UPDATED: Great Hit Out at Return to Redfern 2012
28 Jan 2012
The Return to Redfern 2012 match was a quality hit out for a young Rabbitohs outfit against one of the world’s best Rugby League teams, with the Warrington Wolves narrowly winning 34 points 28 at the Australian Technology Park Performance Centre at Redfern Oval tonight (Saturday).
A sell out crowd of 5,000 Members and supporters saw the brave Rabbitohs fight back from a 24-nil deficit after 30 minutes to level the scores at 28-all with about 13 minutes left on the clock.
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Two tries to centre Shaune Corrigan was not enough for the Rabbitohs to get over the top of one of the leading English Super League Clubs, who were lead by strong performances from front-rower Garreth Carvell, five-eighth Lee Briers, back rower Ben Westwood and new recruit Trent Waterhouse.
The Wolves got away to a cracking start, finding holes in behind the ruck in the Rabbitohs’ defence. A second minute try to Rhys Evans, eighth minute try to Simon Grix, 14th minute try to Rhys Williams, and 29th minute try to Ryan Atkins gave the Wolves a 24-nil lead, all of which were fairly soft tries. The Rabbitohs were on the back foot for most of the opening 30 minutes, with the only chance of scoring coming off the back of an Adam Reynolds 40/20 touch finder which lead to prop forward Josh Starling being held up adjacent to the posts.
A charge from Scott Geddes towards the line left Warrington captain Adrian Morley seeing stars, but the Wolves definitely had the upper hand in the first half.
Corrigan scored his first four-pointer in the 31st minute when quick hands from Reynolds opened up the opportunity for Corrigan to fight his way over for the try. Reynolds converted to take the scores to 24-6.
Six minutes later, replacement hooker Brendan McKinnon sighted the smallest gap in the Wolves’ defence, burrowing over for the Rabbitohs’ second try. Reynolds converted again to reduce the deficit to 12 at the half time break.
The Rabbitohs continued to build their momentum after the major break, with Reynolds kicking another booming 40/20 touch finder to put the Rabbitohs in an attacking position. From the ensuing set of six the ball went left and found five-eighth Ryan Carr who dummied and broke the line to score.
Six minutes later and the Rabbitohs struck again, this time through back rower Nathan Peats. The shift from his initial stint at hooker in the first quarter out to the back row proved fruitful for Peats, who showed enormous power in his legs and upper body to fight off and drag over the line four Warrington defenders to score the Rabbitohs’ fourth try. Reynolds converted to reduce the deficit to two points, 24-22 with about 30 minutes left on the clock.
McKinnon nearly crossed for his second try four minutes later only to be held up, but the sides would go into the three-quarter time break evenly poised with an exciting final 20 minutes on its way.
International centre Chris Bridge entered the game and struck immediately, scoring in the 61st minute to establish a six-point buffer for the visitors.
The Rabbitohs struck back straight away when Corrigan leapt high for one of Carr’s cross field bombs, coming down with the ball to score his second. Reynolds nailed a pressure shot at goal to level the scores at 28-all.
Both sides then dished out some heavy defence with Garreth Carvell of the Wolves and Dave Tyrrell of the Rabbitohs trading shoulders on a number of occasions.
It was Carvell that would make the difference in the end, charging towards the line and popping a brilliant short ball to Gareth O’Brien who raced 45 metres to score under the posts. Richie Myler converted to take the lead to six with seven minutes to play.
The Rabbitohs were able to fight their way into Warrington territory but were unable to breach their line one more time, with the Rabbitohs going down 34-28 after 80 minutes.
The Rabbitohs forwards fought hard all evening against a star-studded Warrington pack. Early on the Rabbitohs were overwhelmed by the Wolves, but they pulled themselves together and battled their way back into the game.
Jason Clark, Nathan Peats, George Burgess, Dave Tyrrell, Josh Starling and veteran front rower Scott Geddes were the Rabbitohs best forwards, with Adam Reynolds remaining calm under pressure to help guide the Rabbitohs around the park in good field position. His strong kicking performance was one of the highlights of the night for Rabbitohs fans. Chris McQueen had the Rabbitohs’ faithful on their feet on a few occasions, and Corrigan’s two tries were well deserved.
Warrington raced out to a handy lead and were able to get offloads away throughout the match, but all-in-all it was an impressive performance from both teams, giving both sets of fans an enjoyable night out in Redfern.
The Rabbitohs will play the New Zealand Warriors in two weeks time at BCU International Stadium in Coffs Harbour.
Warrington Wolves 34 (Rhys Evans, Simon Grix, Rhys Williams, Ryan Atkins, Chris Bridge, Gareth O’Brien tries; Lee Briers 4, Richie Myler goals)
defeated
South Sydney Rabbitohs 28 (Shaune Corrigan 2, Brendan McKinnon, Ryan Carr, Nathan Peats tries; Adam Reynolds 4 goals)