Not pretty but still 2 points - Souths down the Dragons in Cairns

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South Sydney Rabbitohs v St George Illawarra Dragons

Rugby League returned to Cairns for a clash that won't go down in any art gallery but the South Sydney Rabbitohs took a 26-14 win over the St George Illawarra Dragons.

The first few minutes were the most crisp part of the game as Souths were able to open the scoring inside the first 11 mnutes when the Red & Green opened up the Dragons defence on the right before heading back to the left and the struggling defence couldn't number up as Alex Johnston went through.

Souths added a penalty goal soon after when the Dragons short dropout attempt went out on the full to open up an 8-0 lead. The Dragons hit back soon after when off the back of a scrum they went right and with the strength of Moses Suli and Ravalawa teamed up for the latter to score.

The first half wasn't an ideal 40 minutes of football for either side but things seemed to tidy up in the second for the most part when off the back of their own scrum, Souths made it look like a training run when Cody Walker put Campbell Graham through an open gap in the defensive line.

Unable to complete their set after points, Souths found themselves defending their own line and it was a kick from Talatau Amone through the line for Ben Hunt to score under the posts and close the gap back to two points.

NRL football boss Graham Annesley's headache from the weekend continued to grow on South Sydney's next try as Latrell Mitchell pulled off some brilliance in the air to snatch the ball out of the air after a Lachlan Illias bomb before finding a great pass to Cody Walker who scored. It looked fantastic but replays showed that Latrell Mitchell was offside but somehow the bunker elected to confirm the try rather than overturning the decision.

The decision left everyone frustrated but the Dragons were able to hit back with 15 minutes left to play when it was Ben Hunt doing the kicking this time for Tyrell Sloan who got through to the ball just inside the dead-ball line to score.

Alex Johnston added a second try to his tally for the day inside the final 10 minutes as the Dragons started to unravel. The Rabbitohs had a try disallowed to Lachlan Illias which would've extended their margin beyond 12 but wasn't to be.

Next weekend, the Rabbitohs head to Newcastle for a clash with the Knights whilst the Dragons return to Wollongong for a Saturday night clash with the Storm.