Wests Tigers have gone down 28-8 in disappointing fashion to the South Sydney Rabbitohs on Friday night in wet and tough conditions at ANZ Stadium.
After a scrappy opening to the match that saw both teams struggle to adjust to the dewy conditions at ANZ Stadium, it was South Sydney who posted first points after 11 minutes when Cody Walker broke the line before finding Alex Johnston out wide.
Adam Reynolds’ was unable to convert from the sideline, leaving the score at 4-0.
A coming together from Joel Edwards and Robbie Farah saw the game turned on it’s head moments later, with Ava Seumanufagai to the sin-bin for an attempted punch.
With just 12 men on the field, Wests Tigers opted to try and take some time off the clock when given the opportunity with a penalty goal in front after 19 minutes, with Mitchell Moses making no mistake. However, the visitors would eventually make their numerical advantage count shortly after when Sam Burgess crashed over next to the posts, giving Reynolds a simpler conversion to extend the Rabbitohs’ lead to 10-2 after 26 minutes.
Wests Tigers continued to leave attacking opportunities at the wayside with poor handling and execution close to the line, and South Sydney made the home side pay just before the break as Reynolds put Angus Crichton through a gap to make it 16-2.
Needing to score first in the second half, Wests Tigers would catch a break off a Farah error, with Elijah Taylor scooping up the crumbs to crash over right between the posts.
Moses made no mistake with the conversion to cut the visitors’ lead to 16-8.
However, as quickly as Wests Tigers wrestled back momentum, it was back the way of the Rabbitohs as Johnston and Burgess both grabbed their second tries of the night in quick succession, with Reynolds converting both to make it 28-6 after 53 minutes.
Johnston looked to have completed his hat-trick inside the final 20 minutes when he raced through on a John Sutton kick, but was denied by the Bunker upon review.
It would matter little for the Rabbitohs who continued to control the match throughout the second half, keeping Wests Tigers to just eight points en route to a 20-point victory.
South Sydney Rabbitohs 28 (Johnston 2, Burgess 2, Crichton tries; Reynolds 4/5 goals) def. Wests Tigers 8 (Taylor tries; Moses 2/2 goals) at ANZ Stadium.
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