Serious question marks as Rabbitohs rolled by Raiders 24-12 with finals looming
THE Rabbitohs were expected to roast the Raiders with their sights set on September but Ricky Stuart’s men had other ideas.
NRL
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SOUTH Sydney’s chances of claiming the club’s first minor premiership in 29 years have copped a major hit courtesy of the giant-killing Canberra Raiders.
The Rabbitohs were expected to roast the Raiders with their sights set on September but Ricky Stuart’s men had other ideas.
A double from winger Michael Oldfield and barnstorming displays from Sia Soliola and Nick Cotric helped the Green Machine claim an impressive come-from-behind win.
It has been a forgettable season for Canberra but they have finished the year with consecutive victories over title contenders Souths and the Roosters.
In a concern for the Rabbitohs with the finals looming, the red and greens have lost three straight games with one regular-season round remaining.
Souths will be particularly upset with their defence.
The Rabbitohs led by eight points at halftime but failed to score a point in the second half while they conceded three tries.
Serious question marks now hang over the Bunnies’ ability to win this year’s premiership.
Souths host the Wests Tigers in the final round and must win and hope other results go their way to finish in first at the completion of 25 rounds.
Rabbitohs coach Anthony Seibold was shattered with the loss but he remains optimistic about his team’s chances for the rest of the season.
“We’ve got great confidence in what we’ve done so far this year,” Seibold said.
“We’ve been really consistent for a long time, but the players are learning some lessons.
“I thought our effort areas were much improved against the Raiders, but it is not acceptable to have eight errors and expect to be in a game at NRL level.
“We didn’t build any pressure or fatigue and I think the Raiders had 59 play-the-balls inside our 20-metre zone and we can’t give them that field possession.”
Despite the defeat, Souths skipper Greg Inglis starred in his return from a broken thumb.
Inglis hasn’t played for seven weeks but he didn’t miss a beat as he roasted the Raiders with a try and 190 running metres.
The champion Queenslander has now scored an NRL record 19 tries in as many appearances against Canberra.
Inglis is happy to be back after an extended layoff but he is more concerned about Souths’ substandard form in recent weeks.
“If you are going in at half-time leading 12-4, then we have to execute and go out there and put pressure on the other side,” Inglis fired.
“But it was quite the reverse against the Raiders.
“We have to go back and be really blunt and honest in our review, knock it on the head and concentrate on the Wests Tigers.
“But after seven weeks on the sideline it was good to get back on the field.”
In the end Inglis’ individual brilliance didn’t matter as Canberra continued their strong late-season form with another boilover.
The Raiders finish the year with an away clash against the Warriors on Friday night.
Canberra coach Ricky Stuart says his side’s end to the season is a testament to the culture within the club.
“We’ve got a real brotherhood here,” Stuart said.
“Sometimes you fall off track, but we get back real quickly.
“I’m very excited about the quality of football and the way we’ve won over the last two weeks.
“As a coach I know we have got that in us and we’ve got to get more of it for our fans and for us.
“But we’ve got to get more resilience and composure, which we have shown is in us over the past two games.”
CANBERRA 24 (M Oldfield 2 N Cotric I Soliola tries S Williams 4 goals) bt SOUTH SYDNEY 12 (G Inglis C Walker tries A Reynolds 2 goals) at GIO Stadium. Referee: Gavin Reynolds, Adam Gee. Crowd: 15,990
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