Rabbitohs lose Latrell as rookie halfback stars against Dragons

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South Sydney Rabbitohs v St George Illawarra Dragons

The South Sydney Rabbitohs will be sweating on the fitness of fullback Latrell Mitchell after he went off injured in the 24-12 win over the St. George Illawarra Dragons on Saturday. 

Mitchell was taken from the field midway through the first half with a hamstring issue and failed to return, with Blake Taaffe filling in at the back.

While Mitchell's injury would have been a cause for concern, the Rabbitohs would have taken plenty of promise out of what was Damien Cook's best performance of the year.

The lively South Sydney hooker has struggled at times to inject himself into the attack with the Rabbitohs not enjoying the same dominance they usually did in the Adam Reynolds era.

But on Saturday night, with the rest of the Rabbitohs spine struggling at times to find fluency, it was Cook who provided a much-needed spark through the middle. 

And it was Cook who took advantage of some tired Dragons defenders to set up the opening try of the night, linking with his outside men as Mitchell scored South Sydney's first.

The Rabbitohs almost had another shortly after when Lachlan Ilias put a deft kick through for Campbell Graham but the centre could not ground it cleanly.

The Dragons struggled to threaten, that was until Zac Lomax broke through the line in the 24th minute and simply had to draw and pass to put Jack Bird over. 

But Lomax instead opted for a no-look pass as the try-scoring opportunity broke down, with the ball going to ground.

South Sydney lacked execution at times itself but went further ahead soon after as runs from Cook and Ilias provided the go-forward for Keaon Koloamatangi to force his way over.

Scoreless at halftime, the Dragons eventually got on the board as Moses Mbye dummied and pushed Koloamatangi away to strike. 

But an error from Lomax gifted the Rabbitohs a chance to hit right back and they did, in clinical fashion as the ball went through five sets of hands, ending with Graham slicing over.

Errors were a theme of the second half, with the Dragons going from completing 87 per cent of sets in the opening half to just under 50 per cent in the second. 

The Rabbitohs were no better themselves, going from 90 per cent in the first 40 minutes to a touch over 50 in the second half, although they were better at capitalizing on their chances.

After a host of errors from both sides, Ilias put Taane Milne over to cap off what was the best performance of the young halfback's career thus far.

Soon after a mix-up on the kick-off saw the Dragons get the ball back as Jaydn Su'A scored against his former teammates.

The Rabbitohs face the Bulldogs in the traditional Good Friday fixture next week while the Dragons square off with a desperate Knights outfit.