South Sydney's nightmare has finally ended at the likely expense of Parramatta's semi-final dreams after an Adam Reynolds sideline conversion sealed their come-from-behind victory on Friday night.
One down, eleven to go, they were chanting in the stands early in the second half when Semi Radradra crossed for his third try of the night to give his side a 14-point buffer. The chant was a reference to the Eels improbable mission to make the finals: 12 wins from 15 games before tonight's clash.
But just when it looked like South Sydney would slump to a fifth straight loss at the hands of the now salary cap compliant Eels, Luke Keary came off the bench and turned the game on its head.
While Sam Burgess was the real hero for the Bunnies with his trademark commitment both with and without the ball, it was Adam Reynolds' sideline conversion of a Luke Keary try in the 78th minute that sealed the 22-20 win at Pirtek Stadium.
Greg Inglis' shift to five-eighth wasn't as effective as Michael Maguire would have hoped, but there was no doubting his contribution in the centres, laying on the miracle pass that led to the match winner.
You'd be hardpressed finding a better player in a losing team than Semi Radradra.
Just a few days after his name was linked to a possible exit from the club, the Australian Test winger showed his value to the team with a hat-trick of tries.
For all the conjecture last week over the legitimacy of his selection in the Kangaroos team, there's no doubting his place at the very top of the tree when it comes to wingers in the NRL, producing a barnstorming performance that drew the ultimate praise from club legend Peter Sterling.
"I never thought I'd see another winger excite the crowd here like Eric Grothe did," Sterling said of Radradra during Channel Nine's call.
"But that man is something special."
The Rabbitohs thwarted an emotion-charged opening to the match to register first points through Michael Oldfield, before Reynolds' penalty goal extended the lead to six points soon after.
The Eels hit back through Fijian flyer Radradra, who outleapt Oldfield to latch on to a Corey Norman cross-field kick and reduce the deficit to just two points despite a protest from the home crowd for an eight point try following an accidental knee to the head from Paul Carter.
The Eels winger bagged a double on the stroke of half time when Manu Ma'u put Michael Jennings into open space, who in turn drew the fullback to set up his outside man for a 10-6 lead.
Fellow Eels winger Vai Toutai joined in on the action just seconds out from half time, crashing his way over three South Sydney defenders to give the Eels an eight point lead at the break.
The Eels onslaught didn't stop after the break with Radradra picking up his hat-trick, before the Rabbitohs hit back through Kirisome Auva'a.
They looked to have grabbed another when Adam Reynolds dived over the ball, however the bunker intervened to rule he had knocked it on with the inside of his left arm before grounding it with the torso - a decision Andrew Johns described as a "dud call".
Luke Keary found his way into the contest mid-way through the second half and set up a try for Bryson Goodwin to reduce the deficit to four with eight minutes remaining before scoring the match winner.
Originally published as Parramatta Eels dreams all but shattered after heartbreaking last minute loss to South Sydney Rabbitohs by Sydney Morning Herald.
