Wayne Bennett has equalled his worst-ever losing streak as South Sydney slipped to last rung on the NRL ladder with a 14-12 defeat against Cronulla in Gosford on Saturday night.
It was Souths’ eighth consecutive loss, which matches the slumps that Bennett endured at Brisbane in 2003 and 2005-06.
Nicho Hynes in action against the Rabbitohs.Credit: Getty Images
Unless the injury-riddled Rabbitohs can stage a remarkable form reversal and beat the Broncos on Friday night, the game’s most successful coach will find himself in uncharted territory, pondering his ninth loss on the spin.
With five games remaining, Souths are now in a dogfight to avoid the wooden spoon.
After Gold Coast’s upset win in Auckland earlier on Saturday, the Titans climbed out of the cellar to leapfrog Souths.
The Rabbitohs, however, have banked six wins to Gold Coast’s five, and Souths would be ahead of the Titans except for points awarded for byes.
Bennett said afterwards it was “a very gutsy performance by us” but was not interested in discussing his team’s position on the points table.
“I knew someone would ask that question. I’m not answering it,” said Bennett.
For the Sharks, it was a third consecutive win - lifting them from ninth to seventh - and coach Craig Fitzgibbon paid tribute to Souths for the fight and energy they produced.
“Our execution was miles off, but at least we did the very thing that we needed to do, which was keep them out of the game by field position,” Fitzgibbon said.
“That was the pleasing part. Not much else ... I’d like to execute better, I’m not going to shy away from that fact. Our attack was poor tonight.”
A try in the last minute of the first half lifted the Rabbitohs to a 6-2 lead at the interval.
Cronulla opened the scoring in the eighth minute with a Nicho Hynes penalty goal, which Souths matched 11 minutes later through the boot of Isaiah Tass.
The Sharks had plenty of field position and scoring opportunities, in particular when back-rower Billy Burns was denied because of a forward pass, and then Hynes was held up over the line.
The Rabbitohs defended their line desperately on multiple occasions and were rewarded at the other end of the field seconds before half-time, when fullback Jye Gray skipped across field and linked with winger Tyrone Munro, who flashed over in the corner.
Munro had been having an unhappy night until that point, dropping three bombs in quick succession.
Another Munro fumble three minutes into the second half gifted Cronulla the ball in prime attacking position, and seconds later winger Ronaldo Mulitalo dived over.
Jack Wighton is sent to the sin bin.Credit: Getty Images
Souths suffered a further blow almost immediately afterwards when skipper Jack Wighton was put on report and sin-binned for a tackle that left Cronulla forward Toby Rudolf dazed.
Cronulla earned themselves an eight-point buffer in the 61st minute when hooker Blayke Brailey plunged over, after Souths coughed up another high ball. The try was approved by the video referee, despite the slight hint of a bobble as Brailey grounded the ball.
Souths prop Tevita Tatola crashed over for a try in the 79th minute but appeared to have dislocated his shoulder in the process, adding to the Rabbitohs’ horror casualty toll.
Tatola’s try at least gave Souths two last-ditch plays to try and salvage a miracle win, only for Wighton to produce an ineffective chip kick.