Despite fighting back in the second half, South Sydney were unable to overcome a dreadful opening 40 minutes in a 46-26 loss to St George Illawarra in Saturday’s Charity Shield clash in Mudgee.
Sione Fainu terrorised the Souths defence, scoring four tries before succumbing to a failed HIA and a possible case of heatstroke in the late summer heat.
Dragons recruits Damien Cook, Lachlan Ilias and Valentine Holmes all had good moments in the victory as Ilias’s try and try assist perhaps gave Wayne Bennett a touch of regret with Lewis Dodd having an afternoon to forget.
English import Dodd endured a tough 40 minutes before being sent to the sin-bin because of an experimental pre-season rule and remaining on the bench for the rest of the second half.
He has been suspended for Round 1 and potentially another week after being charged by the match review committee on Sunday – Jamie Humphreys replaced Dodd and showcased his playmaking ability as Souths mounted a decent comeback that ultimately fell short.
Dodd has until midday on Monday to decide whether to contest the one-game ban which would double if he is unsuccessful at the judiciary.
Dragons run rampant as Dodd struggles again
Missing stars Cameron Murray and Latrell Mitchell who are both out long-term after injuries suffered earlier this week in training, Wayne Bennett injected plenty of NRL experience into his side with Jack Wighton, Keaon Koloamatangi and Tallis Duncan coming in.
Dodd partnered Jayden Sullivan in the halves with Cody Walker rested ahead of the Round 1 trip to Suncorp Stadium to face the Dolphins.
Dodd forced a line dropout early in the contest but in the next set his grubber kick was blocked by the defence, leading to the Red V’s fourth try of the game.
The Englishman was placed on report for a high tackle in a forgettable first-half showing, then sin-binned for the first 10 minutes of the second half due to Finau failing his HIA – a rule not in place for the regular season.
Dragons recruit Damien Cook passes. (Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images)
Another new recruit in Humphreys impressed after being inserted into Dodd’s spot, laying on two tries before crashing over for one of his own, giving Bennett something to think about for his Round 1 line-up.
As with the loss to Manly, errors and a lack of possession were factors but Dodd again failed to make his mark with Humphreys making more impact after replacing the marquee signing.
Dragons coach Shane Flanagan stuck with a line-up featuring plenty of veterans, including Cook in dummy half and Clint Gutherson wearing the No.1 jersey, giving his son Kyle and Lachlan Ilias another chance to gel in the playmaking roles as Ilias had an early opportunity to take on the side that deemed him surplus to requirements.
The extra experience in the Red V’s ranks showed as they scored 34 points unanswered in a dominant start to the game with Moses Suli and Holmes impressing, and Finau scoring four times before going off with suspected heatstroke then not returning after his failed HIA.
Finau grabs four-try haul, Humphreys makes impact
Finau went over for the first try after six minutes after some silky hands from Holmes who did well to rein in a questionable pass and get the ball to his winger.
Camped inside the South Sydney half and dominating possession, the Dragons would make their advantage count as Mathew Feagai scored in the opposite corner.
From the next set, Ilias finished off an excellent team move started with a barnstorming run from Moses Suli with the lead blowing out to 18-0 with just 15 minutes played.
After a Dodd grubber was blocked by Luciano Leilua, Valentine Holmes capitalised and ran 70 metres before passing to Finau who doubled his tally.
Cracks were starting to show in the Rabbitohs defence and more slick passing led to the Dragons’ fifth try with Finau completing his hat-trick in less than 20 minutes.
A lopsided penalty count put more pressure on the Bunnies and before long Finau had his fourth four-pointer after a skillful play from Leilua.
Jye Gray finally gave the Souths fans something to cheer, showcasing his speed as he chased his own grubber to score.
Gray then turned provider, going through some very questionable defence and setting up Sullivan with South Sydney 34-10 behind at half-time.
Despite Dodd’s sin-binning, Souths were next to score through Koloamatangi and the big man doubled his tally not long after as Jamie Humphreys began to get more involved.
With the Dragons defence crumbling and Souths back to 13 men, Humphreys crashed over with the deficit reduced to just eight points.
Ilias was having a good afternoon in attack and set up Suli to arrest the run of four straight Souths tries before Ryan Couchman went over to finish the contest.
