Rabbitohs Dominate Dragons in Thursday Night Thrashing

The South Sydney Rabbitohs have notched up their third consecutive victory, defeating the St George Illawara Dragons in emphatic fashion 40-0.

It was a great team effort all round from the Rabbitohs, who completed at 95% making just two errors in the entire 80 minutes.

Jye Gray was a standout performer once again, tallying up a whopping 357 metres run as well as a try to steer the Rabbitohs to victory.

Cody Walker was the key to South Sydney’s attack off the bench, unlocking the side when he came on in the 25th minute as he set up a try and directed traffic for much of the game.

Overall, the Rabbitohs didn’t look like losing, and put in a dominant performance over a Dragons side that failed to fire a shot all night.

The game began with an arm wrestle, as both sides completed well and jostled for superior field position.

The Dragons were first to blink, with a poor pass from Emre Guler going to ground and turning over possession to South Sydney in attacking territory.

The Rabbitohs capitalised the next set, with Ashton Ward threading the needle with a neat grubber into the in-goal. Jacob Host beat Clint Gutherson to the ball, planting it just inside the dead-ball line for the first try of the game in the 16th minute.

South Sydney Head Coach Wayne Bennett decided to bring Cody Walker into the game off the bench in the 25th minute. He had an almost immediate impact, contributing to South Sydney’s second try of the game to Jye Gray.

Walker got the ball to Gray early on the left, creating space for the illusive mover to draw in more St George Illawarra defenders. Gray got it to Johnston, who found the backfield with some nice footwork. Johnston then drew in Gutherson and got it back to Gray who finished the move off in the 26th minute.

The Rabbitohs bagged their third try of the game in the shadows of halftime. It was Walker pulling the strings from the inside again, setting up Alex Johnston for his 210th career try with some swift ball movement to the left edge.

This would be the final scoring play of the half, with South Sydney taking a commanding 16-0 lead into halftime.

South Sydney had to weather a storm from the Dragons early in the second half, with a big break from Jacob Liddle putting St George Illawarra into attacking territory.

The Dragons threw plenty at the Rabbitohs, but the Red and Green defence didn’t break, managing to repel their opposition on their own goal-line.

Off the back of their defence, South Sydney managed to force an error from Corey Allan up the other end of the field to set up for an attacking set of their own.

Once again Cody Walker was at his scheming best on the left, putting Tallis Duncan into a half gap to score his first try of the game in the 46th minute.

Peter Mamouzelos was next to cross for the Rabbitohs, continuing their ascendency with a wonderful play on the right edge from Ashton Ward and Thomas Fletcher.

Ward did very well to square up the Dragons’ defence, creating the space for Thomas Fletcher to hit a hole off Ward. Fletcher then dished off to Mamouzelos looming up on the inside in support, who brought the ball round under the posts to score South Sydney’s fifth try of the game.

Fletcher then went from setting up tries to scoring them, getting the first of his career with a magnificent solo effort in the 72nd minute, which included a successful dummy on Clint Gutherson on his way to the line.

Tyrone Munro capped off a great performance with the final try of the game in the 76th minute.

The Rabbitohs shifted the ball on their own 20, with Munro putting some fancy footwork on Lyhkan King-Tongia to bust into space. He then saved some footwork for Gutherson, who was left grasping at thin air as Munro sprinted past him to seal South Sydney's victory 40-0.

Match Snapshot

• Jacob Host scored the first try of the game for South Sydney in the 16th minute.
• South Sydney scored again through a long-range effort from Jye Gray ten minutes later.
• Alex Johnston was next to score, crossing in the corner in the 39th minute to give his side a 16-0 lead going into the break.
• The Rabbitohs picked up in the second half where they left off in the first, with Tallis Duncan scoring South Sydney’s fourth try of the game in the 46th minute.
• Peter Mamouzelos was next to score, finishing off a move from Ashton Ward and Thomas Fletcher for South Sydney’s fifth try in the 64th minute.
• Thomas Fletcher got the Rabbitohs past the 30-point mark with a try in the 72nd minute.
• Tyrone Munro got in on the try-scoring in the 76th minute with an 80 metre run from deep in his own territory.
• This would be the final scoring play of the game, taking the score line to 40-0 in favour of South Sydney at fulltime.

Play of the Game

Tonight’s Play of the Game goes to Thomas Fletcher, who bagged the first try of his young career in the 72nd minute of the match. The Rabbitohs originally went left with a big shift before running into a cul de sac, with the ball going back inside to Tallis Duncan who chose to take it cross field. Duncan then found Fletcher steaming through a gap in the defence on the right. With the try line in his sights, Fletcher threw an extravagant dummy, which was fallen for by St George Illawarra fullback Clint Gutherson. With nothing between him and the line, Fletcher strolled on over for the first try of his career.

What’s Next?

South Sydney will have a bye in round 26. They will take on their arch rivals the Sydney Roosters in round 27 in what will be their final match of 2025. They’ll be looking to finish the year on a high with a win over their old foes at Allianz Stadium on Friday September 5.