Round 4
South Sydney Rabbitohs 10 l. Bulldogs 34

2007 NRL Telstra Premiership Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

Location: Aus_NZ > National > First Grade Competition: NRL Telstra Premiership

Dogs of War hand Rabbitohs footballing lesson
Sat April 7, 2007
Is it pop, bubble, burst for the Rabbitohs? That's the question that will be asked over the weekend as the Bulldogs produced a performance replica of the great Canterbury years disposing of South Sydney 34-10 in front of over 34,000 fans at Telstra Stadium.

The biggest match of the season to date was certainly a cracker in the opening exchanges as both sides came ready to play and the occasion of a big crowd got both sides lifting their intensity for the occasion.

Unfortunately for Souths, it was the big occasion that got the Bulldogs season back on track as their forwards aimed up and out muscled the Souths forwards and grinded their way to an impressive victory.

Chris Armit had an early opportunity to score, but lost the ball over the line due to desperate defence from the Rabbitohs.

Souths opened the scoring in the 13th minute when they opted to run the ball on the last tackle and a great inside ball saw the hole open up for David Peachey to score. Joe Williams converted for the Rabbitohs to lead 6-0.

Trent Cutler got the Bulldogs on the board five minutes later when he was on the spot to pounce on a well-timed grubber kick from Ben Roberts into the ingoal area, which of course was referred to the video referee. Hazem El Masri landed a great goal from the sidelines to level up the scores.

El Masri added another penalty goal in the 22nd minute before controversy struck. Peachey lost the ball in a hard Bulldogs tackle with Andrew Ryan swooping on the loose ball to score the try. The decision went to the video who handed it back to Shayne Hayne as a "Refs Call". Hayne than ruled that he called held and therefore a knock-on against Peachey. Why on earth did Hayne go to the video? Question marks all-round about that decision.

The Bulldogs weren't to be denied with Cutler scoring his second try seven minutes before the break, which again was referred to the video referee despite it being clear that Cutler scored a strong try and grounded the ball clearly. El Masri converted from the sideline for the Bulldogs to lead 14-6.

Souths pressured the Bulldogs line just before half-time, but the Bulldogs defence held firm and they led 14-6 at the break.

The second half was tight for the opening 17 minutes with Souths hanging on in the game and the Bulldogs grounding out their advantage. The break came in the 57th minute when Rabbitohs reject Kane Cleal hit a superb hole to score a fine try. El Masri landed the extras for the Bulldogs to lead 20-6.

Daryl Millard crossed outwide for his first try in Bulldogs colours in the 63rd minute and El Masri landed another bottler from the sideline for the Bulldogs to lead 26-6.

El Masri sealed the match for the Bulldogs in the 71st minute when he was recipient of a miracle flick pass from Millard and he improved his position with the Souths cover defence not coming across making El Masri's conversion attempt easier. The judiciary will want to have a look at the attempted kick/trip from John Sutton on El Masri when he was scoring the try.

The Bulldogs added a penalty goal moments later to extend the score out to 34-6 and Souths saved their best to last when Nathan Merritt scored a fantastic chip and chase try with seconds remaining. Williams was unable to convert with the Bulldogs winning 34-10.

Critics of Russell Crowe and Peter Holmes a Court will be out in force saying that the Rabbitohs bubble has burst and they won't be a contender this year. The Bulldogs after a shaky start to the season found their true form as they made Telstra Stadium their home despite it being a Souths home match.

Eventually Souths were going to lose a match and no doubt Jason Taylor will learn more from this game than he would have in the opening three rounds.

Willie Mason and Sonny Bill Williams both fired for the Bulldogs with Andrew Ryan and Reni Maitua also strong in the forwards. Corey Hughes was outstanding at hooker and Daniel Holdsworth controlled the game nicely proving he's the best five-eighth the Bulldogs have had since Craig Polla-Mounter in the late 1990's.

Cutler scored his second successive double, which will no doubt keep Matt Utai in Premier League for another week. Cutler who hails from the Milperra Colts JRLC has been unlucky with injuries in recent seasons and it's good to see him enjoy a good run of form. Cutler took out the Bulldogs Players Player award.

The individual performance that should impress the Bulldogs the most is that of centre Willie Tonga. He wouldn't feature in any of the awards, but his confidence in both attack and defence is back. A fully fit and firing Tonga gives the Bulldogs another dimension.

What is most impressive though for the Bulldogs is that they produced an 80 minute performance that was very Canterbury like and their bruising defence was very similar to the 1985 Grand Final, which was replayed on Fox Sports earlier in the day.

As for Souths, they can take plenty of heart from the match. They never gave up and they took plenty of punishment from a Bulldogs side with a point to prove on their stage. If Souths played like that in the past than they would have been down 50-0 midway through the second half. It's a different Rabbitohs outfit and winning three out of four is still an impressive start to the season.

The final comment on referee Hayne. He has come a long way since the Cronulla fiasco in 2003 when he lost all control, dignity and self respect. He is developing into a fine referee and when he focuses on the game itself when in charge he does an outstanding job. Unfortunately, the occasion of the build up got to Hayne in this match with the Ryan 'no try', the referral of Cutler's second try to the video and the 8-4 penalty count in Souths favour three cases in point.


Rabbitohs unchanged for Bulldogs blockbuster
Tue April 3, 2007
Source: www.souths.com.au

The South Sydney Rabbitohs are pleased to announce their side to take on the Bulldogs in round four of the NRL Telstra Premiership this Friday, 6 April at 7:30pm at Telstra Stadium.

The Rabbitohs have named an unchanged line up to that which has defeated the Sharks, Eels and Roosters in the opening three rounds of the competition. Luke Stuart will play his 100th NRL match for the Rabbitohs this Friday, the first player to do so since the Rabbitohs were re-instated to the competition in 2002.

Rabbitohs' Reece Simmonds (small fracture through the wrist - 1 week) will be getting reviewed by his specialist this week and the Club is awaiting the outcome of that meeting. Stuart Webb is now engaged in full training and will be assessed following a week of full training to see if he is ready to be made available for selection.

Rugby League fans can enjoy a fantastic ticket offer to celebrate Easter. For just $35 for adults and $25 for concessions you can purchase a ticket for any day of the Sydney Royal Easter Show and a category 2 reserved ticket for the Rabbitohs vs Bulldogs match this Friday night. Tickets are available through Ticketek.

The referee for this fixture is Shayne Hayne. The sideline officials are Steve Carrall and Matt Cecchin. The video referee is Bill Harrigan.

The Rabbitohs NRL side is:

1. David Peachey
2. Nathan Merritt
3. Nigel Vagana
4. Shannon Hegarty
5. Paul Mellor
6. Jeremy Smith
7. Joe Williams
8. Peter Cusack (c)
9. Daniel Irvine
10. Roy Asotasi
11. David Kidwell (c)
12. David Fa'alogo
13. John Sutton

Interchange:
14. Shane Rigon
15. Dean Widders
16. Luke Stuart
17. Scott Geddes

Coach - Jason Taylor

News sent by: www.souths.com.au

Tue April 3, 2007
• Williams returns for suspended O'Meley, Sherwin left out
  

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