The Dragons went down to the Rabbitohs 40-0 at Accor Stadium in muddy conditions on Thursday night.
The Dragons were in socks sourced from South Coast Group 7 powerhouse Shellharbour Sharks to celebrate Telstra Footy Country Round.
Sydney’s continued wild winter of weather made for difficult conditions in Homebush but, despite the challenges, both sides were willing to toss the ball around early.
Ben Murdoch-Masila was inserted into the action for the Red V 49 minutes in marking the veteran’s first taste of NRL action in 389 days.
Match: Rabbitohs v Dragons
Round 25 -
home Team
Rabbitohs
13th Position
away Team
Dragons
14th Position
Venue: Accor Stadium, Sydney
Off the back of a Dragons error, Jacob Host poured through to pounce on an Ashton Ward grubber to draw first blood for South Sydney a little under a quarter of the way in.
The hosts extended their lead not long after with Alex Johnston slipping into the backfield down the left flank and handing it off to a supporting Jye Gray on his inside to make it a 12-point difference.
Johnston went over for a try of his own off a flat Tallis Duncan ball two minutes out from the break to extend the home side’s lead out to 16-0 heading into the intermission.
The Dragons produced an enterprising piece of play early in the second forty with Jacob Liddle scurrying into the backfield off the back of a late Loko Pasifiki Tonga offload and finding a supporting Kyle Flanagan who was dragged down short of the stripe.
Flanagan was held onto as he attempted to play the ball by a South Sydney cover defender which resulted in a penalty but not a sin bin.
Off the back of it, Mathew Feagai went close to notching first points for the Red V off a Lyhkan King-Togia grubber but was ruled by video officials to have gone touch in-goal.
The Rabbitohs forced a Dragons drop off their next kick – which the visitors lost their Captain’s Challenge in an attempt to overturn – to get straight back on the front foot.
Duncan went over for the Rabbitohs off a left-side shift several plays later to push their advantage out to 22-0.
Hayden Buchanan produced a nice cover effort to deny Gray his second of the night off his own grubber an hour in.
NRL Match Highlights: Round 25 v Rabbitohs
South Sydney tallied another soon after with Thomas Fletcher slicing through down the right and hitting Peter Mamouzelos back up the middle to stretch their edge out to 28-0.
Fletcher notched a try of his own soon after off a timely Tallis Duncan delivery as the lead grew into an imposing one for South Sydney.
The Rabbitohs iced it in the closing stages with Tyrone Munro manufacturing an individual effort from inside his own half as the scoreline ballooned out to 40-0.
