Skip to Content. Skip to Navigation.
League

News

Rabbitohs roll on

Rabbitohs roll on

08/14/2011 06:20:38 AM

The South Sydney Rabbitohs maintained their late push for an NRL finals berth with a 47-18 victory over the Canberra Raiders on Sunday.

Four successive tries in the first 24 minutes had the Rabbitohs in command right from the off at Canberra Stadium.

The hosts attempted a fightback midway through the second half, but any hint of an unlikely comeback ended with a Chris Sandow drop goal and Nathan Merritt's third try of the match.

Chris McQueen rounded off another comprehensive win with a try just before the siren.

The win sees the Rabbitohs close to within two points of the eight-placed Newcastle Knights.

The Raiders remain 14th, just one point better off than the Parramatta Eels and two clear of the last-placed Gold Coast Titans.

After weathering a spell of early Canberra pressure, the Rabbitohs opened the scoring in spectacular fashion with nine minutes gone.

Halfback Sandow was the architect, taking possession underneath his own posts and sprinting the length of the field to set up Dylan Farrow.

Five minutes later and South Sydney had a second.

John Sutton's pass looked to be knocked on, but Greg Inglis benefited from a touch off a loose Canberra hand to score his first.

Prop Ben Ross was the next man to get in on the act, breaking through the Raiders' defensive line with ease to notch the third.

And when Inglis intercepted Josh McCrone's high pass to sprint clear and claim his second with 16 minutes of the half remaining, it looked like a thrashing was on the cards.

Blake Ferguson did pull one back for Canberra against the run of play.

And the winger was denied a second try just a minute before the break when he trailed a leg into touch while going over.

It could have closed the gap to 24-12 and given the Raiders hope going into the second half.

Instead it was the Rabbitohs who resumed their onslaught, with fullback Nathan Merritt using his raw pace to claim two tries in the space of five minutes, blowing the lead out to 36-6.

The Raiders finally mounted a sustained period of pressure, scoring twice without reply through fullback Josh Dugan and winger Reece Robinson.

But Sandow's drop goal on 70 minutes, followed 60 seconds later by Merritt's third try of the match, made it 43-18 and put the result beyond doubt.

Winger McQueen added further gloss with his side's eighth try of the match in the last minute.

The only blot on the Rabbitohs' copy book was Sandow's missed conversion of McQueen's effort, which failed to make it South Sydney's biggest ever win over Canberra.

 
Photograph Copyright : Getty Images

You Might Also Like

Most Read Articles

Cold tyres almost cost Webber dearly
Cold tyres almost cost Webber dearly
Motorsport
05/27/2012 10:46:36 PM
Monaco Grand Prix winner Mark Webber described the end of Sunday's race as 'very strange' ...
 
 
Yakubu set to leave Blackburn
Football
05/28/2012 09:00:45 AM
 
Knights sign Broncos discard
League
05/28/2012 08:27:12 AM
 
Freo's failure comes down to talent
AFL
05/27/2012 11:02:27 PM
 
Leilua charged and stood down
League
05/28/2012 04:01:25 AM
 
Sea Eagles to accept Matai's ban
League
05/28/2012 05:41:32 AM
 
Bombers look to set up season
AFL
05/28/2012 01:41:21 AM
 
Italian players in match-fixing claim
Football
05/28/2012 07:34:22 AM
 
 
 

Fantasy NRL: Most Popular Players

Our Say

NRL Round 12 talking points
Adam Lucius
Given his appalling judiciary record, Steve Matai can consider himself very lucky not to ...more
Jonathan Healy
Title slipping away from Broncos
Jonathan Healy
The Brisbane Broncos are currently in a form slump and they can't win the premiership ...more
 

Galleries

The Weekend That Was
28/05/2012 1:40:06 PM
Take a look back at all the weekend sport from around the world. We have it all covered from AFL to Baseball to Barefoot Running and even some Sailing. So take some time off and look back at what you might have missed.
NRL- The Year So Far
7/05/2012 11:30:06 AM
The NRL season is off to a flying start. Melbourne Storm are 9-0, the Cowboys are one of the highest scoring teams and the Eels are in need of a win or 3. So let’s look at the best photos of the first 9 rounds. Sit back , take some time off and enjoy.