Warriors 28 Souths 35

I COULDN'T see Russell Crowe at Mt Smart. Why would a film star watch a game between 12th and 16th on a very chilly Auckland Friday night?

But wherever Rusty is - drinking cocktails in some exclusive establishment, relaxing at his country estate - he would have regretted missing Auckland's charms, for this was just Souths' second victory of the season, and a most unlikely one at that.

Unlikely, for they seemed a beaten side after barely 13 minutes; unlikely because they had two players on debut and one playing just his second game. That trio was composed of two Queenslanders who were both 2006 Australian Schoolboys, fullback Luke Capewell and half Chris Sandow, and a centre, Jamie Simpson, so unregarded he isn't even profiled in the Souths' under-20 squad in the NRL's official season media guide. Yet they were the source of two key tries, and the winning field goal with 26 seconds. Sandow was mobbed by his teammates after the cool long-range effort sailed over.

Souths coach Jason Taylor hailed his men as a "different team", and said few others could have emerged from such an awful run. The result, and comebacks from 14-0 and 28-22 down were a "testament to their character", Taylor said.

Character from blokes such as Simpson. Nights like this were what he dreamed of when he lay in a Brisbane hospital bed five years ago. Simpson, now 21, had Hodgkin's lymphoma, a form of cancer, from 15 to 17 but is now four years into remission, and says simply: "That's what kept me going through the whole thing, my football and family, it kept my drive going. Football was my saviour."

Called in on Tuesday after three games back with North Sydney after a broken thumb, Simpson said: "I knew we were going to win, mate. I just had a premonition we were going to win. I think all of us did."

But early on, Souths had followed a much more familiar script, leaking three early tries, two of them to Warriors wing Michael Crockett, but when Simpson pounced on a loose Dean Widders offload after their first genuine attack in the 24th minute, things changed.

John Sutton, a dominant figure, set up Fetuli Talanoa, and Souths were in the unfamiliar territory of a half-time lead when hooker Issac Luke chipped through and then sent Manase Manuokafoa across the line. For Warriors fans, the biggest entertainment in that dispiriting middle tranche of the game came when their official ambassador, millionaire Mangere meat salesman Peter "the Mad Butcher" Leitch launched his own talking plastic toy and delivered an exhortation to the crowd. A league icon in New Zealand, Leitch screamed a motivational message to the fans as TV pictures showed home coach Ivan Cleary much more relaxed as he delivered his half-time message.

Neither appeared to have any impact, as Souths made 60 metres on the first play of the half, then went further ahead on 48 minutes when Capewell fielded Fien's drop-out and proceeded directly between Ropati and Crockett to score. That had an effect, the Warriors roaring back with three tries inside six minutes, the best a beautiful hat-trick effort from Crockett. Souths didn't panic, their players crediting captain Roy Asotasi. "Everyone was talking, to tell you the truth," Luke said. "It was awesome."

And so tries from Luke Stuart (67) and Ben Lowe (70) put Souths back in front, and then Sandow launched his last-minute one-pointer to scenes of jubilation and disbelief. You missed out, Rusty. SOUTH SYDNEY 35 (L Capewell B Lowe M Manuokafoa J Simpson L Stuart F Talanoa tries I Luke 3 C Sandow 2 goals C Sandow field goal) bt NZ WARRIORS 28 (M Crockett 3 P Ah Van A Kirk J Ropati tries P Ah Van L Hohaia goals) at Mt Smart Stadium. Referee: Tony De Las Heras. Crowd: 13,112.