Souths 38 Penrith 4 @ Coffs Harbour

[Sugar]

Rabbitohs Romp Over Panthers in Coffs Harbour

14 Feb 2009

The South Sydney Rabbitohs have run out convincing winners in their Coffs Harbour trial match, defeating the Penrith Panthers 38 points to 4 at BCU International Stadium tonight (Saturday).

The Rabbitohs ran in nine tries to the Panthers’ one in a very impressive display.

The Rabbitohs dominated the first two quarters, scoring five tries to one in the opening 40 minutes.

The Rabbitohs opened their account in the sixth minute of play when Shannan McPherson slid over out wide. The ball was swung right, with McPherson splitting two defenders to score on the left. Chris Sandow converted to give the Rabbitohs a six-nil lead.

Six minutes later Rhys Wesser scored a try against his former Club, charging on to a short ball from Sandow on the right. The Rabbitohs were flying at 10-nil at the first break, with more to come to entertain the crowd who braved atrocious conditions to be at the game.

The Panthers scored first in the second quarter through centre Junior Tia-Kilifi, but the Rabbitohs struck back shortly after.

Shaune Corrigan scored for South Sydney in the 29th minute, collecting a Sandow crossfield-bomb on the right wing.

Four minutes later, hooker Issac Luke celebrated his new contract with a try, darting from dummy half and cutting back to his left to cross out wide.

In the final minute of the second quarter, John Sutton scored, moving to first receiver then going himself, carrying three defenders over the line to score. The Rabbitohs went to the major break with a handy 22-4 lead.

The Rabbitohs looked strong in the first half, executing their attacking plays and defending strongly up the middle. David Fa’alogo was heavily involved at lock, with captain Luke Stuart carting the ball forward in every set.

The second half started a lot tighter, with the Head Coach Jason Taylor changing half of his team at the break.

In the 52nd minute, Colin Best scored his first try in South Sydney colours when chased down a Sutton grubber on the left to score. The Rabbitohs were still playing with great discipline to lead 26-4 after 55 minutes.

In the final minute of the third quarter, Fetuli Talanoa crossed in the left hand corner after a series of short passes found him out wide. The Rabbitohs went into the final quarter with a 30-4 lead.

Talanoa racked up his second try in the 63rd minute after some sensational play from Sutton. Sutton stepped two defenders then grubber kicked, collecting the ball himself and offloading quickly to his left. The ball found Talanoa who scored out on the left hand side.

The Rabbitohs put the icing on the cake with an 80th minute try to Jamie Simpson. Luke Capewell drew the fullback to set up Simpson on his outside, taking the final score to 38-4.

The Rabbitohs looked strong in all facets of the game. They attacked fluently, defended stoutly, and showed excellent discipline and ball-handling skills in poor weather conditions.

John Sutton was the Rabbitohs’ best, with a lot of the team’s attack stemming from him one off the ruck.

Rabbitohs Head Coach Jason Taylor was pleased with the result of tonight’s game.

“I was really pleased with what we managed to do tonight, even they fielded a fairly under-strength side,” Taylor said.

“We persisted with working on the things that we’ve been practicing, and we played right through until the end which was a great sign. We kept our standards up right until the end which was very encouraging.”

The Rabbitohs move on to play the St George Illawarra Dragons in the 26th annual Charity Shield on Saturday 28 February at 8pm at ANZ Stadium.

South Sydney Rabbitohs 38 (Fetuli Talanoa 2, Shannan McPherson, Rhys Wesser, Shaune Corrigan, Issac Luke, John Sutton, Colin Best, Jamie Simpson tries; Chris Sandow goal)

defeated

Penrith Panthers 4 (Junior Tia-Kilifi try)

*********************************************

In the Toyota Cup trial match between the Rabbitohs and the Panthers at Windsor Sports Complex, the Rabbitohs won nine tries to one in a 60-minute match.

The Rabbitohs opened with three tries in the opening 15 minutes, including a wonderful individual effort by Mal Webster who chipped and chased to score. Webster finished scoring two tries, with the Rabbitohs developing some solid combinations.
http://www.rabbitohs.com.au/News/Ma...tohs-Romp-Over-Panthers-in-Coffs-Harbour.html

 

[Newcastlerabbit]

Rhys Wesser stars as South Sydney thump Penrith in Coffs Harbour trial
By Todd Balym
February 14, 2009

FORMER Penrith full-back Rhys Wesser returned to haunt his old team with a starring role in South Sydney's 38-4 NRL trial win over the Panthers in Coffs Harbour on Saturday night.

