The South Sydney Rabbitohs have overcome wild conditions and a hostile crowd to defeat the New Zealand Warriors 28-6 in Auckland.
Result
South Sydney Rabbitohs 28
Tries: Alex Johnston (23, 49), Cameron Murray (37), Tyrone Munro (67), Blake Taaffe (78)
Goals: Blake Taaffe (33, 39, 68, 79)
New Zealand Warriors 6
Tries: Marcelo Montoya (16)
Goals: Shaun Johnson (18)
Report
Wet and wild weather was on hand to greet the Warriors and Rabbitohs at Go Media Stadium in Auckland. Both sides had late withdrawals before kick-off – Isaiah Tass and Campbell Graham for the Rabbitohs, and Josh Curran for the Warriors.
In the early exchanges, both sides traded sets while remaining cautious with ball movement in the wet conditions. The Warriors gained the ascendancy off the back of several penalties. With the field position advantage, they eventually broke through the Rabbitohs’ defense. Wade Egan created an opportunity down the short side for Marcelo Montoya to grab a try. Despite conceding the first points, the Rabbitohs bounced back quickly.
Off the back of a penalty of their own, the Rabbitohs got their first crack at the Warriors goal-line defense and converted it into points. Cody Walker created an overlap and Alex Johnston finished off the backline shift to score. After the Rabbitohs won back momentum, Addin Fonua-Blake was sin-binned for high contact, and the Rabbitohs took the two points.
With the man advantage and fatigue setting in, Damien Cook set up Cameron Murray for a try, giving the Rabbitohs a 12-6 lead at halftime.
The second half was more of the same from the Rabbitohs, applying pressure from the get-go. Eventually, they broke through when Cody Walker chipped for Alex Johnston to grab his second try. Falling behind by 10, the Warriors looked to have scored against the run of play, when Dallin Watene-Zelezniak charged down a kick and ran away to score. However, the bunker found a knock-on in the play and overturned the try.
Making matters worse for the Warriors, they conceded a try going the other way. Lachlan Ilias kicked for 18-year-old Tyrone Munro to score on debut, putting the Rabbitohs up by 16 points. That lead would prove too much to overcome for the Warriors. The Rabbitohs executed their wet weather game plan to perfection in the last 10 minutes, with Blake Taaffe adding one more try to finish off the win 28-6.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR POINTS
Embed from Getty Images3 – Cameron Murray (South Sydney Rabbitohs)
2 – Cody Walker (South Sydney Rabbitohs)
1 – Damien Cook (South Sydney Rabbitohs)
