NSW Cup Team Claim Victory in Round One Thriller

The South Sydney Rabbitohs NSW Cup team has scored a thrilling 22 points to 20 victory in their opening game of the season away from home, with the Club’s SG Ball Cup under 19s men’s team continuing their winning ways with a big win over the North Sydney Bears in home turf.

Bear Williams was the hero for the Rabbitohs in the NSW Cup contest with the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, snatching the victory in the closing minutes with a hard-earned try.

Fullback Bayleigh Bentley-Hape scored 12 of his side’s 22 points through two tries and two goals, including the opening try in the 11th minute. It was a spectacular effort, cleaning up a chip kick on his own 30 metre line before putting a kick through himself on a zero tackle, running out of the field of play before regathering the ball to score. He would cross again 14 minutes later after some strong lead-up work from centre Talanoa Penitani and winger Dane Towns, giving the Rabbitohs a slender 10-8 lead at the half-time break.

The Rabbitohs trailed early in the second stanza before some slick by Bentley-Hape and centre Max Lehmann put centre Carson Kaho over for a try, re-establishing the two point advantage.

Manly regained the lead with less than 20 minutes left on the clock, but the Rabbitohs continued to fight, leading to a try to interchange forward, englishman Bear Williams, to score with five minutes remaining. Bentley-Hape’s conversion gave the Rabbitohs two-point lead which they held until the final whistle.

Bentley-Hape, Penitani, halfback Ashton Ward, props Salesi Ataata and Tayson Fakaosi, second rower Thomas Fletcher and replacement hooker Daniel O’Donnell all made huge contributions to the hard-fought victory away from home.

South Sydney Rabbitohs 22 defeated Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 20 (Bayleigh Bentley-Hape 2, Carson Kaho, Bear Williams tries; Bayleigh Bentley-Hape 2, Matthew French goals)

The South Sydney Rabbitohs Jersey Flegg Cup under 21s men’s team went down 38 point to eight to the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles at Brookvale Oval on Saturday.

The Rabbitohs trailed 32 points to nil before scoring two late tries in the final ten minutes of play through winger Daniel Waqa and fullback Billy Sprague.

Waqa and second rower Joshua Alhazim tried hard for the Rabbitohs side which was outclassed in enemy territory.

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 38 defeated South Sydney Rabbitohs 8 (Daniel Waqa, Billy Sprague tries)

The South Sydney Rabbitohs SG Ball Cup under 19s men’s team thumped the North Sydney Bears 48 points to 16 at Redfern Oval on Saturday, solidifying their position in the top on the ladder with three rounds to go in the regular season.

The Rabbitohs ran in nine-tries-to-three over the Bears, including four tries to winger Joshua Ballard on the right-hand flank.

The Rabbitohs led 34 points to four in the first half, including a first half hat-trick to Ballard, with South Sydney taking their foot off the gas in the second half with the game out of reach for North Sydney.

The Rabbitohs front row combination of Johannes Logan and Maddax Fui dominated their opposition all day with the help of halfback Matthew Humphries, hooker Cody Hill and winger Jacob Fong.

South Sydney Rabbitohs 48 defeated North Sydney Bears 16 (Joshua Ballard 4, Charlie Poynton 2, Charlie Mann, Taj Alvarez, Maddax Fui tries; Matthew Humphries 5, Charlie Poynton goals)

The South Sydney Rabbitohs Harold Matthews Cup under 17s boys’ team blew a golden opportunity to return to the winners’ circle against the North Sydney Bears, going down 22 points to 20 at home at Redfern Oval on Saturday.

The Bears score five tries to four in their win, but ill-discipline, handling errors and a lack of concentration at times cost the young Rabbitohs the two competition points.

They looked to be doing it easily early on, leading 12-nil early in proceedings, but the Bears never gave up to steal the win.

Lock Keone Anitelea Tsioussis, five-eighth Payten Tarau, halfback Charlie Bateup and prop Anthony Mailangi were South Sydney’s best however it was not enough to claim the points on the day.

North Sydney Bears 22 defeated South Sydney Rabbitohs 20 (Soane Naufahu, Zane Hill, Clayton McGoon, Diezel Guillonta tries; Keone Anitelea Tsioussis 2 goals)

The Rabbitohs Tarsha Gale Cup under 19s women’s team had a tough afternoon against the more-fancied Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, being defeated 44 points to nil.

Centre Teearna Williams was the Rabbitohs’ best in a difficult morning which saw South Sydney trail 22-nil at half time before going down by 44 points.

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 44 defeated South Sydney Rabbitohs 0

It was a tougher assignment for the Rabbitohs Lisa Fiaola Cup under 17s girls’ team at Hammondville Oval against the Bulldogs, going down 80 points to nil.

Hooker Markaylah Talanoa tried hard all game in what ended up being a 16-tries-to-nil defeat at the hands of the ladder-leading Canterbury-Bankstown side.

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 80 defeated South Sydney Rabbitohs 0