Rabbitohs 10 Storm 15
MELBOURNE forward Dallas Johnson played last night despite being knocked semi-conscious in the State of Origin opener just three nights earlier. Constant concerns are raised about the wisdom of allowing players to make quick returns after suffering head trauma, but Johnson went the full 80 minutes.
Amazingly, so did the contest.
Let's be honest. Souths were expected to be annihilated. Hooker George Ndaira started the game with a bandage around his head. Perhaps he feared the worst, too. The Storm strolled through for a soft try in the 14th minute when centre Will Chambers sliced through a huge gap.
Johnson was wearing head gear. With the greatest possible respect, perhaps he needs his head read. He continued to tackle, tackle, tackle. Was is it really worth the risk? It was a game the Storm were heavily favoured to win. Surely Storm and NSW coach Craig Bellamy had some notes on how to knock over Souths.
Dean Widders, playing at five-eighth for Souths this week, let a few try-scoring opportunities slip when he had Nigel Vagana screaming for the ball outside him, only to die with the ball. Souths had plenty of half-chances but couldn't quite cross the stripe. There's no shame in trailing the premiers by 4-0 at half-time.
The Storm were without five-eighth Greg Inglis but they still had Billy Slater, Anthony Quinn, Cam Smith, Israel Folau, Ryan Hoffman, Brett White, Mick Crocker, Cooper Cronk and Johnson. David was more of an underdog against Goliath.
Given Souths were putting up one hell of a fight, it really was an unusually quiet crowd. Shock can do that to people.
With 25 minutes to go, the Storm still only led by four. Upset would not be the word if the Bunnies got home. John Sutton was having a whale of a match, forever making half-breaks and occasionally a full one.
Quinn was beating tackles every time he touched the ball. The Storm started dominating possession, then gave Souths something of a compliment by taking the two points from a penalty.
A chant from the crowd of "South Sydney, South Sydney" started. The irony was that their home game was being played on the Central Coast. Nathan Merritt will regret an attempted grubber that nearly put a hole in the fence. Moments later, Jeremy Smith scored Melbourne's second try and the brave Souths fight was fading away.
Vagana won the race to the ball for four points and hope with just eight minutes left. A grandstand finish was set up. The Storm held crisis talks next to the posts as Issac Luke added the extras. It was 12-6 to the Storm with six minutes on the clock. It's a shame the clock kept running during the conversion attempts.
Suddenly, there was genuine tension. Which was immediately eased when Souths forward Luke Stuart knocked on from the kick-off. Johnson was replaced, but still didn't sit down. For crying out loud, take a break. Cronk slotted a field goal for 13-6. Smith landed a late penalty. Vagana flew over for another try in the last minute but the horse had bolted.
Souths had gained pride by pushing the premiers but pride doesn't count on the ladder.
MELBOURNE 15 (W Chambers J Smith tries C Smith 3 goals C Cronk field goal) bt SOUTH SYDNEY 10 (N Vagana 2 tries I Luke goal) at Bluetongue Stadium. Referee: J Maxwell. Crowd: 8,000.
