Stadium Australia
Mon Aug 8, 7:00pm
Late Changes
WIN 56-6
The South Sydney Rabbitohs have smashed the Parramatta Eels to keep their finals hopes alive, destroying the Eels 56 points to 6 at ANZ Stadium tonight (Monday). The crowd of 13,908 watched Nathan Merritt score five tries of his own to equal South Sydneys all-time record for the most tries in one match, and the 50-point winning margin is the biggest winning margin by a Rabbitohs team over Parramatta since 1947. The ten-tries-to-one romp signalled the Rabbitohs intention to fight until the death for a spot in the top eight. The Rabbitohs dominated in every aspect of the game, leading 34 points to nil at the half time break then going on with it in the second half. The Rabbitohs showed they meant business from the start with star centre Greg Inglis crossing for the first of two first half tries in just the third minute of play. A 65-metre burst down the left hand side of the field, followed by palm after palm after palm, left a trail of destruction to register the first points. Chris Sandow converted to give the Rabbitohs an early six-nil lead. The Eels then fought back on the back of three penalties deep in South Sydney territory, but the men in red and green were able to repel the attacks to keep their line intact. Merritt scored his first try in the 19th minute of play after the ball was swung to the right in Eels territory. The ball made its way to Eddy Pettybourne who took to the line and got away a wonderful inside ball to Merritt who scored his 106th try in South Sydney colours, giving his first record of the night as the Clubs outright second highest tryscorer behind Benny Wearing who sits on top with 144 tries to his name. Sandow converted to extend the lead to 12. Merritt scored his second in the 22nd minute of play from close range off a deft short ball by Issac Luke. Sandow converted to make the margin 18. GI was not going to be left behind this early in the game, going on to score his second try for the half. In the 28th minute of play, Sandow put in a pin-point crossfield bomb, finding Inglis who flew above the pack to score and give the Rabbitohs a 22-nil lead. Merritt must have thought anything GI can do, I can do better as he scored his third try for the match just three minutes later. Five-eighth John Sutton made a huge break, putting Merritt away under the posts. Sandow converted to take the lead to 28 points. In the 35th minute, Sandow scored a try of his own after charging at the Parramatta defensive line like his was a 115kg front rower. He broke the tackles and raced 60 metres to score. He converted his own try to take the scores to 34-nil at the half time interval. There was just no stopping the Rabbitohs. No matter what the Eels threw at the men in cardinal and myrtle, the South Sydney boys always had a response and it usually involved points on the scoreboard. The Rabbitohs picked up where they left off in the second half with The Coal Train almost crossing for a try, only to be denied by the video referee in the second minute of the half. Three minutes later and the Rabbitohs kept the scoreboard attendant busy, scoring another try, this time through right winger Dylan Farrell. It was all too easy for the Rabbitohs, simply passing the ball through the hands to find Farrell out wide who strolled over. The Rabbitohs missed another chance to score in the 52nd minute when a high ball went begging, and three minutes later the Eels scored their only try of the match through Luke Burt. The lucky try, after the ball bounced off the crossbar into Burts hands, was converted by the try scorer, taking the scores to 38-6 after 56 minutes. The Eels managed to find some resolve in their defensive and managed to keep the Rabbitohs at bay for the next 13 minutes, before the competitions leading tryscorer struck again. It was the 69th minute and big Dave Taylor busted the Eels defence wide open. Merritt was backing up inside as any good fullback does and he had scored his fourth try as well as the Rabbitohs eighth. Sandow converted to bring the Rabbitohs within a converted try of the half century. It would only take seven minutes for the Rabbitohs to earn the right to raise their bat and salute the crowd, with winger Chris McQueen finishing off a long range play started by Nathan Merritt and assisted by Greg Inglis. Sandows sideline conversion took the scores at 50-6, giving the Rabbitohs their biggest winning margin over a Parramatta side since they came into the competition in 1947. With just one minute left on the clock, it was that man Merritt who made a massive break down the right hand touchline, scoring his fifth try of the night, writing his name into South Sydney folklore alongside names such as Eric Sladden, Ian Moir, Johnny Graves, Don Manson, Alan Quinlivan, and Harold Horder (twice) who have scored five tries in one game for South Sydney since 1908. The scoreline hit 56-6 with Sandows final conversion and the Rabbitohs had written a new chapter in their 103-year-old history book. The whole team were magnificent, with Head Coach John Lang saying it was a fantastic team performance.
Not only was Merritt a 5 try hero Nathan Merritt become just the 6th Souths player to score more then 500 points for the club. He has now scored 110 tries, kicked 34 goals and one field goal for a total of 509 points. This places him in 5th spot for Souths in career points scored.
Merritt 5, Inglis 2, Sandow, Farrell, McQueen tries Sandow 8 from 10 goals Crowd 13,908 Referee A.Devcich / C.James Penalities 6-4 Scrums 4-4 Other FG Matches 16-14 SFS Wests-Tig b St Geo-Ill 14-6 StAu Canterbury b Nth Qld 26-6 MRSt Melbourne b Penrith 21-20 Lang Brisbane b Warriors 20-16 Ende Gold Coast b Cronulla 40-8 NISC Newcastle b Canberra 36-8 Brok Manly b Syd Rstrs
Judiciary News
No one has been charged out of the match.
