Penrith punish rusty Roosters
14 hours ago | Aidan Edgecomb
The Newcastle Knights were celebrating their annual ‘Old Boys Day' at Hunter Stadium today, but the Rabbitohs spoiled the party with a simple carve-up of the bottom placed Knights winning 34-12 and earning them their fourth win in a row.
The first try was a Greg Inglis special, but it came off a poor Knights mistake. Reynolds kicked through to the in-goal and Cory Denniss fumbled the kick. The ball bobbled near the touch line and GI dived at the ball, planting it millimetres inside the dead goal line before performing a slick somersault. It was highlight reel stuff.
The Knights were not without their chances in the first half, but their execution was lacking when it really mattered. A misjudged kick, a dropped ball, an intercept pass. The final plays were really let the home team down and the Rabbitohs made them pay.
In the 29th minute, a dropped ball from the Knights, as they were attacking, was picked up by Alex Johnston who sprinted 60 metres down the field to give the Rabbitohs great field position. Johnston would end up with the try, untouched on the right hand side to give the Bunnies a 10-0 lead.
South Sydney fans were left cringing when Inglis went up for a high ball in the 32nd minute only to twist his ankle on the way down. He remained on the field, but the pain was obvious.
Five minutes later, it was a special play from the halves that put the Rabbitohs even further ahead. Adam Reynolds reacted to a call from his half partner and chipped a ball in-field. It landed on Cody Walker's rest and he just had to run 30 metres to score.
It didn't take long for the Rabbitohs to inflict further pain on the Knights as the flimsy defence let Aaron Gray waltz over the line after just 2 minutes of the second half.
Jarrod Mullen was trying hard for his team, but just couldn't make things happen. It was debutant Dylan Phythian, having just run onto the field, who scored in the 54th minute with a dive over from dummy half to put the Knights on the board.
The Rabbitohs didn't let them celebrate too long however, as Sam Burgess, taking advantage of another Knights mistake, barged his way over the line and planted the ball down over his head.
Newcastle would continue to lift their energy and try to give Jeremy Smith a less embarrassing last homer game, but Adam Reynolds again piloted a pinpoint kick to Alex Johnston who was waiting, unmarked, on the right wing for his second try.
The next ten minutes would see some sloppy play from both teams, as well as some niggle on the right wing between Dane Gagai and Cody Walker, but ultimately the Rabbitohs were never threatened on the scoreboard.
Arguably, the best try of the day came from Jake Mamo. It started with a slick offload, followed by Mamo weaving his way down the field before chipping for himself and scoring next to the posts. The conversion from the retiring Jeremy Smith was but a small consolation to the 15,212 strong crowd as the Rabbitohs ran out 34-12 winners.
Ultimately, it's too little too late for the Rabbitohs, despite their fourth win in a row and for the Knights, they're looking at their worst season in the NRL era. The Knights will finish their season against the Dragons next Saturday, whilst the Rabbitohs will look to upset the Bulldogs on Friday night.
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