League Unlimited

The South Sydney Rabbitohs have comprehensively outplayed the St George Illawarra Dragons to emerge with a 41-6 victory at ANZ Stadium.

The match began with an early try to Rabbitohs five-eighth John Sutton before the Dragons began to click into gear – both Matt Cooper and Brett Morris nearly came up with tries in the left corner but each one was correctly denied by the video referee. It wasn’t until Nathan Fien came into the match from the bench that the Dragons were finally able to complete a tryscoring move, although that was to be the first and only time they’d trouble the scoreboard.

The Rabbitohs were on top of this match from start to finish, playing like a team who had cemented a finals spot and not like a team who is looking forward to Mad Monday after next weekend. Despite missing several key personnel through injury they were able to dominate in all key areas, never allowing their opposition a sniff to get back into the match. John Sutton, Chris Sandow, Issac Luke and Nathan Merritt combined to form a lethal combination in the 1, 6, 7 & 9 jerseys and they were well backed up by a willing and committed performance from their forwards.

Match Details
South Sydney Rabbitohs 41 def St George Illawarra Dragons 6
Round 25 - Saturday August 29th, 2009 07:30pm
Venue: ANZ Stadium, Homebush Bay
Referee: Ashley Klein & Steve Lyons
Sideline Officials: Adam Reid & Daniel Eastwood
Video Referee: Russell Smith
Crowd:
Halftime: South Sydney Rabbitohs 19 St George Illawarra Dragons 6

South Sydney Rabbitohs 41
Tries: John Sutton (2), Colin Best, Ben Lowe, Jamie Simpson, Nathan Merritt, Eddy Pettybourne
Field Goals: Chris Sandow (1/1)
Goals: Chris Sandow (6/7)

St George Illawarra Dragons 6
Tries: Jamie Soward
Goals: Jamie Soward (1/1)

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

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.