Cronulla and St George Illawarra face off in their local derby, as Penrith and South Sydney enjoy their respective victories.
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Panthers down Raiders
Penrith has triumphed in a chaotic encounter littered with key injuries and reports, beating Canberra 26-6 to extend its lead at the top of the ladder.
The loss came with a hefty price for the Raiders.
They conceded ground in the race for the finals after losing star prop Joe Tapine, who did not return in the second half following a first-half rib injury.
The Panthers, playing without their star halves pairing of Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai along with second rower Villiame Kikau, survived an injury scare of their own with fullback Dylan Edwards, playing his 100th NRL match, pushing through pain to put in a clinical display.
The clash threatened to turn spiteful early in the second half when Raider Nick Cotric hit Edwards high to spark remonstrations, with the Canberra winger sent to the sin-bin for his shot.
That followed Penrith prop James Fisher-Harris doing 10 minutes in the bin in the first half for a high shot on Ryan Sutton, the Canberra forward failing his head injury assessment and not returning to the contest.
Fill-in Penrith half Jaeman Salmon was also put on report, appearing to lash out with his boot and make contract with Raider Tom Starling’s face and groin.
But Edwards, who had earlier looked ginger after being drilled by Jordan Rapana, responded perfectly with a try on 54 minutes, breaking Canberra’s spirit and capping his 155-metre, six-tackle bust display.
And he got plenty of help, particularly through back-up playmaker Sean O’Sullivan, covering Cleary in immaculate fashion with a stunning three-try assists and some kicking excellence.
Five-eighth Salmon scored a crafty try in the second half to complete the rout, while centre Stephen Crichton had earlier marked his return from his sickening ear injury to cross.
Canberra opened the scoring early as Josh Papalii burst through the line courtesy of hooker Zac Woolford’s perfect service.
But errors again haunted the Raiders and they could not capitalise on some strong territory in the game’s opening stages.
The result is a crushing blow to the Raiders’ finals hopes because they now sit a game back from the eight-placed Sydney Roosters, although all four of their remaining matches are against bottom-eight teams.
Rabbitohs breeze past Warriors
South Sydney’s top-four ambitions remain intact following a ruthless 48-10 victory over the Warriors.
The Rabbitohs made easy work of a hapless Warriors outfit at Sunshine Coast Stadium, effectively having the contest put to bed when they scored six tries to one in the first half.
Adding two more to the Rabbitohs’ tally in the second stanza, star fullback Latrell Mitchell was given an early rest with 18 minutes to play after a perfect game off the tee.
Mitchell kicked all eight conversions, adding two tries and two try assists to go with two line assists and two linebreaks.
Perhaps the pick of his contributions was the sliced cut-out pass that found Izaac Thompson on debut to score his first NRL try and the Rabbitohs’ seventh of the afternoon.
Skipper Cameron Murray was one of nine Rabbitohs’ players to run for over 100 metres and had three try assists in the first 16 minutes before putting Lachlan Ilias over in the third minute.
He also linked up with hooker Damien Cook off a midfield linebreak to set up the hooker for the Rabbitohs’ second.
A deft offload to Tevita Tatola gave the Rabbitohs their third, before Murray put a strong shot on Dallin Watene-Zelezniak 25 metres from the Warriors’ line to win back possession.
It led to Ilias setting up Keaon Koloamatangi as Souths piled on 24 points in the first 21 minutes of the match.
Edward Kosi hit back for the away side in their first and only real opportunity of the opening half, but Jai Arrow then found an offload through three tacklers for Mitchell to crash over.
Mitchell then put Alex Johnston in for his 23rd try of the season as the Rabbitohs enjoyed a 36-6 advantage at the break.
It marked the fifth straight match South Sydney had scored 30 points or more against the Warriors.
The Rabbitohs’ dominance continued in the second half with the only blight coming through Shaun Johnson’s try in the 50th minute in a rare attacking opportunity inside South Sydney’s 20-metre line.
Victory over the Warriors saw the Rabbitohs leap-frog the Roosters and Broncos to move to sixth on the ladder, their dominant win also their biggest of 2022.
But the run into the finals is tough for last season’s grand finalists.
Four matches against top eight sides remain for the Rabbitohs, who face Parramatta, competition leaders Penrith, North Queensland and the Roosters to round out the regular season.
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