The Rabbitohs are through to the preliminary final for the fifth year in a row, setting up a rematch of last year's NRL Grand Final against the Panthers next weekend, after beating the Sharks 38-12 on Saturday night,
Just six days after a brutal clash with the Roosters in Finals Week 1, South Sydney were a step above their opponents at Allianz Stadium, showing both impressive grit in defence and patience with ball in hand.
Winger Taane Milne was a key contributor, scoring two tries and setting another up, while the accurate boot of Latrell Mitchell was important too, with the fullback converting all six of his side's tries and kicking a late penalty.
The loss came at a cost though, with record-breaking winger Alex Johnston failing to finish the game due to a suspected hip flexor issue and forwards Siliva Havili (calf) and Jai Arrow (groin) being ruled out as well.
After getting off to a flying start with a try inside the opening two minutes, South Sydney spent much of the opening 20 minutes defending their line, as Cronulla dominated possession but failed to find a way through.
And after weathering the storm as the game flowed from end to end, Jason Demetriou's side struck two telling blows inside the final 10 minutes of the first half.
Milne scored out wide after some crisp quick hands inside created space, before Cameron Murray powered through a would-be tackle from Dale Finucane to score under the posts, with Mitchell converting all three of his side's tries for an 18-0 lead.
Cronulla scored immediately in the second stanza, with winger Ronaldo Mulitalo batting the ball down for his Kiwis teammate Briton Nikora to score, but Lachlan Ilias quickly cancelled it out with one of his own at the other end.
The NRL Bunker ruled out a possible second for the Sharks after finding an infringement in the lead up to Jesse Ramien crossing, before both sides traded tries which left the the Rabbitohs in front 30-12 with 15 minutes to play.
Match snapshot
- South Sydney qualified through to a preliminary final for the fifth-straight year.
- Winger Alex Johnston (hip flexor) and forward Jai Arrow (groin) and Siliva Havili (calf) all failed to finish the match.
- The Rabbitohs scored on their opening visit to the attacking 20, making the most of a penalty to march down field and put Mark Nicholls over for his first try of the year.
- Cronulla had back-to-back sets in attacking territory directly after the opening try was scored, but couldn't convert it into points.
- Following a period where the game went end to end, the Sharks were the next to break 10 minutes from half-time, with the Rabbitohs moving the ball quickly to the right for Taane Milne to score.
- Latrell Mitchell converted from the sideline to make it 12-0.
- Thirty seconds from the break Cameron Murray pushed through Dale Finucane's attempted tackle for a third Rabbitohs try and an 18-0 half-time lead.
- Cronulla got on the board a minute into the second half when Ronaldo Mulitalo batted down a Nicho Hynes kick for Briton Nikora to score, but Lachlan Ilias scored soon after.
- The Sharks then looked to have scored through Jesse Ramien, off a beautiful flick pass from Nikora, but review from the NRL Bunker found an infringement in the lead up and it was ruled out.
- A long-range try from Mulitalo gave Cronulla hope once again, but after Cody Walker scored and Mitchell again converted, South Sydney sat on a 30-12 lead with 15 to play.
- A second four-pointer for Milne and a late Mitchell penalty finished the scoring at 38-12.
- All of South Sydney's starting forwards ran for over 100 metres in the win.
- This was just the second time the Rabbitohs and Sharks had clashed in the NRL finals, with the prior meeting coming in 2015 and seeing the Sharks win 28-12.
- Cody Walker has now been directly involved in 10 tries in his last six NRL games (4 tries, 6 try assists) and has been directly involved in seven tries in his last five games against the Sharks (4 tries, 3 try assists).
Play of the game
With less than a minute remaining in the first half as Cameron Murray scored, this try delivered a mental blow to the Sharks, as well as giving the Rabbitohs another six points following Latrell Mitchell's conversion. It was a great show of strength and desire from Murray, against a quality defender in Dale Finucane.
What's next
A rematch of last year's Grand Final awaits the Rabbitohs, taking on a Panthers side who have beaten them the last three times they have met.
Cronulla's season is now over, with a handful of their players set to feature in the end-of-year World Cup, including Kiwis reps Ronaldo Mulitalo and Briton Nikora.
