Souths coronate themselves as Magic Round Kings

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Melbourne Storm v South Sydney Rabbitohs

The South Sydney Rabbitohs have coronated themselves as kings of Magic Round with an impressive 28-12 victory over an error-ridden Melbourne Storm side in front of over 50,000 fans.

Both sides started evenly and it was off the back of a penalty and some Latrell Mitchell magic that the Rabbitohs opened the scoring when Latrell Mitchell out of dummy half initially looked to pass the ball before going to the boot into open space in the middle of the field for Cody Walker who read the play before it happened.

Repeat infringements put the pressure on South Sydney and Melbourne took advantage when a high kick saw Xavier Coates fly high and tap the ball back before Souths knocked it on and subsequently grounded it before a potential try.

Poor discipline hurt Melbourne again as they again came under pressure and it was Jacob Host who went over after Cody Walker looked to initially go long but the short pass did the damage and after Latrell Mitchell's conversion, Souths lead 12-0.

A bit of luck went the Storm's way for their only try of the half when a high kick from Cameron Munster was put down by Cody Walker and it was scooped up by Reimis Smith much to the anger of Cody Walker who thought he was taken out, when he clearly wasn't. Despite the dominance of possession, the Storm could only trail 12-6 at the break.

The second half was all Souths and especially down the left-hand side where they began to have a field day. The Bunnies opened the second half scoring twice through Alex Johnston in game 200 with the first coming off a pin point kick from Latrell Mitchell and then the second set up by a brilliant pass from Cody Walker to Isaiah Tass before AJ went over in the corner.

A missed penalty goal from Latrell Mitchell just shy of the hour mark didn't hurt the Bunnies as they went on to score ten minutes later and it was again down the left this time when Cody Walker put boot to ball and caught out a rushed-up Will Warbrick for Isaiah Tass to score.

The Storm then added a second try in a somewhat bittersweet moment for the Garlick family where Bronson Garlick scored his first ever NRL try against the side his father played 96 games for in his NRL career.

Souths blew a late chance for an Alex Johnston three-piece effort when he put down a Cody Walker offload with the line wide open inside the final 30 seconds.

Next weekend, things stay tough for the Storm as they return back to Melbourne for a clash with the Broncos on Thursday night whilst Souths could be in for a big day as they take on the Tigers at Accor Stadium.