The 2003 premiership winner tormented his ex-teammates in a brilliant debut for the Rabbitohs, scoring a try in the 12th minute as South Sydney scored nine tries to one in wet conditions.

Winger Junior Pia Kilifi scored for the Panthers in the second quarter.

South Sydney dominated the contest throughout and scored consistently in each quarter of the game, with Fetuli Talanoa finishing with a double.

South Sydney's other star recruit of the off-season, outside back Colin Best, also scored a try on debut while Rugby League World Cup hero Issac Luke, Jamie Simpson, John Sutton, Shannon McPherson and Shaun Corrigan all crossed for four-pointers.

Souths were expected to overpower the Panthers as they fielded close to their strongest side, with Roy Asotasi and Craig Wing the only big names left out of the squad, but they still produced a strong performance, with five-eighth Sutton and half-back Chris Sandow controlling the tempo of the game throughout.

Penrith, on the other hand, split their squad into two, with the other half of their team going down to Parramatta 34-12 in Griffith.

Panthers coach Matt Elliott was satisfied with the performance, knowing he will put a much stronger outfit together for next week's NRL trial against Parramatta at CUA Stadium.

"They had close to their best outfit and we had 12 guys who had never player first-grade level before, and it looked that way," Elliott said.
"It was not a disappointing performance by any stretch, but it was good to learn lessons for an individual level.

"Their guys were rolling forward and we did not ... their halves were very and our guys never had an opportunity."

In Griffith, the Eels dominated from the outset, claiming a 20-0 lead at the end of the first two quarters.

With New Zealand stars Krisnan Inu and Nathan Cayless both playing, the Eels were expected to outgun the Panthers side filled with under-20 players and a handful of experienced stars off the bench.

Former Manly half-back Jeff Robson put in a solid first-up performance for the Rhys Wesser stars as South Sydney thump Penrith in Coffs Harbour trial

 

[Dave Q]

The poor old panthers were with the ducks under the grandstand last night.

Still, we know more than most, every side is entitled to a shockola every now and then.

If Elliot hasnt managed some progress in the trials and in the early part of the season, then hes cactus earlier than expected.

But to be honest, the panthers dont really know if they would have achieved more in the last few years under a different coach. Its all speculation at best as they havent been coached by anyone else.

I suppose their recruitment hasnt been as stellar as expected, maybe the progress of their juniors hasnt been as rapid as they would have liked. And they have some great juniors.

A new coach may be a good heart starter for them in 2009.

The Elliot project looks in tatters atm.

I am sure he tried hard and is not entitled to foot all of the blame.

But the decision-makers who put him there...they probably need to ask themselves a few questions.

 

[Nemesis]

I still dont understand why Penrith arranged 2 trials involving 51 players on the same night. Elliot can only be in one place at a time, so how was this in any way beneficial to them.
Their results from both games couldn't possibly have helped him sort out his FG team for the coming weeks.

 

[rabbs]

Doesn't say much for their management team

 

[SouthsSupportUnlimited]

yeah, doesnt seem like the smartest idea. The way the tigs did it was probably the more optimum way to run it

 

[mohses]

no where have i seen "buddy gorden " mentioned in the line up for penrith not the team that played us or the team that played parra
or toyota cup

 

[murraymob]

buddy gordon is not at penrith.We have several guys trying out for first grade
who are ex first graders but i am sure he is not one of them

 

[Dave Q]

no where have i seen "buddy gorden " mentioned in the line up for penrith not the team that played us or the team that played parra
or toyota cup

Because he is a bulldog isnt he?

They finally got their wish.

 

[Dave Q]

buddy gordon is not at penrith.We have several guys trying out for first grade
who are ex first graders but i am sure he is not one of them

Not looking so good mob, thats a shame.

 

[murraymob]

dont worry about trial results .We are looking good
Tim Grant
Sam Mckendry
Shane croft stand out v parra

Sammit
Graham combination went well behind a beatin pack

We put our first grade on against parra next week thats when the real footy starts

 

[Matrix]

A promising result for souths,but the charity shield will give a clearer indication of where we are at.

