Drama amid Bunnies win
SOUTH Sydney scored twice in the final five minutes to claim a dramatic but controversial four-point NRL win against Canterbury.
The Rabbitohs were yesterday trailing 16-10 in their annual Good Friday clash at ANZ Stadium when Hymel Hunt crossed in the 75th minute to give the home side a sniff.
Rookie playmaker Adam Doueihi thought he’d blown a chance to force golden point when he missed the tricky conversion but Cameron Murray sliced through two minutes later to stun the crowd of 32,471.
But the Bulldogs are certain to feel aggrieved over a contentious first-half try to Greg Inglis that forced lead referee Ben Cummins to apologise to captain Josh Jackson.
Cummins pulled Jackson out in the 34th minute to warn him over repeated penalties inside their 20m line but allowed play to resume despite the forward still moving back into the defensive line.
The Rabbitohs spread the ball on the first play and Inglis powered over a retreating Jackson to cut a 12-0 deficit to six, with Cummins apologising to the Bulldogs skipper.
“I’m sorry Josh, I didn’t realise,” Cummins told Jackson after the try.
Both Jackson and Bulldogs coach Dean Pay were livid with the incident but admitted their team were also to blame for the loss.
“I just want to say that I don’t blame them at all for the loss,” Jackson said.
“We had plenty of opportunities to win that game. We turned over a hell of a lot of ball in the last 20 minutes.
“If you want to win a game of footy with two men down, we’ve just got to get better game management because we had plenty of opportunities to win that one.”
Rubbing salt into the wound for the Bulldogs is a jaw injury to fullback Moses Mbye, while prop Aiden Tolman also picked up an ankle injury.
The Rabbitohs also face a nervous wait, with Sam Burgess on report for striking Josh Morris with his arm on a regulation carry in the second half. Winger Robert Jennings was also forced off with concussion.
The match started ominously for the Bulldogs, who lost Mbye following a sickening head collision with Jennings.