A masterful Cody Walker performance has inspired South Sydney’s comeback 36-14 NRL win over the Dolphins after a controversial try early in the second half turned the momentum.
Rabbitohs playmaker Walker stamped his class on the contest after his side trailed 14-6 at the break and fullback Latrell Mitchell asserted himself as only he can with a barnstorming second-half try in front of 23,280 fans at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night.
The second half started with a try to Rabbitohs centre Campbell Graham who appeared to push Dolphins centre Euan Aitken in the back before snaffling a Lachlan Ilias bomb to score.
Dolphins prop Mark Nicholls questioned referee Ashley Klein about the decision at length but the bunker cleared it.
“It was a push in the back,” Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett said.
“Euan is allowed to run the line he was running. He was going towards the ball.
“We are all big enough to overcome that stuff. If that’s the call, that’s the call.”
Walker started and finished the try that gave the Rabbitohs the lead after the ball ricocheted off luckless Dolphins duo Brenko Lee and Jamayne Isaako from an Alex Johnston inside ball.
It went downhill for the Dolphins from there when second-rower Kenny Bromwich was put on report and sin-binned for hitting winger Taane Milne high while contesting a bomb.
Walker stepped up and toyed with the hosts’ defence with precision passing and vision as the Rabbitohs scored five unanswered second-half tries, including three while Bromwich was in the bin.
“When he gets himself in the game like he does he is the best five-eighth in the game,” Rabbitohs coach Jason Demetriou said of Walker
“He is a pleasure to coach when he is in that kind of mood.”
The Dolphins dominated the first half before being blown apart by a Rabbitohs side that showcased why they are a premiership threat and so dangerous. Give them a sniff and they will punish you.
The narrative before the game largely centred on the coaches, Bennett and Demetriou, who had worked together for five years at Brisbane then South Sydney in a master and apprentice relationship.
It was the apprentice, Demetriou who came out on top.
But the Dolphins were superb initially.
Bennett has rejuvenated the careers of so many of his players. Five-eighth Kodi Nikorima is one of them. His kicking, passing and running game was first rate in one of the best halves of football he has played.
Nikorima put Euan Aitken over in the fourth minute with a superb short-side play and on-fire hooker Jeremy Marshall King added a second before the break with a crafty piece of deception close to the line.
The Rabbitohs’ only first-half joy was a try to Graham after a Mitchell double-pump.
Walker then turned it on in the second stanza to take his side into the top four.
Demetriou said he was “really happy” with how his team responded after the break.
“If we front-load our energy and get field position we get the ball in Cody and Latrell’s hands and we get to see what we can do,” he said.
South Sydney skipper Cameron Murray was put on report twice in the first half, once for a dangerous tackle on Marshall-King and then for a high shot on Nikorima. Rabbitohs forward Davvy Moale was put on report for a trip.
© AAP 2023
