Rabbitohs Hop Back Into Form

The South Sydney Rabbitohs have hopped back into form with a dominant 26-6 victory over the St George Illawarra Dragons in front of 24368 fans at the Sydney Cricket Ground tonight.

John Sutton lead his team out at the spiritual home of rugby league becoming the most capped player in South Sydney history overtaking the long standing record previously held by club legend Bob McCarthy.

It was a tough and physical encounter in the opening exchanges with both sets of forwards ripping into each other. It wouldn't take too long for South Sydney's giant forward pack to get on top in the arm wrestle though, gaining good field position and earning their side a penalty to give Adam Reynolds first points of the night through a penalty goal in the 12th minute.

The Dragons would remain pretty gallant in defence, turning numerous attacking raids from Souths away before eventually cracking in the 29th minute when interchange forward Luke Burgess crashed over after charging onto a ball from Rabbitoh's hooker Koroisau. Reynolds converted from close range to give his side an 8-0 lead.

Souths would soon score again through Jason Clark in the 36th minute after Joel Reddy batted back a cross field bomb from Rabbitoh's skipper John Sutton, giving them an eventual 14-0 lead at halftime.

The start of the second half was much of the same as South Sydney's big forwards charged over the advantage line giving the halves Sutton and Reynolds plenty of time to lay on a smart kicking game.

The Dragons were again brave to hang in there defensively until Sam Burgess crashed over for the Rabbitohs in the 56th minute giving his team a commanding 20-0 lead.

In the 69th minute, Souths laid on the play of the night after Koroisau got a nice ball away out of dummy half for Sutton who laid on a neat inside ball for Greg Inglis to race 30m and score next to the uprights. In a faultless kicking display from Reynolds, he again converted to give his side a 26-0 lead.

The Dragons hit back with their only points of the night when forward Jack De Belin crashed over in the 73rd minute for a well deserved try after being one of their bravest all night.

Next week the Rabbitohs will head out to Sportingbet Stadium to take on the Penrith Panthers on Friday night while the Dragons will look to bounce back from consecutive losses when they face a tough road trip down to Melbourne where they will take on the Storm on Monday week.

Match Details
St. George Illawarra Dragons 6 South Sydney Rabbitohs 26
Venue: Sydney Cricket Ground
Crowd: 24368
Halftime Score: St. George Illawarra Dragons 0 South Sydney Rabbitohs 14

LeagueUnlimited.com Players of the Match:
3 points - Sam Burgess
2 points - John Sutton
1 point - Greg Inglis

ST. GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS (6)
Tries: Jack de Belin
Field Goals:
Conversions: Gareth Widdop (1/1)
Penalty Goals:

SOUTH SYDNEY RABBITOHS (26)
Tries: Luke Burgess, Jason Clark, Sam Burgess, Greg Inglis
Field Goals:
Conversions: Adam Reynolds (4/4)
Penalty Goals: Adam Reynolds (1/1)

LeagueUnlimited.com Live Commentary

LATE MAIL: Dragons - Michael Witt has been replaced by Adam Quinlan as the halfback. Joel Thompson and Jack de Belin start in the 13 with Leeson Ah Mau shifting to the bench and Tyson Frizell previously being ruled out with injury.

LATE MAIL: Rabbitohs - Chris McQueen shifts to the bench to give Kyle Turner his debut in the second row for Souths. Cameron McInnes takes the 4th bench spot with Joe Picker dropping out of the 17

Welcome to this Heritage Round match between the St George Illawarra Dragons and the South Sydney Rabbitohs to be played at one of the spiritual homes of Rugby League, the Sydney Cricket Ground. Souths captain John Sutton will break the all time games record for his club tonight. While for the in form Dragons, Josh Dugan makes his first appearance for season 2014.

