South Sydney fought back strongly to gain a comprehensive 18-38 victory over Manly at Brookvale Oval, now name Lottoland, countering a strong opening by the Sea Eagles, who scored three tries in the opening 13 minutes from Aquia Uate, Brian Kelly and Tom Trbojevic, although they were all unconverted.
The Rabbitohs had lost heavily in round 1 to Wests Tigers and early in this game it looked as though they would hit the buffers again. But Manly faded badly and by half-time the R
Robert Jennings began the Rabbitohs’ fightback with a try on 18 minutes and Cody Walker and John Sutton added further tries before half-time to put them 12-18 ahead. The difference was Adam Reynolds’ three conversions, as opposed to Dylan Walker’s three missed conversions for the Sea Eagles.
Manly equalised, somewhat against the run of play, on 50 minutes when the Trbojevic brothers combined to send Daly Cherry-Evans over the line to level the scores.
Souths grabbed a two-point lead with 20 minutes to play with a penalty and, as Manly tired, the Rabbitohs raced home with three further tries, including two from Alex Johnston and one from Robbie Farah, which was his first as a Souths player following his close-season move from Wests.
Sea Eagles: Tom Trbojevic, Jorge Taufua, Dylan Walker, Brian Kelly, Akuila Uate, Blake Green, Daly Cherry-Evans, Brenton Lawrence, Apisai Koroisau, Nate Myles, Frank Winterstein, Curtis Sironen, Jake Trbojevic; Subs: Cameron Cullen, Lewis Brown, Jarrad Kennedy, Bill Bainbridge.
Rabbitohs: Alex Johnston, Braidon Burns, Hymel Hunt, Robert Jennings, Bryson Goodwin, Cody Walker, Adam Reynolds, Zane Musgrove, Robbie Farah, Jason Clark, John Sutton, Kyle Turner, Sam Burgess; Subs: Damien Cook, Angus Crichton, Robbie Rochow, George Burgess.
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