Rabbitohs sink Bulldogs’ finals chances with dominant win

So that is that.

With three-and-a-half rounds of football still remaining, the top eight has all but been decided.

This is a rivalry often celebrated on a Good Friday, but for Canterbury this is a very black one indeed. With everything to play for, Cameron Ciraldo’s team didn’t register a point until Enari Tuala went over in the 63rd minute. By then, it was too little, too late.

In defeating Canterbury, Souths have effectively ended their season and extended their own. While there may be some permutation that would allow the Bulldogs to scrape into the play-offs, so poor is their for-and-against that you can effectively put a line through them.

Asked if he was still hopeful of qualifying for the post-season, Ciraldo replied: “Hope’s not a strategy.

“All we can control is how we play next Saturday night. That’s all we can worry about now, we can’t worry about anything else.”

In climbing, at least temporarily, above Newcastle into sixth spot, the Rabbitohs have almost certainly booked their first finals appearance since 2022.

Thursday night’s Roosters-Panthers clash – the best game of the year to date – was a defensive masterclass. Inspired by what they had witnessed just 24 hours earlier, Souths showed similar resolve on their line.

Canterbury captain Stephen Crichton seemed try-bound early, only for Jack Wighton to somehow contort his body under the ball to make a save. Jethro Rinakama was also bound for glory, only for Cameron Murray to produce an equalling stunning stop. It is a fair turnaround for a side that conceded over 29 points per game since Round 18.

“They are vital, they make a difference in a game,” Souths coach Wayne Bennett said about the desperation on the goal-line.

“Stopping them on the tryline from getting the ball down, everyone gets confidence from that … It’s a state of mind. They can do it, they don’t always want to do it.

“They are learning how to win, these guys, what works for them and what doesn’t. Today they applied it for 80 minutes and got a great result.”

The best defensive stop of the night, however, belonged to Crichton. His decision to invade the space of referee Ashley Klein proved a try-saving one.

Under the pump for much of the opening quarter, the Rabbitohs were rewarded for not cracking. David Fifita, the best on ground, pounced on a Cody Walker grubber to open the scoring. Only moments earlier, a similar grubber from Lachlan Galvin went dead-in-goal.

Fifita and Crichton, meanwhile, kept finding each other. The Maroons forward ran straight over the top of his opponent in the eighth minute, the collision of the night. Crichton, to his credit, didn’t back down and had a few personal wins of his own, like the penalty he milked from the back-rower late in the opening half.

Walker also had a hand in the second try, yet another example of the ball singing along that lethal left edge. If there is a better job in rugby league than being Alex Johnston, we are yet to find it.

Canterbury needed to start the second half well. Souths kicked off and the ball – and the Bulldogs’ finals prospects – slipped through Bailey Hayward’s hands.

It’s a good thing this didn’t come down to goal-kicking. Bud Sullivan kicked just the seventh goal of his career, and then appeared to injure his groin in attempting an eighth. A decade after making his NRL debut, it was left to Matt Dufty to stand over the tee for the first time. Late in the game, there was an opportunity to extend the lead beyond two converted tries with a penalty goal. Bereft of options, they tapped and scored. It will be an area of concern for the tighter, more important games that lay ahead.