1: Play is under way at the SCG and the Saints bring it back through De Belin

2: Big kick from Dugan goes dead. Souths 20m tap

3: Penalty Souths, Dragons inside the 10

5: UNFORCED ERROR SOUTH SYDNEY RABBITOHS
Greg Inglis makes an unforced error.
Souths go close to scoring a few time but the Dragons defence stands firm

5: penalty Dragons

6: UNFORCED ERROR ST. GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS
Josh Dugan makes an unforced error.
Dugan puts down a short ball from Widdop with open spaces ahead of him

7: Souths penalty-Dragons hands in the play the ball

7: UNFORCED ERROR SOUTH SYDNEY RABBITOHS
David Tyrrell makes an unforced error.
Tyrell coughs it up and the Dragons working it out from their end

8: Great kick by the Dragons but GI does well to get back in the field of play

10: De Belin bursts through off a suspect ball from dummy half

10: Souths clean up a wayward Dragons bomb

11: Penalty Souths- Trent Merrin stripping the ball out. souths will shoot for 2 here

12: SUCCESSFUL PENALTY GOAL SOUTH SYDNEY RABBITOHS
Penalty goal attempt by Adam Reynolds successful.
Reynolds posts 1st points kicking it from just to the left of the posts

13: Its been a physical start to this one with both sets of forwards ripping in!

15: Widdop sends it high but Inglis is safe as a bank at the back and nearly bursts through

15: Penalty Souths- De Belin not rolling away from the ruck. Souths with a chance 20 out

17: Dragons defend & Quinlan makes a good run of 20m

18: Souths defuse another bomb from the Dragons

19: A good set from Souths making big yards off the back of a couple of nice off loads but the Dragons hang on again

20: UNFORCED ERROR ST. GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS
Gareth Widdop makes an unforced error.
Dragons send it high again but Widdop spills it

21: VIDEO REFEREE for a possible Souths try...

24: NO TRY as Teo got a hand to a Reynolds grubber before Reddy dived over

22: Goodwin returns for Souths with a good run

23: A stabbing kick from Reynolds is cleaned up by Nightingale and the Dragons have to work it out from their end again

25: Dragons scrum 10 out from their own line

27: Souths get a scrum on halfway

28: Penalty against Mitch Rein

28: Souths on the attack

29: TRY SOUTH SYDNEY RABBITOHS
Scored by Luke Burgess. Kick to come.
First try of the night to big Luke Burgess who plants it down after charging onto a ball from Koroisau

30: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION SOUTH SYDNEY RABBITOHS
Conversion attempt by Adam Reynolds successful.
Reynolds pilots it over from in front

33: VIDEO REF for a possible Dragons try...

34: NO TRY. Dugan regathered a chip kick from Widdop but failed to force the ball down

34: Souths on the attach 25m from Dragons line

35: VIDEO REF again, Souths this time...

35: TRY SOUTH SYDNEY RABBITOHS
Scored by Jason Clark. Kick to come.
Try to the Bunnies as Joel Reddy bats back a Souths bomb for Clark to score next to the posts

36: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION SOUTH SYDNEY RABBITOHS
Conversion attempt by Adam Reynolds successful.
Reynolds slots it over again

37: Souths big forwards charging down field now but Dugan cleans up a bomb at the end of that set

38: Penalty Souths- Stanley grabbing the arm of Souths player

39: Souths with another chance & Merritt dives for the corner but goes into touch 1st. Great effort from Morris to save that one

40: Dragons finally use a bit of ball movement but a Widdop grub goes into touch

40: After a tough and rugged opening in the first half, South Sydney got on top in the arm wrestle and controlled the game with a smart kicking game by Reynolds and Sutton who capitalised on their big forwards getting over the advantage line. The Dragons will have to come up with something different in the second halves as their forwards don't seem to be able to match Souths' big pack.

40: Players coming back out for the second half

42: And where under way in the 2nd stanza, Souths bringing it back from their line

43: Jason Clark trys a chip & chase on the last but fumbles the regather. PENALTY Souths though against Morris for a shoulder charge. Harsh Penalty!

