Rabbitohs thump Warriors in Perth
Sat 06 Jun, 2015, 7:20pm
By Ben Somerford, NRL.com
South Sydney have continued their good recent form, moving into the NRL top four with a 36-4 win over the New Zealand Warriors at a packed nib Stadium on Saturday.
The victory and performance was a show of the reigning premiers' strength as they made it three consecutive wins in an ominous sign for the competition.
Dylan Walker grabbed a double for the Bunnies, who continue to enjoy their visits to Perth, in front of a venue record crowd of 20,272 fans.
On the flipside, the Warriors made costly mistakes and never got going on the long journey west, ending a run of three consecutive wins, leaving them in seventh.
The Rabbitohs ran in six tries to one, with Walker (two) as well as Bryson Goodwin, Chris Grevsmuhl, Tim Grant and Alex Johnston all getting in on the act.
Goodwin crossed for the first try inside the opening 10 minutes, after capitalising when he was allowed to play on, with a Shaun Johnson tackle deemed incomplete.
Jacob Lillyman fumbled a golden chance to respond for the Warriors, before Isaac Luke scored a penalty to make it 8-0.
The Warriors would find their response, breaking down the left with a neat move which Manu Vatuvei finished off to make it 8-4 after 26 minutes.
Simon Mannering went off under the concussion rule and the Rabbitohs made the most of his absence, scoring two tries in five minutes before the interval.
The Rabbitohs scored their second try following a Walker break, with Grevsmuhl producing a neat dummy before crossing.
Minutes later, Grant barged a handful of Warriors out of the way to force his way over the line to give Souths a 22-4 lead at halftime.
Walker combined with Tom Burgess to add another try 10 minutes into the second half, before he danced around the Warriors to set up Johnston in the right corner.
The Rabbitohs centre continued the party tricks with another try in the right corner to give the raucous crowd something else to cheer about.
Rabbitohs coach Michael Maguire refused to label the performance his side's best of the year, but was clearly delighted with their form.
"I'm pleased with the way we played," Maguire said.
"Our completion rates were high and that creates opportunity.
"The way we defended was a step-up from where we've been but we need to make sure we're improving on that as a team once again."
"We're growing as a team and there's a lot of footy to be played."
Warriors coach Andrew McFadden was brutally honest about where the result leaves his team at the halfway stage of the season.
"It was obviously pretty ordinary to be fair. I thought the opposition were pretty good and we were pretty poor," he said.
"It was an opportunity for us tonight to come up against a very good side and make our mark on our season and we fell short tonight. I guess it's a bit of a reality check."
South Sydney Rabbitohs 36 (Dylan Walker 2, Bryson Goodwin, Chris Grevsmuhl, Tim Grant, Alex Johnston tries; Issac Luke 6 goals) defeated Warriors 4 (Manu Vatuvei try). Crowd: 20,272.
http://www.nrl.com/rabbitohs-thump-warriors-in-perth/tabid/10874/newsid/86819/default.aspx
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