South Sydney continued to super glue their season back
together in round 21 with some help from reinstated second-rower David Kidwell.
The 31-year-old – who had been languishing in the NSW
State cup with the North Sydney Bears -
repaid his inclusion in the contest with a try in the 50th-minute
that kept the Rabbitohs slim finals hopes alive.
Kidwell repaid the faith of his coach by chasing down a
Chris Sandow kick into the in-goal to snatch his first touchdown since round 3
last season.
New Zealand were left lamenting a few ‘what if’s’ after
they bombed three tries and with it the chance to secure a place in the top
eight at the end of the round.
End-to-end attacking raids personified the clash.
A stand-out moment in the game came in the 65th
minute when Warriors halfback Grant Rovelli successfully appealed a potential
second try to Rabbits fullback Nathan Merritt.
Rovelli claimed that Craig Wing ran the dummy and got a
hand to a Chris Sandow pass to David Fa’alogo in the lead-up play.
Even Souths coach Jason Taylor conceded that referee Steve Lyons
“probably got it right.”
The Rabbitohs first win of the season came against the
Warriors in round 13 and sparked the birth of 5- week winning streak.
Did the home team’s performance on Saturday night
convince you they could resurrect that form again?
Email globalrugbyleague.com via the contact forms below.
In other NRL action, Cronulla fought their way back from a
12-nil deficit to record an inspirational 13-12 victory over arch-rivals St
George-Illawarrra care of a last minute field goal from exiting halfback Brett
Kimmorley.
I still need to be pinched to believe that Cronulla is
actually releasing the premiership winning number 7 to Canterbury next season
after the form he’s shown in 2008.
North Queensland didn’t get the flogging many predicted
they would and actually lead the Roosters 20-10 at half-time before eventually
succumbing 32-20 in front of 14,601 loyal fans at Dairy Farmers
Stadium.
A penalty going against Cowboys enforcer Luke O’Donnell
for walking off the mark helped the Rooster return to the lead care of a
Mitchell Pearce hat-trick.
For the remainder of the game the football scri pt went
back to normal and that was the end of the sensational possibility of an upset.
SOUTH SYDNEY 18 (D
Kidwell B Lowe N Merritt tries I Luke 2 C Sandow goals) bt NZ WARRIORS 16
(L Hohaia 2 J Ropati tries L Hohaia 2 goals) at ANZ Stadium. Referee: S
Lyons. Crowd: 9,276. Penalties:
Souths 5-5 Completions: Souths 27/40
Warriors 26/38
