16-16
78 min 17-16

Johnston, Judd, Leslie tries
Mundine 2 from 3 goals
M.Webster fieldgoal

Final Line up 
                             T  G/A  FG
Flbk - Mansour, Josh         -  -     -
Wing - Johnston, Curtis      1  -     -
Cntr - Nichols, Greg         -  -     - (c)
Cntr - Leslie, Bennett       1  -     -
Wing - Hawkins, Jack         -  -     -
5/8  - Mundine, Matt         -  2/3   -
Half - Webster, Malcolm      -  -     1
Prop - Burgess, George       -  -     -
Hook - Falloon, Beau         -  -     -
Prop - Areaiiti, Neccrom     -  -     -
SRow - Reniaeri, Alex        -  -     -
SRow - Molan, Brock          -  -     -
Lock - Judd, Blake           1  -     -

Int  - Webster, Dean         -  -     -
Int  - Shearer, Jake         -  -     -
Int  - McKinnon, Brendan     -  -     -
Int  - Florimo, Jay          -  -     -

                             3  2/3   1

Other NSW Cup Matches

      BYE  (1)   Canterbury
      BYE  (2)   Auckland
36-34 Leic (3v6) Cronulla   b Wntwrthvll

Weekend - Sep 23-25

NRL - Preliminary Finals


20-12 MRSt (4v1) Warriors   b Melbourne
26-14 SFS  (2v3) Manly      b Brisbane

U20 National Youth Toyota Cup - Preliminary Finals


64-0  MRSt (1v4) Warriors   b Canterbury   
38-14 SFS  (2v3) Nth Qld    b Cronulla

Reserve Grade - NSW Cup Preliminary Finals

(4v1) v Canterbury-Bankstown, Leichhardt Oval, Sun Sep 25 3:00pm

LOSS 10-28

Late Changes - Retzlaff, R.Apps drops off the bench. Match conditions are terrible, strong wind and rain. Crowd around 1,500, though. Opening try to Brock Molan, after 4 minutes. Mundine converts. 6-0. After 19 minutes Canterbury score two quick tries and the score is 6-12 After some strong defence a fight between Curtis Johnston and what seems like half of the Canterbury side breaks out and a Canterbury player placed in report. Bears gets penaltyin a game described as tough 1980s style of Rugby League. At the 33 minute mark a Canterbury player is sin-binned after a high shot. There is a lot of feeling in this game. Bears leading the penalty count 7-1. 3 minutes before halftime a second Canterbury player is placed on report. After the break Canterbury put on another two tries and the score, 24-6. Even though the Bears are winning the penalty count, feeling is running high as Burgess involved in another fight in back play. Feeling still running high. Few players get called out, including Florimo for being third man in. 6 minutes to play and Canterbury score again sealing the match. 6-28. Last minute of the Bears season and George Burgess scoots 18 metres to score beside the posts after a beautiful step off his left. Burgess takes conversion, kicks the sand and misses the conversion, Bears bow out, 10-28.

 4 min  6-0
19 min  6-6
21 min  6-12
46 min  6-18
48 min  6-24
74 min  6-28
79 min 10-28

Molan, G.Burgess tries
Mundine 1 from 1, G.Burgess 0 from 1 goals

Final Line up 
                             T  G/A  FG
Flbk - Mansour, Josh         -  -     -
Wing - Johnston, Curtis      -  -     -
Cntr - Nichols, Greg         -  -     - (c)
Cntr - Leslie, Bennett       -  -     -
Wing - Hawkins, Jack         -  -     -
5/8  - Mundine, Matt         -  1/1   -
Half - Webster, Malcolm      -  -     -
Prop - Burgess, George       1  -/1   -
Hook - Falloon, Beau         -  -     -
Prop - Areaiiti, Neccrom     -  -     -
SRow - Reniaeri, Alex        -  -     -
SRow - Molan, Brock          1  -     -
Lock - Judd, Blake           -  -     -

Int  - Webster, Dean         -  -     -
Int  - Shearer, Jake         -  -     -
Int  - McKinnon, Brendan     -  -     -
Int  - Florimo, Jay          -  -     -

                             2  1/2   -

Other NSW Cup Match

30-26 Leic (2v3) Auckland  b Cronulla

Weekend - Oct 2

NRL - Grand Final


24-10 StAu (1v2) Manly      b Warriors

U20 National Youth Toyota Cup - Grand Final


31-30 StAu (1v2) Warriors   b Nth Qld

Reserve Grade - NSW Cup Grand Final


30-28 StAu (1v2) Canterbury b Warriors


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