With only two games of Rabbitohs pathways this weekend, it was another mixed bag of results.
The NSW Cup side took down the previously undefeated Newton Jets in stellar fashion, as the Jersey Flegg side was defeated by a tough Cronulla Sharks outfit.
NSW Cup
The Rabbitohs NSW Cup side has bounced back from last week’s heartbreaking loss in an impressive way, with a 22 point win over the Newton Jets.
Heading into this matchup, the Jets were without a loss in its opening five games and boasted the competitions second best attack. – 172 points in its first five games.
It was a stellar showing from the Rabbitohs with the defence shining, only allowing two tries from the potent Jets attack.
Tyson Hodge and Jaxson Paulo got the Rabbitohs off to a promising start, as the pair crashed over for tries in the opening ten minutes.
Kade Dykes swiftly answered back for the visitors, however, the Rabbitohs began to seize full control of the game after this.
Paulo secured a double within twenty minutes, as the Jets’ defence was unable to match the high intensity of the Rabbitohs attack.
The first-half barrage of points didn’t stop there, as Yileen Gordon and Izaac Thompson broke down the Jets defence late on for a pair of tries.
With a stellar opening 40 minutes in the book, the Rabbitohs went into the shed with a comfortable 20 point lead.
The Jets started off the half the better of the two sides and managed to get back on the board shortly after the restart.
After a couple errors deep in its own line, the Rabbitohs conceded when Kayal Iro broke through the line for his side’s second try – taking advantage of the sin binning of Yileen Gordon moments earlier.
This try proved to be a mere bump in the road, as the hosts re-asserted control of the game and continued to push forward in pursuit of additional points.
Shannon Gardiner rewarded his side’s efforts in the 69th minute, when he crashed over for the final try of the afternoon.
The Rabbitohs held out for an impressive win, as for the second time this season they’ve taken down a top-four opponent – both times ending its opponents undefeated start to the season.
Individually it was another dominant game from Shaquai Mitchell, with 132 run-metres and 53 post-contact metres, the Jets were unable to tame Mitchell as he showed his class in the pack.
Siliva Havili showed out in his best game for the club since joining, with over 100 metres, two line-break assists and one try assist, the flexible forward made his case for a return back to first-grade.
Dean Hawkins continued with another outstanding performance, controlling the game with ball in hand and leading the way with his kicking game.
The Rabbitohs will aim to get its first back-to-back win of the season, when they face the Western Suburbs Magpies in Lidcombe next Sunday afternoon.
Jersey Flegg Cup
It was Deja-vu for the Jersey Flegg outfit, after letting the Sharks get out to a strong start and being forced to chased the game from there.
The Sharks held a comfortable lead heading into the break, up by 16 and looking like ready to go for another half of promising attacking footy.
However, the Rabbitohs held on in the second-half and began to ramp up the intensity, building some much needed momentum in the process.
The first-half lead proved to be too hard to overcome as the Sharks walked away with a 12 point victory.
The Sharks got off to a hot start in the opening minutes when Tom Rodwell and Manaia Waitere crossed over in quick succession.
Tom Giles answered back for Souths, finding the line with an unlikely try from the front-row.
The Sharks progressed throughout the half looking like deadly in attack and were rewarded for its pressure in the 26th minute, when Thomas Crossle secured a try.
Cronulla ended the half of on a high as star five-eighth, Waitere bagged himself a double, giving his side a 16-point halftime lead.
The visitors continued with its attacking pressure, forcing a dropout and a few errors from the Rabbitohs early on in the second-half.
The errors began to build-up as Kane Ball capitalised with a try, extending Cronulla’s commanding lead.
Ryan Rivett ensured the Sharks notched up 30 points after he converted from a notable line break from Tully Wilton.
The Rabbitohs flipped the script in the final twenty minutes and gave the Sharks an almighty scare, with three unanswered tries in seven minutes.
Giles stunned the visitors as he crashed over for a second in the 58th minute.
This try swung the momentum into the corner of the Rabbitohs, as a mountain of pressure resulted in several penalties and errors from the Sharks for the first time in the game.
Carson Kaho and Josiah Karapani gave Souths a glimmer of hope, as they reduced the lead to 12 with ten minutes remaining.
Unfortunately, the Sharks proved too strong and held out for the impressive victory.
Although the result didn’t go the way of the Rabbitohs, there was a few positive individual performances that gave the fans plenty of hope going forward.
Tom Giles’ monstrous game from the front-row was highlighted by his two tries on the day, the prop ran for over 150 metres and got through some tough work in defence.
Cruise Tweedie impressed on the edge, playing the entirety of the game and going above and beyond in his work on defence.
Josiah Karapani led the way going forward for the backs, with 10 tackle breaks and 176 run metres, in what was a stellar outing.
The Rabbitohs will have to quickly put this performance in the rear view mirror, as a matchup with the Wests Tigers awaits in round seven.
Rabbitohs Head of Pathways, Joe O’Callaghan stated his pride in the defensive effort for the NSW Cup side saying,
“It was the best defensive effort for the year, against a top of the ladder team, it’s a massive credit to the work they’ve been doing throughout the last couple of weeks,”
“Their challenge now is consistency, they’re yet to win back to back games and they’ve only played the top teams, it’s been good to see where they compare to the elite sides of the competition.”
“That week off last week hurt the rhythm for the boys [Jersey Flegg side], they had a good win against the Panthers two weeks ago, but due to the postponement last round, they had to sit around for two weeks,”
“It showed in the first 10 minutes, the Sharks got out to an early lead and that set the tone for the rest of the game, we were chasing and it showed in their attack”.
