Bunnies’ big guns slay the Dragons

THE magic of South Sydney’s Indigenous players helped them rise off the canvas and overturn an early 16-0 deficit to down St George Illawarra 32-24.

In a fitting start to Indigenous Round, all 32 Rabbitohs points were scored by First Nations peoples — Alex Johnston landed a hat-trick and Cody Walker a double with Latrell Mitchell chipping in with a try of his own and four goals.

It was as fluent an attacking display as South Sydney has had all year — Walker was sublime, but Mitchell chimed in well when required and showed plenty of the sharp passing that’s become so notable in his game this year.

The Dragons will walk away frustrated. Given their early lead and the Rabbitohs losing halfback and skipper Adam Reynolds to injury in the opening minutes, they must feel they let this one slip.

And now that they’ll finish the round two wins outside the top eight it could be a loss that comes back to bite them.

The Rabbitohs looked dead in the water when Reynolds went off with a neck injury after an awkward challenge from Tariq Sims and the Dragons shot out to a healthy lead.

But Walker rose to the occasion magnificently. He got the Rabbitohs fightback under way with a sharp individual try and helped create a four-pointer for Mitchell right on halftime that levelled the scores at 16-all at the break.

Walker’s run continued when he created Johnson’s second try with a beautiful, delayed pass and he completed his double when he flew on to a short ball from interchange prop Mark Nicholls from close range a few minutes later.

The Dragons didn’t go away until the final minutes but Walker’s brilliance took the game away from the Red V.

It was reminiscent of the form that won Walker a NSW Origin jersey last year. If Reynolds is out, even for a short time, the Rabbits will miss him badly, but if Walker maintains this type of form they’ll be able to get by. He played both sides of the field, did the majority of the kicking, steered the team around the park and looked dangerous with every touch.

The Rabbitohs will let Alex Johnston walk at the end of 2020, but it’s difficult to understand why given his recent form. Johnston scored three tries, including two long-range intercept efforts.