Sea Eagles 20 defeat Rabbitohs 2
06 Apr 2008
The South Sydney Rabbitohs were unable to secure their maiden victory for the season at Brookvale Oval today (Sunday), going down to competition heavyweights, the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, 20 points to 2 in front of 14,426 fans.
The Rabbitohs displayed an improved defence, but their attack was lacking, allowing the Sea Eagles to register the two competition points.
The Rabbitohs had a relatively strong first half, with a couple of handling errors and poor attacking decisions quashing some promising attacking opportunities. The Rabbitohs had three golden chances in the Sea Eagles’ 20 metre zone in the first 40 minutes, only to come up empty-handed.
The positive of the first half for the red and greens was their defence. The carnivorous defensive effort from Souths was much-improved on their first three games, with the Sea Eagles two first-half tries coming from a stepping charge by international centre Jamie Lyon and a deft grubber kick from halfback Matt Orford for Adam Cuthbertson to touch down.
Early in the game, captains Roy Asotasi and David Kidwell lead the Rabbitohs charge with Manase Manuokafoa running and defending strongly. South Sydney made good metres up the middle and they found themselves in good position to score some points. A 70 metre run from centre Beau Champion set up the Rabbitohs’ best attacking raid but the play broke down a few tackles later.
The second half was a dour affair with both sides dropping far too much ball and throwing too many loose passes. The Rabbitohs gave away a penalty early in the first half, gifting Orford another two points. The Rabbitohs were one short on the interchange bench after prop-forward Michael Greenfield left the field with a nasty head cut from a head clash. His knee and ankle also buckled underneath him as he fell to the ground.
The Rabbitohs’ defence held strong until the 65th minute, when Manly fullback Brett Stewart scored another try on Brookvale Oval. South Sydney fullback Nathan Merritt failed to find touch with a penalty kick, then was a party to a missed tackle which allowed Stewart to run 60 metres to score.
The Rabbitohs never gave up, with their defensive effort the highlight of the game despite conceding three tries in the match. Their attacking options were generally poor, especially on the last tackle, which stifled any chance of the Rabbitohs securing their first victory of the season. Winger Shannon Hegarty ran the ball hard all afternoon, making good metres when the Rabbitohs were held deep in their own half. Debutant Beau Falloon performed admirably in his first NRL appointment.
Head Coach Jason Taylor said at the post-match press conference: “Our kicking game was the issue for us today. It put us under pressure.”
“We made improvements defensively which is good. It’s the place where you need to start.
“We’re in a tough position and we’re going to fight our way out to the other side. We’re in a great position if everyone else writes us off, because we’re not writing ourselves off and we’re going to come out the other side.”
Captain David Kidwell said: “We’re doing all the hard work. We’re good on defence but our attack, we lacked a bit there.”
“I wish we could finish a game with 17 players.”
Captain Roy Asotasi said: “It’s not the end of the world. Come Monday we go back and start again.”
The Rabbitohs move on to play the Sharks in Monday Night Football in round five.
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 20 (Jamie Lyon, Adam Cuthbertson, Brett Stewart tries; Matt Orford 4 goals)
defeated
South Sydney Rabbitohs 2 (Nathan Merritt goal)
In the Toyota Cup match, the South Sydney Rabbitohs have recorded their first victory of the season with a win over the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 36 points to 22.
Fullback Luke Capewell was a handful for the Eagles defence all afternoon, with Chris Sandow playing a leading hand in the team’s maiden win.
South Sydney Rabbitohs 36 (Chris Farrell, Chris Sandow, Trent Trotter, Luke Capewell, Eddie Paea, John Joseph tries; Chris Sandow 6 goals)
defeated
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 22 (Rhys Wollaghan 2, Daly Cherry-Evans, Mark Page tries; Daly Cherry-Evans 3 goals)