Titans 22 defeat Rabbitohs 14
14 Aug 2009
The South Sydney Rabbitohs went down to the Gold Coast Titans 22 points to 14 tonight (Friday) at ANZ Stadium, in a game of missed chances for the men in red and green.
The crowd of 11,977 Members and supporters watched the Rabbitohs lead 14-12 at half time, only see the Titans score two second half tries to seal the win.
The game was marred by biting allegation made by Rabbitohs winger Jamie Simpson on Titans fullback William Zillman in the first half.
Video referee Paul Simpkins was the busiest man at ANZ Stadium tonight, being asked to rule on nine possible tries throughout the match, turning down four of them.
Simpkins was asked to rule on three tries in the opening ten minutes, dismissing all of them. Rabbitohs centre Colin Best was the first to be denied in the fifth minute of play, followed by Titans David mead and Luke Bailey in the sixth and tenth minutes respectively.
Best was then awarded the first points of the game in the 18th minute when the ball was swung wide to the left, allowing Best to touch down in the corner and give his side a four-nil lead.
The Titans took the lead in the 22nd minute when prop Matt White cleaned up the scraps from a cross field chip kick to score adjacent to the posts. Scott Prince converted to give the visitors a two-point advantage.
Former Rabbitoh Mark Minichiello scored the first of two tries in the 26th minute, before being denied a second by the video referee in the 30th minute.
South Sydney halfback Chris Sandow brought the home team within two points of their opposition when he dived on a loose ball to score in the 32nd minute. Sandow converted his try to send the scores to 12-10 in favour of the Gold Coast.
In the 37th minute, Scott Prince leapt into the air to take Nathan Merritt in a high tackle, and from the ensuing penalty, the Rabbitohs went on to score a try through winger Fetuli Talanoa. The ball went left again, with Best offloading to Talanoa to set up the try.
The Rabbitohs had their heads high going into the break two points up. They were mounting pressure but not making the most of all of their opportunities.
That was to be the tale of the second half as well.
Minichiello scored his second in the 44th minute when he stretched out to score. The two sides were locked in an arm wrestle, with the Rabbitohs seeming to have the better of the attacking opportunities, but last passes not finding the mark and poor handling curtailed many scoring chances for the men in red and green.
The Titans sealed the game when Simpkins awarded Mead a try in the 75th minute of play, giving the Titans the eight-point advantage, 22-14.
The effort was there for the Rabbitohs throughout the contest, but loose handling let the team down.
Rabbitohs Head Coach Jason Taylor said it was those missed chances that cost his side the game.
“We had our chances, that’s for sure,” Taylor said.
“It was a game that was there to be won.
“But we were off our game tonight. We made too many errors.
“The Gold Coast play a field position game. We didn’t combat that well enough tonight. Scott Prince’s kicking game is the best in the competition and we had to keep working out of our own end.”
Despite tonight’s loss, Taylor says the Rabbitohs’ season is not over yet.
“We won’t be giving up on our season. Tonight’s result makes it tougher, but we’re not giving up,” he said.
“You’re going to get some (refereeing decisions) go your way and some that don’t. That’s just how it is. But the fact is we made 12 errors compared to their four.”
Rabbitohs captain Luke Stuart said his charges would pick themselves up for next week’s game against the Panthers.
“We’ve put ourselves in this position but we’re not giving up,” Stuart said.
“We’ll bounce back next week and put in our best effort.”
The Rabbitohs suffered a number of injuries including an ankle injury to Michael Crocker in the first ten minutes of the game, a knee injury to Fetuli Talanoa and hand injury to Beau Champion.
The Rabbitohs move on to play the Penrith Panthers at CUA Stadium next Saturday night at 7:30pm.
Gold Coast Titans 22 (Mark Minichiello 2, Matt White, David Mead tries; Scott Prince 3 goals)
defeated
South Sydney Rabbitohs 14 (Colin Best, Chris Sandow, Fetuli Talanoa tries; Chris Sandow goal)
In the Toyota Cup match, the South Sydney Rabbitohs dominated the Gold Coast Titans 48 points to 10 at ANZ Stadium.
Adam Reynolds racked up 16 points for the Rabbitohs with two tries and four goals throughout the match, with Kane Morgan also scoring a double.
South Sydney Rabbitohs 48 (Adam Reynolds 2, Kane Morgan 2, Matt Mundine, Luke Capewell, Jake Shearer, Blake Judd tries; Adam Reynolds 4, Matt Mundine 4 goals)
defeated
Gold Coast Titans 10 (Kayne Lawton, Lachlan Creighton tries; Kayne Lawton goal)