NRL 2016: South Sydney Rabbitohs crush Parramatta Eels hearts with last-minute victory

IT took a special try in the dying minutes to get South Sydney over the line and crush Parramatta hearts at Pirtek Stadium.

BRAD Arthur, hold your head high. So to all you Parramatta players.

You lost the game 22-20 to Souths in heartbreaking circumstances.

But even then, the Eels’ under-siege coach and his players again handled themselves with absolute class and dignity.

Semi Radradra is shattered after Parramatta’s defeat to South Sydney. Picture: Mark Evans

By now, you would expect nothing less.

They could have been crying foul over suggestions that the last desperate pass from Bryson Goodwin to Luke Keary for Souths’ matchwinning try in the dying minutes travelled forward.

But while that debate was going off on social media, Arthur was having none of it.

“I’d have to have another look at it but, um, you know, Greg Inglis came up with something special,” Arthur said.

“Big players come up with the big play when they are needed.”

And in reality, both teams had their hard luck stories to tell from bad calls by the match officials and the bunker but in the end the Rabbitohs won it fair and square.

And for his part Arthur accepted it.

With no attacks on the match officials, but instead by handing back some credit to the performance of his own players.

“It would have been better to have a better finish at the end there but I thought the effort and commitment was first class,” Arthur said.

“But I thought Souths were really good tonight.

“They tried hard, they were really committed in their defence and at the end of the game Greg Inglis came up with something special.”

Eels fans at a packed Parramatta Stadium on Friday night.

And Inglis certainly did that.

Early in the second half the Eels looked home when Semi Radradra crossed for his third try to blow their lead out to 20-6.

But from nowhere Souths came charging.

Inglis was simply wonderful in his switch to five-eighth, and coming off the bench Keary’s injection into the match proved a masterstroke.

As for Sam Burgess, well, he was back to being Sam Burgess.

Hitting like a thunderbolt, running like a tornado.

Two weeks ago you might remember Burgess was up-ended by little Luke Brooks in the disastrous loss to the Wests Tigers.

But on Friday night he was well and truly the Sam of old, and his influence and that of Inglis proved inspirational to everyone around them. Keary and Paul Carter were tremendous.

Sam Burgess was in superb form for the Rabbitohs.

And after four straight defeats and talks of crisis, this will most likely go down as the springboard if the Rabbitohs are to go on from here and make an impact in this year’s race to the finals.

You could see the pride in Michael Maguire after the blast he gave his team following the Tigers clash.

“There was a lot against us there,” Maguire said.

“I guess everyone wants the fairytale and what Parramatta have been through, I feel for them.

“That creates the swell of momentum against you.

“That is why I am proud of the players who were able to continually stick to the things we have been practising.”

But for Parra, the reality is that steep slope to October only gets steeper from here.

The simple facts are Parra now need to win at least 12 of their remaining 14 games just to make the top eight.

Impossible?

Arthur said right now that equation was not even in their thoughts.

“That is gone now,” Arthur said.

“Obviously the boys know. They don’t need to be reminded.

“We’ve just got to go one week at a time.”

Parramatta's Semi Radradra races away to score a try. Picture: Brett Costello

Asked if the emotion of the week had taken its toll, Arthur added: “Not really, no. Because the effort was great and we kept fighting until the end.

“We won all the stats.

“Our completions were good, possession.

“We had a bit of ball attacking the try-line there, we were just down a bit on the execution of our plays.”

Which is easy to understand given the enormity of the week.

After having 12 competition points stripped for salary cap cheating, then losing their inspirational hooker Nathan Peats, Friday night proved yet again that bad things almost always come in threes.

Kyle Turner is met by the Eels defence.

They will tell you that rugby league was the winner but try telling that to heartbroken Parramatta fans.

“We have to move on,” Arthur said.

“We need to be thorough in our review.

“But at least now we have a bit of clarity about what is happening.

“We need to put everything that has happened behind us.

“But it can’t be an excuse either.”

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Beau Scott of the Eels is tackled.