Brave Roosters Overcome by Rabbitohs in Grandstand Finish

An early obstruction penalty gifted the Roosters their opening set, resulting in a strong run from Nathan Brown that allowed Siua Wong to exploit space on the right edge.

The Fijian International backrower showcased his ability with a delightful flick pass finding winger Allan Fitzgibbon who crossed for his sixth try against South Sydney this season. Skipper Sandon Smith converted the four-pointer to make the score 6-0.

The Red, White, and Blue strolled into dangerous field position after a penalty in the 10th minute, making the Rabbitohs pay with a slick left-edge move by Joseph Taipairi, whose cut-out pass found Jade Anderson. The winger crossed in the left corner extending the Roosters lead to 10.

South Sydney hit back through Peter Mamouzelos, after a kick that seemed to be heading out of play was batted back into the in-goal area where the Rabbitohs hooker pounced. Blake Taaffe kicked the conversion to reduce the deficit to four.

Only three minutes later, some ill-discipline from the Roosters afforded the Rabbitohs an opportunity through Richard Kennar who crossed the stripe to level the scores. Taaffe's conversion put South Sydney in front by two points.

Smith marked his eighth try assist for the season seven minutes later after he provided a delicate short ball to a rampaging Wong, who powered past Taaffe to score. Smith kicked the conversion to restore the Tricolours four-point advantage.

South Sydney found more points in the 38th minute, after Taaffe darted through a hole in the Roosters defence, accelerating for the corner and levelling the match heading into the break.

The Roosters looked dangerous in the beginning of the second half, putting early pressure on the Rabbitohs defence, with some sharp football seemingly sending centre Ethan Clark-Wood over in the corner, only for the touch-judge to signal he was out of play.

Nine minutes into the half, Rabbitohs winger Izaac Thompson was released down the right touch-line, but a brave tackle from Smith forced the ball loose and handed possession back to the Tricolours.

The error proved costly for Souths, as Easts hooker Tyler Moriarty sliced through a hole in the defence, finding a barnstorming Wong who charged towards the try line once more. On the ensuing play, Smith chalked up another try assist as he put halfback Coby Thomas over the line with a deft short ball. The try was converted to put the Roosters six-points clear at 22-16.

An infringement from Souths coming out of their own half gave the Roosters a chance to turn the screws. With yet another flowing left-edge move, the crafty captain floated a pin-point ball to his winger Anderson, who crossed for his second of the match, extending Easts lead to 10.

Regaining possession from the resulting short kick-off, the Rabbitohs looked to claw themselves back into the contest, forcing the men from Bondi into a goal-line dropout. Taaffe claimed a double in the following set, slicing through the Roosters right-edge defence. The South Sydney fullback converted his own try to make the scores 26-22, setting up a grandstand finish.

With just four minutes remaining, South Sydney crossed once more through Mamouzelos, who was sent ove under the posts through a pass by Taaffe. The try was converted to hand the Rabbitohs a slender two-point advantage with two minutes remaining.

A short kick-off from the Roosters resulted in a Rabbitohs penalty, all but ending their hopes of a late turnaround, with the final siren sounding to signal an agonising 28-26 defeat.

The Sydney Roosters will look to bounce back next week when they face the Penrith Panthers in an NRL curtain-raiser BlueBet stadium.

Sydney Roosters 26 (Allan Fitzgibbon, Siua Wong, Coby Thomas, Jade Anderson 2 tries, Sandon Smith 3 goals) def by South Sydney Rabbitohs 28 (Richard Kennar, Blake Taaffe 2, Peter Mamouzelos 2 tries, Blake Taaffe 4 goals)