Brisbane Broncos beat the South Sydney Rabbitohs 26-12 in Round 16 clash

THERE were 121 reasons why the Rabbitohs were skinned at Suncorp Stadium last night.

THERE were 121 reasons why the Rabbitohs were skinned at Suncorp Stadium last night.

That's how many extra tackles exhausted Souths players were forced to make, and their coach Michael Maguire didn't really need to explain the 26-12 loss any further.

So it was left to his Broncos opposite Anthony Griffin to define the difference in a torrid battle that struggled to live up to its top-four billing."In the first half we were trying to find a try off every pass and every play instead of waiting for the points to present themselves," Griffin said.

"Sometimes you get them in the strangest ways. If you've earned the right to be down there, you get a bit of luck sometimes."

GALLERY: BRONCOS V RABBITOHS

Because their forwards simply ran harder and their halves kicked better, Brisbane deserved the two pieces of fortune that turned the game. Each led directly to tries that saw the Rabbitohs surrender unlikely leads.

Trailing 6-4 just after half-time, Brisbane received a crucial fifth-tackle penalty when Souths defenders were penalised for stripping Ben Hunt. Replays suggested the Broncos benchman was trying to off-load when dispossessed.

But the only thing that changed hands was the lead after Alex Glenn crossed from a perfect Peter Wallace cross-kick on the next set.

Although an 85-metre intercept try to Nathan Merritt gave Souths a run-against-the-play reprieve soon afterwards, the 407-tackle defensive toll was destroying them.

With the benefit of three additional penalties, Brisbane exclusively occupied enemy territory yet once again needed a leg-up from the officials to regain the advantage.

In the 60th minute Dale Copley crashed over from two questionable passes, the first of which was fired blatantly forward by Corey Norman.

The pivot then proved Griffin's theory five minutes later, crossing for the match-winner from a kick deflection close to Souths' line.

Maguire disputed both calls that went against his side, but in a resigned manner of a coach who knew his side would probably have been beaten regardless.

MATCH CENTRE: See how we covered the game.

"Those are important moments in big games like these," he said.

"They were interesting decisions, those ones.

"I was proud of our players, how they had to defend.

"We put ourselves under pressure with our errors and penalties."

The bloopers commenced from the very outset, with under-fire back-row star Dave Taylor fumbling on his first two touches.

But fellow Maroon Greg Inglis gave those calling for him to replace Billy Slater at fullback in Origin III a boost.Starved of attacking opportunities, Inglis put his overwhelming talents toward two pieces of brutal defence.

Opposite number Josh Hoffman was the unfortunate recipient of both hits in the first half, which ended with Souths stealing the advantage when back-rower Chris McQueen skipped past two defenders.

Queensland coach Mal Meninga was at the ground to watch both of his Rabbitohs charges and spoke with Maguire in the visiting dressingrooms afterwards.

Taylor declined to speak afterwards, but his effort to last 80 minutes and complete 39 tackles made a statement after the wobbly start."There were lots of players that were tired, Dave wasn't the only one," Maguire said.

"We've got to push players hard at times and Dave did a good job for us," he said.

The loss means Souths will certainly drop out of the top-four and could descend several rungs down a congested top-eight ahead of next weekend's clash against Penrith.

'Our boys fought really, really hard for each other tonight," Maguire said. "We've got to hopefully get a few calls going our way."

Fulltime score:

BRISBANE 26 (D Copley A Glenn J Hodges C Norman B Te'o tries C Parker 3 goals) bt SOUTH SYDNEY 12 (C McQueen N Merritt tries A Reynolds 2 goals) at Suncorp Stadium. Referee: Tony Archer, Chris James. Crowd: 33,602.

Follow @Telegraph_Sport on Twitter and like Telegraph Sport on Facebook