Clinical Cowboys carve up the Rabbitohs in Cairns

v BYE

In a performance that the Rabbitohs will be wanting to forget, they have gone scoreless against the North Queensland Cowboys in Cairns who were clinical in their performance although still not at their best.

The Rabbitohs took their home game up to Cairns' Barlow Park for their Round 17 clash against the grand final winning Cowboys. The Rabbitohs have not won since beating the Dragons in round 11 and were desperate to get their season back on track.

It was not a good start of the Bunnies though as the game kick-off ricocheted off the post and was cleaned up in goal causing the first of many drop-outs for the Rabbitohs in the first half.

Johnathan Thurston took two early points after a ruck infringement later in the set and continued to terrorise the Rabbitohs line throughout the half scoring more points through a nifty dummy half pump fake and dive in the 12th minutes. The conversion gave the Cowboys an 8-0 lead.

A constant stream of penalties against the Rabbitohs kept the ball down the other end and lead to another Cowboys try through Matthew Scott who dived over and dubiously grounded it. The bunker decided that it was not a double movement despite the on-field decision being ‘no try' from referee Gerard Sutton.

Jason Taumalolo was making metres at will for the remainder of the half but a number of handling errors from the Cowboys close to the Rabbitohs line meant the scoreline did not change for the rest of the half.

Coach McGuire would have hoped to fire up his side at the break, but it didn't seem to make much difference as some simple catch and pass play from the Cowboys' Thurston saw Javid Bowen dive over in the left hand corner just 3 minutes into the second half.

A couple of penalties helped the Rabbitohs piggyback down the field shortly after, but a miraculous tackle from Scott Bolton saw his hand remain under the ball as he tackled Greg Inglis over the line and saved a certain try.

The bunker was brought into play again two minutes later, but Joe Burgess was tackled over the sideline whilst diving for the left corner, the desperate defence from the Cowboys saving the day again.

Johnathan Thurston had a hand in everything, from chip kicks to cut-out balls, but it was his running today that was causing issues for the Rabbitohs defence. A cutting run down the centre of the field ended with a chip kick and a penalty for his run being impeded by the Rabbitohs' Cody Walker.

The two points from the goal made the score 20-0 and that is how it remained for the last 25 minutes of the game.

Ultimately, the Cowboys should have scored at least three or four more tries, but were let down by poor handling near the line, perhaps missing playmaker Michael Morgan. The Rabbitohs had their chances and made a number of breaks via a good game from Luke Keary, but the defence from the reigning premiers was top notch all game.

Injuries to Sam Burgess and Tasi Tasi's knees soured the game even more for the Bunnies and whilst Justin O'Neill came off early in the game, he returned to the field in the only injury concern for the Cowboys.

That's five losses in a row for the South Sydney Rabbitohs which they have not suffered since 2009. They will appreciate the bye next weekend. The Cowboys move into outright third on the ladder and will face the Raiders in Canberra on Monday week.