A double from Taane Milne helped the Rabbitohs to a hard-fought 20-0 win over Wests Tigers at Accor Stadium on Saturday.
The Rabbitohs have now won six on the trot, the best streak by any team in 2023, and move to the top of the NRL ladder courtesy of a superior points differential to the Broncos.
On the back of a six-again call Latrell Mitchell earned a repeat set with a neat grubber and the Rabbitohs threatened to open the scoring but Tommy Talau flew high to defuse a bomb and the Tigers kept their line intact.
Talau then aimed up in defence with a big hit on Michael Chee Kam to force an error but the Tigers lost their way in attack and failed to capitalise.
The Rabbitohs broke the deadlock in the 26th minute when Cody Walker went right and found Campbell Graham who delivered the final pass for Milne to score in the corner.
Milne opens the scoring
A mistake by Junior Tupou gave the Rabbitohs field position but strong front-on defence by Luke Brooks on Chee Kam again turned Souths away.
The arm wrestle continued early in the second half as the Rabbitohs looked to build on the 6-0 lead and a penalty against Tigers prop Alex Twal for a high shot gave Latrell Mitchell an easy shot at goal to make it 8-0.
With 16 minutes to play the Tigers came within an ace of hitting back when Starford To'a got his body over the line but was held up by four defenders.
Enter Latrell Mitchell
Two minutes later the Tigers created another opportunity when Brooks found space but his grubber kick was cleaned up by Souths, who marched to the other end and shifted to Milne who was denied by a superb cover tackle from Asu Kepaoa.
The Rabbitohs then put the game to bed in the 73rd minute when slick hands from Campbell Graham and Mitchell gave Milne a saloon passage to the line for his second try. Mitchell's conversion made it 14-0 and the star fullback then grabbed a late try for 20-0.
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Match snapshot
- Rabbitohs forward Tom Burgess hurt his back in the warm-up and was a late withdrawal. Blake Taaffe joined the 17 and Richie Kennar came in as 18th Man.
- Souths skipper Cameron Murray took a knock to the throat midway through the first half and went to the bench for a breather before returning to the fray seven minutes later.
- Tigers back-rower Isaiah Papali'i proved elusive in the opening 40 minutes, making 67 metres and breaking six tackles.
- Rabbitohs wingers Alex Johnston and Taane Milne made 393 metres between them from 38 runs.
An odd end to short dropout
- Jahream Bula was again assured under the high ball for the Tigers and also came up with 172 running metres.
- Rabbitohs bench forward Jed Cartwright left the field in the 60th minute for a HIA which he failed.
- Rabbitohs lock Jai Arrow was sent for a HIA in the 67th minute.
- The Rabbitohs have won six of their past seven games against the Tigers.
- Wests Tigers have not defeated the Rabbitohs at Accor Stadium since Round 19, 2018.
- Taane Milne had a day out for Souths with two tries, three tackle breaks and 256 running metres from 25 runs.
The kick-off takes a wicked bounce
Plays of the Game
Luke Brooks' defence was a highlight for Wests Tigers in a tense and tight struggle which saw them take the fight up to one of the premiership heavyweights. Time and again the halfback put his body on the line as the Tigers defended with plenty of vigour. The No.7 finished the day with 27 tackles.
Brooks turns enforcer
What They Said
"I feel like we stayed really patient. We spoke at half-time about having that defensive focus and keep protecting our tryline and if we got one try we'd get two and I was just happy how they handled that. We've had a massive month leading into this so it was probably a chance for us to be a bit flat but I didn't think that was the case, it was more of a credit to the Tigers and how they played."
- Rabbitohs coach Jason Demetriou
Rabbitohs: Round 11
"Souths are the benchmark in the game at the moment so I was very happy with our attitude and looking forward to next week's home game at Leichhardt and [Luke] Brooksy's 200th. For five games now we have put in a big effort, won two and lost three, but we're not throwing any towel in, the boys are very keen to get back on the park this week. We've had five weeks of staying in the game, really working hard for each other and gaining respect from the opposition." - Wests Tigers coach Tim Sheens
Wests Tigers: Round 11
What's Next
The Rabbitohs face the Eels in Round 12 at Allianz Stadium on Friday night while the Tigers are at home at Leichhardt Oval for a clash with the Cowboys.