U20 National Youth Toyota Cup - Round 22
v Parramatta, 4:25pm
LOSS 16-42
Late changes - Roberts, Gibbs, Woulf are out, Sisifa strts on the wing, Vaingalo prop, Jaegar second row and French was added to the bench. In the Toyota Cup match, the Parramatta Eels mounted a first half comeback to record a 42 points to 16 victory over the South Sydney Rabbitohs at ANZ Stadium. The Rabbitohs led 8-nil after 20 minutes of the match, yet trailed 24 points to 8 at the half time break. The Eels went on with it in the second stanza to record the win. Rabbitohs winger Paul Lolesio scored a double for the home side.
14 min 4-0
20 min 8-0
8-6
8-12
8-18
40 min 8-24
45 min 12-24
53 min 16-24
60 min 16-28
66 min 16-34
68 min 16-38
76 min 16-42
Lolesio 2, Mecham, Vaingalo tries
Jaeger 0 from 3, Vale 0 from 1 goals
Final Line Up
T G/A FG
Flbk - Vale, Kieran - -/1 -
Wing - Sisifa, David - - -
Cntr - Takapu, Arthur - - -
Cntr - Mecham, Liam 1 - -
Wing - Lolesio, Paul 2 - -
5/8 - Koroisau, Apisai - - -
Half - Place, Matt - - -
Prop - Vaingalo, Keliti 1 - -
Hook - Brennan, Darryl - - -
Prop - Jarrett, Brett - - -
SRow - Jaeger, Reece - -/3 -
SRow - Turner, Kyle - - -
Lock - Matthews, Blake - - -
Int - Bryant, Hamish - - -
Int - Dowie, Shaun - - -
Int - French, Kurt - - -
Int - Artemi, Andrew - - -
4 -/4 -
Other NYC Matches
28-0 SFS St Geo-Ill b Wests-Tig
22-18 StAu Nth Qld b Canterbury
22-18 MRSt Penrith b Melbourne
26-26 Lang Brisbane d Warriors
38-18 Ende Cronulla b Gold Coast
24-8 NISC Newcastle b Canberra
26-18 Brok Syd Rstrs b Manly
Reserve Grade - NSW Cup Round 21
v Balmain-Ryde Eastwood, North Sydney Oval, Sat Aug 6 3:00pm
WIN 25-19
Late Changes - Talanoa, Ranieri, D.Apps, Judd are out, Pettyborne starts on the wing, Retzlaff starts prop, D.Webster second row, Areaiiti lock, Teupa added to bench. Balmain-Ryde opened the scoring after five mins after a Malcolm Webster kick went out on the full. 0-4. North Sydney took the lead in about the 25th minute when Curtis Johnston scored following a zig zag run on the 5th tackle. This was his eighteenth try of the season and is now equal leading try scorer in the NSW Cup. Matt Mundine converted. In the 36th minute, Balmain-Ryde made a 45 metre break to score near post. 10-6 which was the score at half time. South Sydney coach John Lang was interviewed at half time and mentioned the importance of North Sydney to Souths. He didn't mention names, but talked about the players who weren't even signed to Souths that they've had to involve in their preparations to cover for some of the injured players. Second half just started - Bennet Leslie took an intercept but didn't lead to a try, but did get a line drop out. Soon after Josh Mansour scored to level the scores. Matt Mundine converts 12-10. The game has opened up, with Balmain-Ryde hittng back and scoring a try in the corner to regain the lead 14-12. 63 minutes into the game Leslie and Johnston combine down the sideline but Johnston is caught just short. Shortly after Malcolm Webster beats a wall of defenders to score near the post. Mundine converts, 18-14. Game opens up again and Balmain-Ryde scores on the back of a penalty on the half way to go level 18-all. With only 10 mins to go, take a fieldgoal to go ahead 19-18. Now with only a few minutes to go, Matt Mundine pots a field goal to level it at 19-19. In the last set of the game, on the 5th tackle and right in front of the post Mundine goes the bomb rather than a field goal. Ball gets fielded by Norths and eventually to Florimo who kicks again. The ball hits the cross bar and is gathered by Curtis Johnston who scores winning the game 10 seconds from full time.
5 min 0-4
25 min 6-4
36 min 6-10
43 min 12-10
12-14
63 min 18-14
18-18
70 min 18-19
77 min 19-19
79 min 25-18
Johnston 2, M.Webster, Mansour tries
Mundine 4 from 4 goals
Mundine fieldgoal
Final Line up
T G/A FG
Flbk - Mansour, Josh 1 - -
Wing - Johnston, Curtis 2 - -
Cntr - Nichols, Greg - - - (c)
Cntr - Leslie, Bennett - - -
Wing - Pettyborne, Kennedy - - -
5/8 - Mundine, Matt - 4/4 1
Half - Webster, Malcolm 1 - -
Prop - Burgess, George - - -
Hook - Falloon, Beau - - -
Prop - Retzlaff, Herman - - -
SRow - Webster, Dean - - -
SRow - Molan, Brock - - -
Lock - Areaiiti, Neccrom - - -
Int - Shearer, Jake - - -
Int - Florimo, Jay - - -
Int - McKinnon, Brendan - - -
Int - Matapuku, Joey - - -
4 4/4 1
Other NSW Cup Matches
34-26 Kanw Auckland b C Coast
40-16 Camp Wests b Manly
38-26 Wind Cronulla b Windsor
30-30 Ring Wntwrthvll d Newtown