If South Sydney had put up this a lot battle earlier within the season, Jason Demetriou would possibly nonetheless be their coach.
The Rabbitohs responded strongly 48 hours after Demetriou was given his marching orders by pushing premiers Penrith for almost all of the match on Thursday evening at Accor Stadium earlier than falling away as accidents took their toll.
Interim coach Ben Hornby acquired off to a dream begin together with his aspect operating in two tries to shoot out to a 12-0 lead earlier than the Panthers gained the higher hand to steer by six at half-time and occurring to file a 44-12 triumph.
Panthers centre Izack Tago is prone to cop a ban for an early hip drop deal with on Jye Grey which earned him 10 minutes within the bin however left the younger Rabbitoh with a syndesmosis harm which he bravely carried on with till succumbing at half-time.
Souths halfback Dean Hawkins aggravated a thigh muscle pressure from a kick-off and was additionally compelled off with Hornby utilizing Jack Wighton within the halves, captain Cameron Murray at centre and Damien Cook dinner at fullback in his patched-up line-up.
There was nothing malicious in Tago’s deal with however his physique weight undoubtedly got here down on Grey’s ankle.
Bunnies battered and bruised however courageous
After Tago was banished for 10, the Bunnies drew first blood when Cook dinner and Cody Walker shifted the Steeden midway throughout the sphere in two passes to take advantage of the best centre’s absence for Izaac Thompson to the touch down within the nook.
Thompson appeared to lose the ball as he was hit by Sunia Turuva whereas diving over however on the day that Phil Gould was fined $20,000 “our recreation is silly” for the choice to disallow the same attempt to Api Koroisau final weekend, the Bunker surprisingly confirmed this four-pointer immediately.
9’s commentators didn’t launch any tirades in regards to the ruling though none of them have the battle of curiosity of additionally being the overall supervisor of an NRL membership.
Souths speared their assault to the identical edge a couple of minutes later and after a Thompson bust, Walker hoofed the ball infield for Hawkins to dash previous a lazy Jarome Luai to have Hornby pumping his fists within the coaches field.
Penrith’s fortunes turned when Jai Arrow was sin-binned for a strip after referee Adam Gee had warned the Bunnies about repeated infringements though Murray was in all probability fortunate he stayed on the sphere as he gave the impression to be the offender.
Turuva crossed quickly after following a doubtful overhead cross from Brad Schneider and the halfback then jinked his personal approach over to even the ledger.
Penrith went 18-12 up on the break when Luke Garner sliced by way of a stretched defensive position and the Bunnies stayed within the arm wrestle up till the 58th minute when prop Lindsay Smith backed as much as rating off a spilt bomb.
The wounded Bunnies have been tiring and so they have been caught out from a fast 20-metre restart when Dylan Edwards despatched Taylan Could into vacant pastures to seal the sport with an 18-point buffer heading into the ultimate quarter-hour.
Souths ahead Jacob Host turned the third participant given an undesirable 10-minute stint on the sidelines after late contact on Schneider following a kick and Garner registered a double after Turuva unleashed a no-look flick as he was bundled into contact.
Rubbing additional harm into the insult of the scoreline, Arrow aggravated his shoulder harm simply two weeks after making a comeback in a bid to play on with out going beneath the surgeon’s scalpel.
Tago touched down within the closing levels to run up the ultimate scoreline however Souths didn’t need to be on the receiving finish of such a large margin from the trouble they put into this match regardless of the continued adversity following a considerably disrupted build-up.
Izack Tago. (Picture by Cameron Spencer/Getty Photographs)
Panthers not flying however unconcerned
When you find yourself coming off three straight premierships, a comparatively sluggish begin to the season isn’t an issue.
Penrith are chugging alongside in third sport with a 6-2 file but you couldn’t actually say they’ve hit high gear at any stage in 2024.
Nathan Cleary was rested for Thursday’s stoush with Souths to make sure his hamstring didn’t flare up once more after making his comeback final Saturday up north towards the Cowboys.
Schneider once more confirmed he’s too good to be only a back-up halfback on Thursday whereas Isaah Yeo was all class within the twin function of playmaker and ahead workhorse in Cleary’s absence.
With the Origin a part of the season simply across the nook, the premiers ought to have Cleary, Yeo, Liam Martin, Brian To’o and Edwards present process a heavy workload if the fullback lastly will get his call-up from new Blues coach Michael Maguire.
He was his trademark incisive self towards Souths, topping 200 operating metres as he usually does in his sleep whereas organising a few line breaks for teammates.
Luai doesn’t deserve a recall at five-eighth based mostly on present type – he appears very jittery in the mean time. He’s at all times been an informal participant however he seems extra unsettled than a top-line playmaker needs to be.
Regardless of accidents and the distractions brought on by Luai, James Fisher-Harris and Turuva heading for the exit, the Panthers are in cruise management as they work their approach by way of the exhausting slog of the common season to be on track for a fourth straight title.
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