First half blitz sees Souths register their seventh win of the season defeating the struggling Brisbane Broncos.
MATCH DETAILS
A 24-0 first half to the Rabbitohs has propelled them past the lowly Broncos, leaving them languishing outside the top eight.
Cody Walker continued his stellar form, scoring the Bunnies’ first two tries inside the opening 20 minutes.
A lucky kick from Alex Johnston’s left boot after James Roberts’ successful one-on-one strip led to Walker’s first try while he collected his second four-pointer chasing his own grubber to pass Darius Boyd en route to the try line.
With the referees largely putting their whistles away, the Broncos’ big forward pack were struggling to get back after Adam Reynolds kept pinning them deep in their own half.
Anthony Milford ran in on the last on Souths’ blindside, though his pass was intercepted by Reynolds who ran 70 metres to make it 18-0.
A penalty conceded by Brisbane with two minutes to go in the half allowed Souths great field position and Walker once again took advantage to put Kyle Turner over to complete a near perfect first half of football.
A half-time spray saw a much-improved Broncos outfit as try-scoring machine Corey Oates scored his eighth of the season.
The Broncos enjoyed a good 10-15 minutes after Oates’ try and should have had another one, however silly mistakes allowed Souths to get back on top.
Damien Cook was at his devastating best all night and it showed as he held the ball long enough to trick the Brisbane’s left side defence to put his captain Sam Burgess over.
The last goanna of the night went to John Sutton powering his way over Matt Lodge to score Souths’ sixth try of the evening.
Recently retired Greg Inglis would have been proud of his ex-teammates, putting on their best performance of the season to date.
FOUR POINTERS
Oates loves playing the Bunnies
The 6ft 6 winger scored his twelfth try in his last eight matches against the men from Redfern. He should have had a double, but dropped a Jack Bird offload over the line.
Cody in career best form
Walker’s first half was spectacular. Two tries and a try assist made for fascinating viewing. If only he made his debut before 26, as we missed out on some great years watching him play. With NSW coach Brad Fittler in attendance you’d think Walker must be awfully close to putting on a Blues jersey in two months.
Broncos’ forwards overpowered by the Burgess brothers
Matt Lodge, Payne Haas and Tevita Pangai Junior were no match for the Burgess trio in what was a much talked about match up between two of the biggest packs in the competition. Tom Burgess (207 metres), Sam Burgess (52 post contact metres) and Cameron Murray showed up their Broncos counterparts in a dominating display.
Souths bench providing the goods
George Burgess, Mark Nicholls, Liam Knight and Ethan Lowe have been outstanding all year off the bench and nothing changed on Thursday night. Knight was superb with his post contact metres his highest of the year. Lowe, recruited from the Cowboys, is a solid football player; you know what you’re going to get from Ethan every week and that is exactly what Wayne Bennett would want.
THE RESULT
SOUTHS 38
Tries: Cody Walker 2, Adam Reynolds, Kyle Turner, Sam Burgess, John Sutton
Goals: Adam Reynolds 7/7
BRONCOS 6
Tries: Corey Oates
Goals: Jamayne Isaako 1/1
SQUADS
SOUTHS
- Alex Johnston 2. Corey Allan 3. Kyle Turner 4. Dane Gagai 5. Campbell Graham 6. Cody Walker 7. Adam Reynolds 14. Tevita Tatola 9. Damien Cook 10. Thomas Burgess 11. John Sutton 12. Sam Burgess 13. Cameron Murray Interchange: 8. George Burgess 15. Mark Nicholls 16. Ethan Lowe 17. Liam Knight
BRONCOS
- Darius Boyd 2. Corey Oates 3. James Roberts 4. Jack Bird 5. Jamayne Isaako 6. Anthony Milford 7. Tom Dearden 8. Matthew Lodge 9. Andrew McCullough 10. Payne Haas 11. Alex Glenn 12. Matt Gillett 13. Tevita Pangai. Interchange: 15. David Fifita 16. Thomas Flegler 17. Joe Ofahengaue 18. Patty Carrigan
