There were three distinct results for our Pathways sides over the Easter Weekend, highlighted by an almighty win by the Jersey Flegg Cup side.
NSW Cup Round 6: South Sydney Rabbitohs 22 def by Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 26
It was a heartbreaking finish for the NSW Cup Rabbitohs in their match against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs at Accor Stadium, with a try in the last-minute gifting their opponents a four-point victory.
The Red and Green were valiant against Canterbury throughout the contest, with Peter Mamouzelos sneaking his way over from dummy half for the first try of the afternoon.
Canterbury struck back in quick succession for the half-time lead, and while that blew out to 20-6 with half an hour remaining, the resilient Rabbitohs continued to challenge the first-placed Bulldogs.
A charging Tallis Duncan reached out to plant the ball next to the sticks and give the side back some momentum, before centre Josiah Karapani swooped on a grubber to bring the difference back to four.
Duncan was at the forefront of the Cardinal and Myrtle's next four-pointer, putting NRL debutant Ben Lovett with a well-timed pass at the line as the conversion gave the Rabbitohs a 22-20 lead.
However, two crucial errors in the final two minutes gifted their opponents an opportunity to score, and the weight of possession saw the Bulldogs steal the victory in cruel circumstances.
"It was a tough one to cop, and after 79 minutes and 59 seconds, I thought we were there," said Head Coach and Rabbitohs Head of Elite Pathways and Development, Joe O'Callaghan.
"There were some poor errors in the last two minutes that put the Bulldogs in the field position which was disappointing. The side showed plenty of resilience to get back the lead and after making a total of six throughout the whole day, it really put us under the pump.
"We’re only a quarter of the way through the season and we’ll find ourselves in situations like that again, so as long as we learn how to shut out games like that, we will be better for it.
"It’s frustrating if we keep doing the same thing, but they showed tremendous effort and spirit to come from 20 behind to take the lead in that last minute and I was really proud of their effort."
Harvey Norman Women's Premiership Round 10: South Sydney Rabbitohs 10 def by Mounties 40
It was a tough outing for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in Round 10 of the Harvey Norman Women's Premiership, downed 40-10 by Mounties as they headed west to Aubrey Keech Reserve on Saturday afternoon.
On one of the toughest road trips in the competition, the Red and Green found themselves with an early deficit, before a send-off saw the side down to 12 players for the final 40 minutes.
After trailing by 22, the Rabbitohs got on the board through Mardi Langford, and while their opponents took full advantage of the difference in numbers, halfback Nikki Perugini had the final say of the day with a try of her own.
"It was a hard away trip for our Women's side, and while Mounties are a traditionally strong team, that send-off really hurt," O'Callaghan explained.
"I feel for them because they don’t deserve the season they’ve had with the effort and resilience they've shown throughout, and it was the first time all year that a result got away from them.
"They were up against it with a vast portion of the game down to twelve players, but Mounties out-enthused us and played with a lot of speed from the jump, and didn’t go along with them."
Jersey Flegg Cup Round 6: South Sydney Rabbitohs 24 def Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 16
In the highlight of the weekend, the Jersey Flegg Cup Rabbitohs took down the second-placed Bulldogs at Belmore Sports Ground 24-16 on Friday morning.
Despite trailing 10-nil after seventeen minutes, the Red and Green pushed through with Carson Kaho scoring on either side of the break to level the scores after 40 minutes.
The hosts returned serve to regain the lead, but in a phenomenal effort from the Rabbitohs, fellow winger Haizyn Mellars touched down to give the Rabbitohs the lead, before a try to interchange player James Kokkinos sealed the result.
"It was a great way to start the weekend, and I've got to give [Head Coach] Chris O’Connell, his staff and the players a massive wrap," said O'Callaghan.
"They won three games last season, and already have the same amount of wins after Round 6. They haven't changed their roster a whole lot - a number of players are a year older, while there has been an injection of talented SG Ball players too.
"Defence has been a highlight; they were down 10-nil at Belmore which is a tough ask to come back from, but after that point, they only conceded one more try off a runaway try from an error.
"There are some talented attacking players in that Flegg side, and you can't defend like that if it doesn’t mean something to you.
"They showed resilience to get back into the game and it's exciting to see what they can produce this year."
Moving Forward
The three Pathways sides take the field this weekend, with two playing at the same venue and one travelling interstate:
- The NSW Cup (2:00pm) and Harvey Norman Women's Premiership (12:00pm) sides travel to North Sydney Oval on Sunday afternoon to face the North Sydney Bears, with the latter playing their final game of the season.
- The Jersey Flegg Cup side travels to Victoria to face the Melbourne Storm in Round 7 at Comely Banks Recreation Reserve in Officer in what will be a welcomed fixture for Melbourne-based fans
While all three matches will be welcomed challenges for the Rabbitohs, O'Callaghan spoke about the opportunity presented to not only just the teams on the day but to Members and supporters as well.
"This week's Cup have a tough assignment at North Sydney Oval against the Bears. They are in the top four, but the Bulldogs are leading the competition and we went along with them so we see it as a challenge.
"Flegg is gonna be a tough trip to Melbourne on the day of the game with a lot of factors to make it a hard game, but hopefully they make no excuses and continue their winning ways.
"I'm hoping to see our Women's side finish on a positive note. We are aware of how tough the assignment is and we’re under no illusion of how tough it is.
"With the NRL side away in QLD on Thursday night, it presents a great opportunity for our Sydney-based Members and supporters to make it to North Sydney Oval, and we're expecting plenty of Red and Green on Sunday afternoon."
