A Rabbitoh’s thrashing sees the Bunnies move into the Top 8 and proves costly for the Bulldogs.
Result
South Sydney Rabbitohs 50
Tries: (9) Cameron Murray 17th; Latrell Mitchell 31st, 34th, 66th; Jacob Host 38th; Cody Walker 63rd; Campbell Graham 68th, 76th, 78th
Goals: (7) Latrell Mitchell 18th, 28th, 33rd, 35th, 39th, 65th, 67th
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 16
Tries: Jake Averillo 3rd; Matt Burton 54th, 72nd
Goals: Matt Burton 4th, 56th
Report
With storms brewing across Sydney on the first day of the long weekend, a tension hung in the air leading up to the battle between the Bulldogs and the Rabbitohs at Accor Stadium. With the Rabbitohs coming off a hard-fought loss against the Storm, coach Jason Demetriou was looking for a response from his side and he most certainly got one. Oppositely, the Bulldogs came into this one off a short five-day turnaround after defeating the Cowboys in Golden Point, a perceived disadvantage that Phil Gould was vocal about in the media during the lead up to the match.
The Bulldogs got off to a strong start, with Jake Averillo grabbing the first points of the game only three minutes into play. This happiness would be short-lived, however, with flying winger and gamechanger Josh Addo-Carr being taken from the field within 10 minutes with a suspected syndesmosis injury. Things went from bad to worse for the Dogs with Souths hitting back through Cameron Murray in the 17th minute and then piling on three more four-pointers in the space of seven minutes only a short while later, with two courtesy of Latrell Mitchell and a contribution from Jacob Host. With the Dogs held to a single try in the first half, the scores stood at a twenty point difference going into the sheds for the break.
It looked as though there may have been a comeback on the cards, with the Dogs jagging an early try in the second half through Matt Burton, before all hope was squashed by another sequence of point scoring by the Rabbitohs with Cody Walker adding his name to the scoresheet, Mitchell getting his hattrick and Campbell Graham grabbing his first of three for the evening within a five minute span. A late double for Burton was purely a consolation prize before the Rabbits sealed the deal through Graham sliding over twice more in the dying moments of the game, leaving the scores at a whooping 50-16. Of course, as the saying goes, this officially rules the Bulldogs out of contention for the premiership.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR POINTS
Embed from Getty Images3 – Latrell Mitchell (Rabbitohs)
2 – Campbell Graham (Rabbitohs)
1 – Matt Burton (Bulldogs)