 

[Big Mick]

no where have i seen "buddy gorden " mentioned in the line up for penrith not the team that played us or the team that played parra
or toyota cup

He's a bulldog..that could be why.

As I said before....we had a team that was extremely inexperienced, but as Elliot said, on an individual basis, lessons were learned.

But as for Penrith's 2 trials...that was stupid to say the least...at least we have 2 more trials to go...both of which we will field better teams.

 

[Dave Q]

He's a bulldog..that could be why.

As I said before....we had a team that was extremely inexperienced, but as Elliot said, on an individual basis, lessons were learned.

But as for Penrith's 2 trials...that was stupid to say the least...at least we have 2 more trials to go...both of which we will field better teams.

From a mate of mine who attended:

Panthers:-

The lesson was that

a) The coach should show up.
b) There is more to passing than throwing the ball at the guy beside you-80 minutes of banging your head trying to get through our forwards.
c) Guys out of position all night.
d) Ill-prepared and out gunned in every facet of the game.
e) A brick in cement shows more creativity

It was a very dissapointing display from players who should be a lot better.

Embarassing even.

If this keeps up, my feline friends and neighbours, I dont care if your gear stewards played last night, youse are in for a long, long season.

Terrible.

 

[Paul Hewson]

I went up to Coffs for the weekend and the end result was never going to be something that I looked at. The fact that we scored 9 tries to 1 shows me that we did what was expected.

The best aspect of the game for me was the ball handling. You would be happy with that in the dry weather let alone the weather they had. Let me tell you that it was pouring ad only stopped for 2 minutes during the whole game.

Stand outs for Souths were Sutton, Wesser, Luke (was the stand out player in the first half but didn't play the 2nd) and Colin Best. I also thought Ben Lowe was very good when he came on at Lock. Hit hard and ran well at the line. It was to hard to say much about the forwards as they played a very undermaned pack. Simply they did their job.

McPherson ran the hole well to score his try. I also thought that Pettybourne backed up the previous week with another solid game. I think this is the year that he will become a regular first grader. Capewell came on in the 3rd quarter in the fullback position. I thought that was interesting as I know JT sees his best position as 5/8th.

Corrigan had another good game. Scored a good try off a Sandow kick across the field. When McQueen came on he looked better than the previous week but I have to say that Talanoa has the other wing spot there and will get the first shot.

Sandow had a mixed game and kicked a couple of balls out on the full. He also did some good things with clever kicks. At one stage on the attack he dropped the ball but managed to kick it in time. Some how the ball ended up hitting the ref in the head.

All in all a good hit out by the boys. Penrith were never a chance. With only several first graders in there side and the wet weather it was just to difficult for them.

 

[mxlegend99]

All in all a good hit out by the boys. Penrith were never a chance. With only several first graders in there side and the wet weather it was just to difficult for them.

Don't forget the biggest handicap of all, Matt Elliott was coaching them.

Our weaker side went better against the Eels. I think massively inpart to having a better coach. The other part is that the Eels side was weaker then the Souths side.

 

[Newcastlerabbit]

Agreed Paul,the result means nothing to me.Its only a trial and should be treated as one.

 

[Franko]

Agreed Paul,the result means nothing to me.Its only a trial and should be treated as one.

No doubt about it. However we needed to win by a score like that. I didn't want to pick up the paper yesterday and only see 22 to 20 win or something like that. They did what they had to do.

 

[Nemesis]

To watch a video report on the game from NBN-TV, click here.
JT's thoughts on the game, click here

 

[Paul Hewson]

Don't forget the biggest handicap of all, Matt Elliott was coaching them.

Our weaker side went better against the Eels. I think massively inpart to having a better coach. The other part is that the Eels side was weaker then the Souths side.

I always looked at Matt Elliott as a coach like Craig Coleman, Michael Hagan and Nathan Brown. Only getting a job as a coach because of your close ties to the club. I was very shocked when he was given the job at Penrith. Getting rid of Lang for him was wrong. What makes it even worse is the fact that there is quality coaches out there wanting a job.

If I were a Penrith supporter I would take nothing out of that game other than some of your guys have had a run under their belt. Last year we beat the Sharks 42-0 in Gosford and beat the Dragons in the Charity Shield to go out and only win 1 game in our first 13.