Rabbitohs claim Charity Shield

Match Summary The South Sydney Rabbitohs have won the 2008 Charity Shield with a hard fought 24-20 victory over the St George Illawarra Dragons in front of 25,000 fans at ANZ Stadium tonight.

After a slow start from both teams the Rabbitohs opened the scoring with tries to Yileen Gordon and Germaine Paulson and opened up a 12-0 lead after 29 minutes. The Rabbitohs certainly looked to be the stronger team in the first forty but conceded a late try against the run of play and found themselves ahead just 12-6 at the break.

The Dragons looked like a different team in the second half, and captain Mark Gasnier made the most of some shaky South Sydney defence to claim the lead for his side with two well-taken tries. It took the re-injection of hooker Issac Luke to spark the Rabbitohs back into action, although a nice try to Feluti Talanoa was answered almost immediately by Jamie Soward as the lead continued to change hands.

The final say of the match went to Craig Wing, the