One-way traffic as Rabbitohs demolish Knights

v BYE

A nine-try riot headlined by a hat-trick from Aaron Gray has seen South Sydney run out 48-6 winners over Newcastle in front of 13,364 fans at ANZ Stadium.

After blowing the Roosters away last week, the Rabbitohs heaped further misery upon the rebuilding Knights with a masterclass in attacking football.

Getting out of the gates with two tries in the opening ten minutes, the Rabbitohs consistently punished Newcastle for their poor ball handling and discipline that ensured South Sydney were given countless opportunities to score.

The Knights looked to respond in the 15th minute from a scrum play finished off by Akuila Uate, but an obstruction ruling against rookie fullback Jaelen Feeney saw the visitors denied and unable to mount sustained pressure on the home side.

A first half hat-trick to Aaron Gray, as well as tries to Bryson Goodwin and Luke Keary saw South Sydney head into the halftime break with a 24-0 lead, with the Knights offering little resistance in defence.

Needing to start well in the second half to give themselves any chance of a comeback, the Knights continued to come up with handling errors and penalties allowing the Rabbitohs to punish them with regular frequency.

With Alex Johnston crossing for a double within the space of five minutes, the home side established a 36-0 lead, much to the delight of supporters and coach Michael Maguire.

Further tries to Bryson Goodwin, who finished with a 20-point haul from 2 tries and 6 goals, and former Melbourne centre Hymel Hunt saw the home side in sight of their third consecutive 50-point scoreline against Newcastle, but a consolation effort by Nathan Ross saw the Knights avoid further embarrassment to go down 48-6.

While the Rabbitohs showed plenty of attacking brilliance throughout the game, the Knights consistently placed themselves under pressure through poor play that saw them struggle to make any impact.

With almost half the side featuring in under ten first grade games, the lack of experience played a factor in the result, but their inability to pressure the Rabbitohs saw their experienced players unable to show their class.

For the second straight week, South Sydney produced an emphatic performance but faced little resistance from their opposition. In weeks to come the Rabbitohs will need to improve to compete with the NRL heavyweights, or face a similar fate as last year.

Next week South Sydney face off against the Dragons at the SCG on Sunday afternoon, while Newcastle will play their first home game of 2016 against the Raiders on Saturday.