Game Summary
South Sydney Rabbitohs held off a spirited fightback from the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles to claim a 34-24 victory at 4 Pines Park in Round 14 of The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup, extending their winning run to eight wins from their past nine games.
Manly came out of the blocks with intensity, and the hosts were rewarded inside the opening four minutes when Hugo Hart burst through the edge defence and produced a miraculous offload to Joey Walsh, who backed up to score. Tex Hoy added the conversion, and Manly led 6-0.
The Sea Eagles continued to threaten and Walsh's 40/20 opened up another attacking opportunity, only for Thomas Demeio to knock on from dummy-half. Souths eventually hit back in the 12th minute when Jayden Sullivan threw a long cut-out pass to Bayleigh Bentley-Hape, who found Jordi Mazzone bombing down the touchline to score.
Walsh stepped his way through multiple defenders to score his second on the stroke of the final 10 minutes, and Hoy's conversion stretched Manly's advantage to 12-4.
Souths rallied in the final minutes of the half. A dropped ball from the Manly kick-off led directly to a Jonah Glover try, and sustained pressure from the Rabbitohs saw Franklin Pele crash over the try-line with seconds remaining. Bentley-Hape converted to hand Souths a 14-12 half-time lead.
The second half was tightly contested to start, with Hoy slotting a penalty goal three minutes in to level the scores at 14-all. Both sides continued to make errors, but Souths found another gear midway through the half. Mazzone grubbered his way to a double in fortuitous circumstances before Liam Le Blanc burst through to set up a third successive try. Mazzone eventually completed his hat trick by jogging over untouched. Pele then bulldozed through for his second, and at 34-14 with 17 minutes remaining the match appeared over.
Manly refused to give up. Beau Newlands scored from a Walsh grubber before Hoy sliced through the South Sydney defence to make it 34-24 with three minutes left. But a one-on-one steal by Sullivan extinguished Manly's challenge, and the Rabbitohs held on to record a 34-24 victory.
Talking Points
Mazzone's four-try haul was the defining performance of the match. The winger took his season tally to nine and punished Manly in the second half.
Joey Walsh was the bright spark for Manly. The halfback was involved in several tries, supporting for the first and stepping through defenders for his second.
Key Moment
With Manly holding a 12-4 lead and seemingly in control in the final minutes of the first half, a dropped ball off the restart handed Souths a lifeline. Glover pounced on the scraps to score, and that momentum shift sparked a two-try burst that put the Rabbitohs in front at half-time. They never relinquished the lead from there.
What's Next?
The Rabbitohs take on the North Sydney Bears in Round 15 at Redfern Oval, while the Sea Eagles have the bye before returning to action on Saturday 20 June.
