TRIALS are a notoriously unreliable gauge of a team’s form come round one – the annual Charity Shield even more so.
South Sydney were convincing winners over the Dragons last year before winning just three of their first nine games of the season-proper. The Dragons looked well off the pace that day, but won six of their first seven to lead the competition after nine rounds.
So, what one can really gather from the Rabbitohs’ 22-18 win over the Dragons at Mudgee on Saturday remains to be seen, but both sets of fans can walk away with some optimism about their sides’ 2018 prospects.
In a match played at a much higher intensity than their respective clashes against Super League opposition last week, the Rabbitohs led 16-12 at halftime after running in three tries to two – Damien Cook proving the chief destroyer.
The pace slowed considerably in the second half as both sides wilted in the humid conditions, ending one try apiece and delivering the Rabbitohs their sixth straight Charity Shield victory.
Ben Hunt and Gareth Widdop linked more seamlessly than their first outing last week while Matt Dufty continued his red-hot form in the opening stanza, but the Dragons struggled to land an attacking blow in the second half.
Tyson Frizell played an impressive 80 minutes after missing last week’s clash with Hull, while Jack de Belin put in two solid shifts in the middle in his first preseason outing.
James Graham had two stints after a limited showing on club debut last week with Kurt Mann – who was a warm-up withdrawal due to a calf injury – the only injury concern for Paul McGregor.
The ease with which Cook and Cody Walker exposed the Dragons defence through the middle will no doubt be a concern for McGregor, but Widdop was largely positive in the aftermath.
“I thought we started pretty slow last week but I thought the first 20 minutes [tonight] was pretty positive,” Widdop said.
“We defended well, kicked long and chased hard. It was just [a lack of] execution, we had a few opportunities but a few too many balls hitting the deck.
“I know we can certainly fix that. Round one’s in about 12 days so there’s room for improvement but it was a good hit-out.”
Greg Inglis played 19 minutes to blow out the cobwebs after an ACL injury wiped out his 2017 season, though a rib injury to Alex Johnston was a concern for coach Anthony Seibold.
Dane Gagai also sent a scare through the Rabbitohs camp when he went down early in the second half clutching at an ankle though he played out the match unhampered.
Nene Macdonald opened the scoring in the fourth minute, brushing off Gagai to cross in the left-hand corner with Widdop converting for a 6-0 lead.
The Rabbitohs hit straight back through Richard Kennar just inside the same touchline with Adam Doueihi nailing the sideline conversion to level up at 6-all after 10 minutes.
Dufty re-took the lead for his side eight minutes later when he blew past Doueihi and stood up Walker to plant the ball next to the sticks and allow Widdop too take a six-point lead with the conversion.
Hunt looked to have laid on a brilliant try for Jason Nightingale with a pin-point kick into the corner only for replays to show the veteran had grazed the touch in-goal line with his right hand.
It proved a dramatic turnaround with Cook splitting the Dragons defence from inside his own half in the very next set and finding Angus Chrichton who crossed for his side’s second try.
Doueihii’s attempted conversion was waved away, with the Dragons keeping a two-point lead heading into the final 10 minutes of the half.
The Rabbitohs took it back through Robert Jennings, who finished off a beautiful exchange of passing on the left edge, with Doueihii again wayward off the tee.
He made no mistake from in front minutes later, slotting a penalty goal after the halftime siren to take a 16-12 lead into the break.
Walker was first to score after the resumption when he backed up a break from John Sutton. Doueihii added the extras to push the scoreline out to 22-12 after 50 minutes.
Nightingale looked to have hit back only again be denied by the bunker after replays showed he’d bobbled the ball in the Souths in-goal.
Leeson Ah Mau made his presence felt 10 minutes from fulltime, showing some deft late footwork to cross untouched under the posts and allow Widdop to bring his side back within four.
The Rabbitohs had to play the final seven minutes with 12 men after Jennings was dispatched to the sin-bin for dragging back Nightingale as he pursued a Widdop grubber.
It gave the Dragons a sniff, but they couldn’t find a go-ahead try.
This story first appeared on the Illawarra Mercury website.
