Rabbitohs 22 DEFEAT Warriors 16
05 Apr 2009
The South Sydney Rabbitohs have recorded their second straight victory in Auckland, defeating the New Zealand Warriors 22 points to 16 at Mt Smart Stadium today (Sunday).
19,386 fans saw the Rabbitohs come back from a 16-12 deficit at half time to win by six points at the death, a fantastic win considering the team only had 45% of the possession.
The Rabbitohs scored four tries to three in the shaky isles, in a special tribute match to missing Warrior Sonny Fai, a player who was close friends with a number of the Rabbitohs players.
The Warriors led 12-nil after 14 minutes, with Aidan Kirk and Micheal Luck scoring tries and Denan Kemp converting both tries.
The Rabbitohs registered their first points in the 19th minute when fullback Luke Capewell on the left hand side of the field courtesy of a John Sutton short ball. Chris Sandow converted the try to bring the visitors within six points of the Warriors.
The Rabbitohs were awarded a penalty try in the 26th minute, when winger Fetuli Talanoa was held back by Kirk when trying to score a try. Sandow’s conversion levelled the scores at 12-all.
With two minutes remaining in the first half, former Rabbitoh Wade McKinnon scored off an inside ball from Stacey Jones, giving the men in black a 16-12 lead at the break.
Sutton was looking dangerous for the Rabbitohs every time he was involved in the attack. Luke Capewell was strong at fullback, especially after he came into the side late in the week for the injured Rhys Wesser. Roy Asotasi and Luke Stuart were leading the way up front, giving the Rabbitohs the impetus to mount some attacking raids.
The opening to the second half was an arm wrestle. The Warriors had the advantage early, however a 40/20 from Sandow, and a great defensive effort from the team, especially on their own line, kept the Rabbitohs in the hunt.
The Rabbitohs scored in the 68th minute through an amazingly athletic try to Fetuli Talanoa. Talanoa flew high above two Warriors attacker to defuse a bomb 10 metres out from his line, making a break in the process and racing 90 metres to score next to the posts. Sandow converted to give the Rabbitohs a two-point lead for the first time in the match.
In the 73rd minute, the Rabbitohs put the game out of reach when Nathan Merritt crossed on the left hand side of the field. Issac Luke was involved in the two plays leading up to the try, eventually sending the ball to Ben Lowe playing at right centre. Lowe attracted two defenders and offloaded to Merritt who carried two defenders over the line to score.
The Rabbitohs held on over the final five minutes to register their third win out of their first four matches, and they currently sit on top of the NRL ladder.
Captain Roy Asotasi said: “We worked very hard during the game and we went to sleep for a period. We woke up and got the win at the back end of the game.”
“We focussed on ourselves this week knowing it would be an emotional day today. We were mentally ready for this game.
David Kidwell, who was celebrating his 200th NRL game today, said: “I’m honoured to play in my homeland and to get the two points.”
“Our defence was pretty good and that helped us get the win.
“I thought our forwards stepped up today.”
The Rabbitohs move on to play the Bulldogs in Monday night football on 13 April at 7pm.
South Sydney Rabbitohs 22 (Fetuli Talanoa 2 [1 penalty try], Luke Capewell, Nathan Merritt, Penalty tries; Chris Sandow 3 goals)
defeated
New Zealand Warriors 16 (Aidan Kirk, Micheal Luck, Wade McKinnon tries; Denan Kemp 2 goals)
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In the Toyota Cup match, the New Zealand Warriors ran away to a 42-32 victory over the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Mt Smart Stadium.
Malcolm Webster was the star for the Rabbitohs, scoring 12 points from two tries and two goals, and playing a hand in a number of the Rabbitohs five tries. Captain Jason Clark worked hard in defence for his side, but the Rabbitohs defensive effort was not enough to stop the go-forward of the big Warriors side.
New Zealand Warriors 42 (Thomas Ah Van 2, Bill Tupou, Junior Afuola, Michael Afioga, Rusty Bristow, Kevin Locke, Shaun Johnson tries; Kevin Locke 4, Shaun Johnson goals)
Defeated
South Sydney Rabbitohs 32 (Malcolm Webster 2, Kane Morgan, John Joseph, Brock Molan, Brad Takairangi tries; Brad Takairangi 2, Malcolm Webster 2 goals)