Rabbitohs 16 Draw With Eels 16
22 May 2009
The South Sydney Rabbitohs and Parramatta Eels have fought out a 16-all draw at ANZ Stadium tonight in front of 10,670 Members and fans.
In a thrilling match, both sides scored three tries a-piece, with neither team able to separate themselves from their opposition after golden point extra time.
The Rabbitohs opened the scoring in the third minute when Michael Crocker for his first try in South Sydney colours. Craig Wing put up a big crossfield bomb to Fetuli Talanoa’s wing, with Talanoa tapping the ball back allowing Crocker to dive on the loose ball to score.
Twelve minutes later, Nathan Merritt scored a four-pointer, after taking an intercept from Jarryd Hayne and racing 60 metres to the goal line. Hayne gave chase, nearly holding up Merritt over the line, but the ‘Refs Call’ decision went the way of the Redfern flyer and the Rabbitohs lead by eight. Issac Luke’s conversion extended that lead to 10-nil after just 17 minutes of play.
The Eels struck back in the 25th minute through Hayne, when he charged over from two metres out in a front-rower type run.
The scores remained that way until the half time break, with the Rabbitohs leading 10-4.
The Rabbitohs were defending strongly, but loose carries and some ill-discipline cost the team attacking opportunities and metres in defence. Colin Best was defending particularly well on the left hand side.
The Eels scored first in the second stanza, with winger Eric Grothe crossing in the 43rd minute from a Hayne cut-out pass. Luke Burt missed the conversion to give the Rabbitohs a two-point advantage.
In the 53rd minute, Luke Capewell sliced through the Parramatta defence, throwing a dummy and beating two defenders to score adjacent to the uprights. Craig Wing kicked his first ever NRL goal to take the scores to 16-8 with 25 minutes left on the clock.
Hayne scored his second try, carrying four defenders over the line. Luke Burt kicked his first goal to bring the Eels within two points.
Burt levelled the scores at 16-all in the 73rd minute, when Joe Galuvao milked a penalty after Michael Crocker was deemed to have put a hit on him off the ball.
A terrible refereeing decision with one minute left on the clock put the Rabbitohs under pressure, but a field goal attempt from the Eels was charged down by the Rabbitohs, taking the game into golden point extra time.
Hayne attempted two field goal attempts in the first half of extra time, the first one missing wide and the second hitting the crossbar. The Eels had another chance to score in the 86th minute through Luke Burt, but Capewell knocked the ball dead to stop the play.
In the 87th minute, Burt missed a field goal attempt from 20 metres out right in front. The next minute, Luke Capewell’s field goal attempt didn’t have the legs.
With just eight seconds to go, the Rabbitohs were denied a chance to kick a field goal with the referee blowing time on before the scrum was fed. The Rabbitohs broke from the scrum meaning time went back on.
The Eels many, many chances to win the game, but couldn’t put the Rabbitohs away. South Sydney were out on their feet at the end, and did well to put themselves in a position to get the win.
Rabbitohs Head Coach Jason Taylor said: “We’re disappointed that we couldn’t get over the line with that game. The boys are disappointed.
“But in saying that the draw was a good result for us. We felt they were better than us during the game and they really tried hard.
“We didn’t play as well as we can, and in those conditions it was always going to be a dour game.
“They had twice as many plays in our end as they had in ours in the second half. We hung in there, and fought our way through the game.
“We didn’t have the spring in our step and they did.”
Captain Roy Asotasi said: “It was tough game out there in those conditions.
“It’s frustrating but there’s nothing you can do it about it now.
“We just need to keep improving and working hard and get ready for our next game against the Raiders.”
Taylor said the effort of his team can’t be questioned.
“We put in, but there are areas we need to improve in,” Taylor said.
“We still have Chris Sandow and John Sutton to come back who usually control our team, but Craig Wing did a great job for us tonight.
“And Michael Crocker was outstanding tonight. He played all 90 minutes in only his second game back. A wonderful effort.”
The draw puts the Rabbitohs on 13 competition points, maintaining their position in the top eight.
The Rabbitohs move on to play the Canberra Raiders in round 12 on Monday 1 June at 7pm.
South Sydney Rabbitohs 16 (Michael Crocker, Nathan Merritt, Luke Capewell tries; Issac Luke, Craig Wing goals)
drew with
Parramatta Eels 16 (Jarryd Hayne 2, Eric Grothe tries; Luke Burt 2 goals)
In the Toyota Cup, the Parramatta Eels defeated the South Sydney Rabbitohs 30 points to 22 at ANZ Stadium.
Three tries for Junior Vaivai was not enough to get the Rabbitohs over the line, making it six tries in two weeks for the young centre.
Parramatta Eels 30 (Sam Kelso, Albert Kelly, Domenic Nasso, Rory Brien, Taniela Lasalo, Daniel Galati tries; Albert Kelly 3 goals)
defeated
South Sydney Rabbitohs 22 (Junior Vaivai 3, Kane Morgan tries; Adam Reynolds 3 goals)