Robert Jennings scores four tries as South Sydney belt Parramatta 42-24
SOUTH Sydney have flexed their premiership muscles again, looking every bit championship material in a 42-24 belting of Parramatta.
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THEY are the 24/7 Rabbitohs.
It’s been 24 years since South Sydney won seven consecutive matches, but they did it in style with a 42-24 demolition of a hapless Parramatta.
In front of a small crowd, the Rabbitohs came back from an eight-point first-half deficit to further press their premiership credentials.
It is a joy watching Souths with the football in their hands. They are crisp, controlled and captivating.
Based on percentages, Souths are the new NRL competition leaders. The Bunnies could legitimately lay claim to being competition favourites.
They have now beaten Parramatta, Newcastle, St George Illawarra, North Queensland, New Zealand, Cronulla and Gold Coast in consecutive matches.
Aided by a four-try effort by winger Robert Jennings, Souths scored eight tries against a Parramatta side which has won just three of 15 matches this season.
Souths have not won seven in a row since 1994 when they were coached by Ken Shine and Bob McCarthy and led on-field by Craig Field and Dean Schifilliti.
The Rabbitohs will shoot for eight in a row against the Cowboys on July 1 following next week’s bye round.
Victory in that game would edge South Sydney toward the famous George Piggins-coached 1989 team, which won 12 successive games.
“We got better as the game went on,” Souths coach Anthony Seibold said.
“There is plenty to work on but we are comfortable with how we attacked.
“With the footy, we went three from six to start the game and then completed 28 from our next 29 sets to finish the game and scored 40 points.
“It’s not a hard game when you do that because you build fatigue and you build pressure on the opposition.
“We did that and we scored some good tries. We’re not looking too far ahead.”
Told Souths were now competition leaders, skipper Greg Inglis said: “Look at the table, it’s fine, but performance-wise there are a lot of things we need to improve on.
“The start of the game wasn’t up to our standard and what our game is about. At halftime we had to reset and refocus. There are a lot of areas we need to fix up.
“But I am extremely proud of the boys and I want them to keep improving each and every week, as individuals and as a team.”
It was a family affair with brothers Sam, George and Tom Burgess on deck for the Rabbitohs, alongside Robert Jennings up against his Parramatta brothers Michael and George.
Robert was the hands-down winner, leaving Michael to lament a forgettable 250th NRL game.
“Some of the defensive reads and some of the errors we made tonight were of reserve grade standard,” Eels coach Brad Arthur said.
“There were a lot of good efforts and there were a lot of good performers but we made some big errors in decision-making.
“And a couple of errors on play one out of our red zone really cost us. There was a game there to be one if we wanted it.”
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Parramatta took only four minutes to post the first try with winger Josh Hoffman pouncing on a spilt bomb to score and pinch a cheeky 4-0 lead.
But you wouldn’t believe what happened next. Hoffman, the hero just a minute earlier, allowed the restart to bounce, and the ball spewed into touch.
And from the scrum win, Souths scored through a simple shift to their left side.
Robert Jennings strolled over untouched as brother Michael misread his defensive duty.
There wasn’t a tackle between the two tries. Reynolds converted to give Souths a 6-4 lead after just nine minutes.
The Jennings brothers were back in the spotlight just a few minutes later when Eels winger George scored out wide.
SOUTH SYDNEY 42 (R Jennings 4 A Johnston 2 T Burgess H Hunt tries A Reynolds 5 goals) bt PARRAMATTA 24 (J Hoffman 2 B French J Hayne G Jennings tries C Gutherson 2 goals) at ANZ Stadium. Referee: Gerard Sutton, Peter Gough. Crowd: 8,047