South Sydney Rabbitohs 41 vs St George Illawarra Dragons 6

Round 25 - Full Time :: August 29th, 2009 7:30pm

Hello folks, welcome along to League Unlimited's coverage of tonights clash between the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the St George Illawarra Dragons. The Dragons have hit the end-of-season wobbles in recent weeks but will still start warm favourites against the Bunnies tonight.

Talk about the Rabbitohs v Dragons Round 25 clash as it happens - forum discussion - click here!

Only one change across the two teams – Beau Falloon has dropped off the Rabbitohs bench, replaced by Jason Clark.

RABBITOHS: 1. Nathan Merritt 2. Jamie Simpson 3. Colin Best 4. Junior Vai Vai 5. Chris McQueen 6. John Sutton 7. Chris Sandow 8. Luke Stuart (c) 9. Issac Luke 10. Scott Geddes 11. Ben Lowe 12. Eddy Pettybourne 13. David Fa'alogo
Interchange: 15. Shannan McPherson 16. Dave Tyrrell 17. Jaiman Lowe 18. Jason Clark

DRAGONS: 1. Darius Boyd 2. Brett Morris 3. Beau Scott 4. Matt Cooper 5. Wendell Sailor 6. Jamie Soward 7. Ben Hornby (c) 8. Justin Poore 9. Dean Young 10. Michael Weyman 11. Matt Prior 12. Ben Creagh 13. Neville Costigan
Interchange: 14. Dan Hunt 15. Jeremy Smith 16. Nathan Fien 17. Jarrod Saffy

KICKOFF - We're underway! The Rabbitohs will have first use of the ball.

2 min: The Dragons decide to run the ball on the last tackle from halfway - the play ends with Brett Morris trying a chip over the line that's easily claimed by Issac Luke.

5 min: TRY South Sydney Rabbitohs
Nathan Merritt makes a break up the middle to get the Rabbitohs upfield, and on the next play John Sutton strolls through some unusually soft Dragons defence to score the opening try. Chris Sandow converts.
South Sydney Rabbitohs 6-0

9 min: The Dragons concede two consecurive penalties to let the Rabbitohs back into their own half, but Ben Lowe lets them off the hook by dropping the ball on tackle one.

11 min: VIDEO REF - has Brett Morris scored in the corner?

11 min: NO TRY – Jamie Soward took a nice inside pass before flicking the ball out to Brett Morris but Nathan Merritt managed to hit Morris with enough force to push the tip of his left boot into touch before he was able to force the ball.

13 min: Jamie Soward hoists a huge last tackle bomb that swirls around in the air - Nathan Merritt does very well to take a diving catch at full stretch inside his own in-goal.

16 min: VIDEO REF – now Matt Cooper is claiming a try in exactly the same spot as Brett Morris tried to earlier ...

16 min: NO TRY – Brett Morris set him up nicely but Cooper dropped the ball over the line.

18 min: TRY South Sydney Rabbitohs
Colin Best takes a nice short pass from John Sutton and crosses without a hand being laid on him. That looked far too easy for the home side. Chris Sandow adds the extras.
South Sydney Rabbitohs 12-0

20 min: Chris McQueen fumbles the restart and knocks it dead.

23 min: Chris Sandow tries a chip-and-chase on the last tackle - he gets to the ball first and knocks it back for Issac Luke, who tries another kick ahead into the in-goal ... but it's far too strong.

24 min: TRY St George Illawarra Dragons
Nathan Fien darts out of dummy half before putting Beau Scott into a nice gap, and Scott finds Jamie Soward backing up on the inside to take the pass and score the first try for the Dragons. Soward converts.
South Sydney Rabbitohs 12-6

26 min: Jamie Soward attempts a 40/20 but it sails out on the full.

29 min: TRY South Sydney Rabbitohs
A fumble from Brett Morris on his own 30-metre line sets up the chance, and Ben Lowe takes full advantage by strolling through a giant hole after taking a nice pass from Chris Sandow - and Lowe will now avoid the post-season nudie run. Sandow adds the extra two.
South Sydney Rabbitohs 18-6

35 min: Junior Vai Vai picks up another Dragons fumble and makes a break up the touchline, putting the Rabbitohs back onto attack.

40 min: FIELD GOAL South Sydney Rabbitohs
David Fa'alogo casually knocks the ball out of Nathan Fien's hands to regain possession inside the final minute, giving the Rabbitohs another attacking chance. The set ends with a Chris Sandow field goal just as the halftime siren sounds.
South Sydney Rabbitohs 19-6

HALFTIME: South Sydney Rabbitohs 19 St George Illawarra 6
The Rabbitohs are making it look easy at the moment, although their opposition are certainly giving up plenty of opportunities with their completion rate sitting under 50%.

The second half is underway!

44 min: Jamie Soward is tackled inside his own in-goal after a deft grubber kick from John Sutton.

48 min: Great defensive work from the Dragons has held the Rabbitohs out for three consecutive sets.

49 min: BIFF - well not quite, but Jaiman Lowe and Jeremy Smith are standing nose-to-nose. The penalty goes in favour of the Dragons.

54 min: John Sutton tries a last tackle cross-field bomb but it's too strong and sails into touch. The Rabbitohs are continuing to dominate the key stats so far in the second forty.

57 min: TRY South Sydney Rabbitohs
Another surprisingly soft try here, this time for Jamie Simpson who beat Jamie Soward and Beau Scott on a short run to the tryline. Chris Sandow misses the conversion attempt.
South Sydney Rabbitohs 23-6

59 min: TRY South Sydney Rabbitohs
Issac Luke pokes his nose through the line before getting a nice pass away to Nathan Merritt, and Merritt easily beats Darius Boyd on a 40-metre run to the line. Chris Sandow converts.
South Sydney Rabbitohs 29-6

60 min: Ben Hornby kicks the restart over the dead ball line on the full.

65 min: TRY South Sydney Rabbitohs
John Sutton takes a pass following a quick play-the-ball and steps his way through Jarrod Saffy and Ben Creagh to score another try for the Rabbitohs. Chris Sandow converts.
South Sydney Rabbitohs 35-6

71 min: TRY South Sydney Rabbitohs
They're over again - this time Eddy Pettybourne gets his name on the scoresheet after taking a simple dummy-half pass and backing his way over the line. Chris Sandow adds another two points.
South Sydney Rabbitohs 41-6

75 min: Chris McQueen nearly performs a miracle to get out of his own in-goal but the Dragons chasers eventually force him down.

75 min: Justin Poore fumbles the goal-line drop out into touch.

80 min: Chris Sandow nails a 40/20 with 50 seconds left on the clock.

FULLTIME: South Sydney Rabbitohs 41 St George Illawarra 6
That was one of the more one-sided clashes of the season. The Dragons have now lost three in a row and are in real danger of letting the Minor Premiership slip.

LeagueUnlimited.com Player of the Match
3 Points: John Sutton
2 Points: Ben Lowe
1 Point: Nathan Merritt