RABBIT STEW with Brendon Morris – round 22

Melbourne Storm 15 – South Sydney Rabbitohs 14

The Rabbitohs travelled to AAMI Park on Saturday night for one of the most gruelling and difficult road trips of the NRL season. Despite history, form and confidence all weighing heavily against them, Maguire’s men put in one of their best performances of the season and nearly nabbed the two points from the premiership favourites.

Despite an early setback with George Burgess losing the ball from the opening hit up of the game, the Rabbits settled well and looked the better team after 15 minutes. On three separate occasions in the first half, Cameron Smith refused an easy two points, only to be denied by a dogged South Sydney defensive line. Then, in the 35^th minute, the Rabbits broke the nil all deadlock when kicking Maestro Adam Reynolds set Alex Johnston up in the corner. The lead looked to be doubled in the 39^th minute, only for the bunker to rule that Kyle Turner obstructed the Melbourne defensive line.

The second half started at a frenetic pace and within twelve minutes, the Storm’s ability to expose the fragile right edge of Souths defence had netted them a four point lead and all the momentum going into the last half hour of the game. Despite this, the Rabbitohs fought back and hit the lead with a lucky try to youngster Angus Crichton. Ill-discipline from both teams saw the score levelled and the lead then wrestled back by the Rabbits only for a Damien Cook brain explosion in the 80^th minute, gifting the storm a penalty and sending the match into golden point. Four minutes into golden point, after misses from Cronk and Reynolds, Cameron Smith stepped up to the plate and slotted a field goal to sink the Rabbitohs.

While the Rabbitohs have endeared the faithful and convinced the Rugby League public that they are capable of competing, the real test will be backing that performance up. They come up against the resurgent Warriors at Mount Smart Stadium next Saturday afternoon and you would have to believe that a performance any less than the quality put up against the Storm will result in another pummelling.

7 Ingredients in this week’s Rabbit Stew

1. Cameron Smith will go down as one of the most poised and talented Rugby Players of all time. His ability to stay calm throughout the match, slot the levelling penalty goal from 40 metres out and then casually kick a field goal from dummy half to ice the game, makes him the rarest of talents and the undisputed glue that holds the storm outfit together.
2. Adam Reynolds’ kicking game is world class. On several occasions, he had the Storm back three on the defensive and was able to display the skills that earnt him the sky blue jumper this year.
3. George Burgess was incredibly disappointing. An early error and another at a pivotal point later in the game, combined with reduced output and body language to rival the dark side of the force after the destruction of the Death Star, made this a dirty night for the Rabbits big man.
4. In stark contrast to his brother, Sam Burgess continues to prove he is one the most dominant and productive forwards in the Rugby League world. Big Sammy ran for 173 metres, made 55 tackles and was a creative influence in attack. There has been a great deal of focus on whether the Rabbits should have spent the money to get Burgess back from Union – The real focus should be on just how badly they would be travelling without him
5. Aaron Gray is developing into a very powerful centre. He had several dominant carries and proved to be a handful for the storm’ right edge defence. However, his decision to promote the ball in a blatant double movement highlighted where the bunnies are at, and showed a lack of experience that will need to be rectified sooner rather than later
6. Damien Cook looks to be a more creative and efficient alternative to Cameron McInnes. In defence he was outstanding with 52 tackles and his direction and precision in attack gave his outside backs far more time to create havoc. Unfortunately, all of this was undone by a brain snap in the last minute of regular play when he inexplicably put Cameron Munster in a dangerous position and handed Cameron Smith the opportunity to level the game. Cook will undoubtedly miss a game or two through suspension, but the real interest will be how he responds after making such a costly and avoidable mistake.
7. The standard of refereeing on Saturday night was way below what the NRL hierarchy should be demanding from their officials. While neither team was significantly disadvantaged, a penalty count of 13 after 37 minutes is ridiculous and shows that the officialdom still do not have a feel for the game of for what the fans want to see.