Dogs survive late scare to down fast charging Souths

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South Sydney Rabbitohs v Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs

A first half blitz by the Bulldogs has been enough to hold off a late blitz by South Sydney to take a 24-18 victory.

The Bulldogs started off incredibly strong, being ahead of the clock after 16 minutes thanks to converted tries to Toby Sexton, Marcelo Montoya and Connor Tracey.

But as the rain started falling, their points paradoxically dried up, and a lightning delay brought any momentum they had to a grinding halt.

After an elongated delay, South Sydney struck shortly before halftime thanks to a mishandled kick ending in the hands of Alex Johnston, who went over for the 202nd try of his career, only 10 away from Ken Irvine. Jamie Humphreys missed the conversion, and the Dogs led 18-4 at the break.

The second half started with both sides struggling to find momentum, and it was the Bunnies that found a way through first when a left side shift ended in the hands of Tallis Duncan to bring the lead to 18-10.

But Canterbury hit straight back through Marcelo Montoya to push the lead back to 12. But then a few minutes later Jake Turpin was sent to the sin bin for a high tackle, and it seemed to be game on once more.

The Dogs held firm for most of the sin bin period, but conceded a try for Jack Wighton mere seconds from Turpin's return to cut the lead tighter to 22-14. The Dogs seemed to put in the dagger however when Tracey crossed minutes later, but the try was wiped off the board due to Sexton being offside.

A string of errors and penalties gave the Dogs a penalty goal to push the lead to 10. Souths scored immediately afterwards through Tyrone Munro however to cut it to a 24-18 lead, but the Dogs forced an error on the final set to secure a gritty victory.

Turpin may have a case to answer at the judiciary, as will Josh Curran who was placed on report for a high tackle of his own, while Souths star Keaon Koloamatangi failed to finish the game as he required a head injury assessment.