John Sattler honoured with thrilling golden-point win over Manly

Ilias kicks first field goal of his NRL career to claim victory

South Sydney has honoured John Sattler with a thrilling golden-point win over Manly, after Lachlan Ilias kicked the first field goal of his NRL career to claim the 13-12 victory.

In Saturday’s earlier match, the Cowboys defeated the Titans 24-12 in their Queensland derby.

Ilias makes crucial golden-point field goal

With Sattler’s family in attendance and co-owner Russell Crowe also at Sydney’s Stadium Australia, Ilias nailed a shot from 25 metres out in the third minute of golden-point extra time. It came after the Sea Eagles made a crucial error on their opening set of extra time, when Josh Aloiai put the ball down under the posts and gifted possession to the Rabbitohs.

The win allowed the Rabbitohs to go back to an even win-loss record of 2-2, while the Sea Eagles posted their first loss of the season.

Rabbitohs prevail in gruelling match

The Rabbitohs, wearing commemorative jerseys just days after Sattler’s death on Monday at age 80, did it in a way that would have made the four-time premiership captain proud. Missing six of their pack through injuries, they outlasted the Sea Eagles in a gruelling affair.

Within minutes of their win, the crowd fell silent as footage of Sattler’s 1970 grand-final performance against Manly with a broken jaw played on the big screens.

Cody Walker leads Rabbitohs’ attack

Earlier, Cody Walker scored both of the Rabbitohs’ tries, although he still endured a difficult night with the boot in general play. His first came when he chased through on a Damien Cook grubber kick and got the ball down within centimetres of the dead-ball line despite Daly Cherry-Evans trying to shadow him off the ball.

Then, with the Rabbitohs down 12-6, Walker dummied to get outside Brad Parker and make his way over to reduce the margin to two points.

Mitchell and Trbojevic subdued in defensive match-up

In a match expected to be a shootout between fullbacks Latrell Mitchell and Tom Trbojevic, both had subdued nights as defence dominated attack. Trbojevic showed signs of poking his nose through at points in the Sea Eagles’ attack and was denied a try from a questionable forward-pass call but was never able to break into full flight in the slippery conditions.

Instead, it was Haumole Olakau’atu who produced the most magic for the visitors. The second rower showed the skills of a winger by leaping above Isaiah Tass to take a Cherry-Evans kick one handed and get it down.

Brimson and Foran injured in Titans loss to Cowboys

Gold Coast could be without two vital members of its spine for some weeks after AJ Brimson and Kieran Foran were injured in the loss to North Queensland in Townsville.

Brimson and Foran were strong for a fast-starting Titans outfit that enjoyed an early lead in the second Queensland derby in 24 hours, but the Titans lost their way before the Cowboys clung on to victory in an error-strewn and chaotic final 20 minutes.

Cowboys secure victory despite injuries

Despite the loss of Brimson and Foran, it was the Titans who took an 8-6 lead into half-time after Alofiana Khan-Pereira dotted down in the third minute for his fourth try in as many matches.

The Cowboys sealed the result with seven minutes remaining when Tom Chester dotted down with his fingertips after a falcon and the ball ricocheting off several players.

Holmes was the standout for North Queensland, registering a match-high 225 metres but he was not without his own errors. Jordan McLean became the only Cowboys forward to crack 100 running metres in their last two outings, while skipper Tino Fa’asuamaleaui led the charge for the Titans with 174 of his own.

Credit: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-25/nrl-cowboys-titans-souths-manly/102141946

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