43: UNFORCED ERROR SOUTH SYDNEY RABBITOHS
Adam Reynolds makes an unforced error.
Forward pass from Reynolds after he opened up space and tried to pass over the top to Merritt

44: Joel Thompson makes a break down field but Farrell's grubber at the end of the set was too big with the ball going dead

46: Sutton kicks high but Merrin picks up the loose ball and charges upfield earning his team a penalty

47: Goal line drop out coming up after Souths ground the ball in goal

48: UNFORCED ERROR ST. GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS
Leeson Ah Mau makes an unforced error.
A chance goes begging for the Saints as Ah Mau puts it down

50: Souths will get a scrum feed just short of halfway after Dragons Merrin knocks the ball down

51: George Burgess nearly crashes over but drops the ball while trying to plant it down

52: Big charge from Ben Teo puts Souths back in a strong position

52: Sutton kicks high for the corner but Morris comes up with the grab

53: Dugan kicks down field but Souths wil start their set from 30 out

54: Penalty against the Dragons for a leg pull

54: Souths 20 out from the line now

55: TRY SOUTH SYDNEY RABBITOHS
Scored by Sam Burgess. Kick to come.
TRY to Sam Burgess this time after crashing over after rookie dummy half McInnes pass

56: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION SOUTH SYDNEY RABBITOHS
Conversion attempt by Adam Reynolds successful.
Reynolds kicks it from close range again

58: UNFORCED ERROR SOUTH SYDNEY RABBITOHS
John Sutton makes an unforced error.
Sutton drops it in the play the ball 30m from his own line. A chance for the Dragons to hit back

59: Line drop out for the Saints as a Quinlan kick comes off Bryson Goodwin to go dead

61: Another drop out after Merritt cleans up a Gerard Beale grubber

62: UNFORCED ERROR ST. GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS
Josh Dugan makes an unforced error.
Dugan puts it down

62: Not much doing with the Dragons attack tonight

63: Penalty Souths - De Belin lifts S. Burgess above the horizontal

64: Good hit Jack De Belin this time forcing the error from L. Burgess

66: A good set by the Dragons, forcing Souths to bring it back from deep in their own end

67: Penalty Dragons - S. Burgess for a flop

68: Widdop chips for the corner but Morris knocks the ball out after an acrobatic attempt to catch it

69: TRY SOUTH SYDNEY RABBITOHS
Scored by Greg Inglis. Kick to come.
TRY to Greg Inglis after backing up a John Sutton inside ball

71: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION SOUTH SYDNEY RABBITOHS
Conversion attempt by Adam Reynolds successful.
Reynolds hasn't had a tough kick all night, slots it through again

71: Inglis makes another break

71: UNFORCED ERROR SOUTH SYDNEY RABBITOHS
Luke Burgess makes an unforced error.
L. Burgess puts the ball down though

72: Penalty Dragons, have the ball 25 out

73: TRY ST. GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS
Scored by Jack de Belin. Kick to come.
De Belin crashes over after a smart inside ball from Rein puts him over

74: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION ST. GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS
Conversion attempt by Gareth Widdop successful.
Widdop converts from next to the posts

75: Penalty Dragons after Souths continue on in the tackle after the ref called held

75: chip & chase from Quinlan but he knocks it down whilst trying to regather

76: UNFORCED ERROR SOUTH SYDNEY RABBITOHS
Apisai Koroisau makes an unforced error.
Knock on from Koroisau after making good yards out of dummy half

77: Video ref steps in though & penalises Nightingale for a high shot

78: VIDEO REF possible Souths try...

78: NO TRY after Walker was offside from a Merritt kick

78: Repeat set for the Dragons after Walker kicks it dead

80: Widdop grubber roll touch in goal

80: FULL TIME at the SCG and Souths have come up with a much needed win with a pretty dominant performance.
Match Report to come soon. Thanks for joining us