Who needs Latrell when you have… Latrell!

MATCH CENTRE: Rabbitohs vs Sharks teams, scores, videos, updates

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A late replacement for his superstar namesake, Latrell Siegwalt played a starring role for South Sydney as they put the Sharks to the sword on Saturday night.

A 120-strong contingent of family and friends from Wagga Wagga and Walgett were on hand for Siegwalt’s maiden NRL appearance, where he laid on the final pass for two Alex Johnston tries.

Managing to assume the goal kicking duties in Latrell Mitchell’s absence, Siegwalt scored a third of the Rabbitohs’ points in their 36-12 win.

South Sydney, led by the returning Jye Gray and craft of Cody Walker, were otherwise savage in victory.

Having conceded 42 points six days earlier in Newcastle, the Rabbitohs were barely threatened defensively outside of late tries to Sharks duo KL Iro and Mawene Hiroti.

Red Bull High Flyer Player Rankings.Source: FOX SPORTS

REDEFINING HISTORY

The Alex Johnston honours list continued to grow following his historic hattrick against the Sharks.

While it didn’t receive the fanfare of his 213th try which saw him jump Ken Irvine to become the game’s most prolific try scorer, Johnston’s 17th hattrick of his career came with two more distinct honours.

Days removed from becoming the Papua New Guinea Chiefs’ second signing, Johnston’s three tries saw him jump immortals Irvine and Frank Burge for the most hattricks in Australian first grade rugby league history.

Despite being hobbled by an apparent knee injury for the majority of the game Johnston persevered and in doing so also scored his 100th try at Accor Stadium, the most by a player at a single venue.

ANOTHER STEP BACK

How many corners can one club turn to finally start being taken seriously?

A 50-point last start win over the Wests Tigers was supposedly another line in the sand for the Sharks to finally flex their premiership credentials.

And yet, a week on, they hardly made a South Sydney team missing Mitchell and Jack Wighton sweat.

Two late tries brought respect to the scoreboard but did not make up for their toothless performance.

To make matters worse for the Sharks, and potentially his New South Wales Origin aspirations, a concussion to skipper Blayke Brailey will likely mean the hooker misses next weekend’s Magic Round.

FOX LAB STATS

– Souths snap a five game losing streak against the Sharks – Their biggest win against them at Accor (was 31-12 in 2011)

– Souths the sixth team this season to score 30 points and lose before winning their next game – no team has lost after scoring 30 in a loss this season.

– Six straight games for Souths scoring 30 points or more – just two short of their record set in 2021.

– Cronulla is still the only team to have every match this season decided by double figures. Their wins this season have been by an average of 27 points – their losses by an average of 19.

– Souths led 30-0 after 72 minutes.

– Souths completed over 90 percent of their sets (39/43) – their best this season.

– Cameron McInnes was placed on report for a high tackle in the 16th minute – He has no charges in the past 12 months.

– Jesse Colquhoun was placed on report late in the first half for a late and high tackle. One unrelated hip drop charge in the past 12 months.

– Thomas Hazelton was placed on report for a high tackle in the 50th minute – has just one unrelated hip drop charge in the past 12 months.

– Blayke Brailey left the field late in the game after a collision with Cameron Murray when the latter was scoring his try. It was ruled to be category one – and he will be required to miss the Sharks magic round clash with the Bulldogs pending any appeal by the Sharks. This would end his 139 game streak without missing one.

– Campbell Graham celebrated his 150th game with his 70th try.

Fox Lab POTM – Alex Johnston grabbed multiple tries in a match for the 61st time – 11 more than the next best player Ken Irvine. His 17th hat-trick, overtakes Frank Burge and Ken Irvine for the most 3+ games ever. First Rabbitoh since Benny Wearing (1922-23) to score in nine straight games. 100 tries at Accor – first player to score 100 tries at any venue. He had a hand in another try, ran for 156 metres, made five linebeaks and busted seven tackles.

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TEAMS

Souths team: 1. Jye Gray 2. Alex Johnston 23. Latrell Siegwalt 4. Campbell Graham 5. Edward Kosi 6. Cody Walker 7. Ashton Ward 8. Keaon Koloamatangi 9. Bronson Garlick 10. Sean Keppie 11. Euan Aitken 12. Tallis Duncan 13. Cameron Murray 14. Matthew Dufty 15. Lachlan Hubner 17. Tevita Tatola 18. Peter Mamouzelos 19. Adam Elliott 21. Moala Graham-Taufa

Sharks team: 1. William Kennedy 2. Mawene Hiroti 3. Siosifa Talakai 4. KL Iro 5. Samuel Stonestreet 6. Braydon Trindall 7. Nicho Hynes 8. Addin Fonua-Blake 9. Blayke Brailey 10. Toby Rudolf 11. Briton Nikora 12. Teig Wilton 13. Cameron McInnes 14. Jesse Colquhoun 15. Billy Burns 16. Oregon Kaufusi 17. Thomas Hazelton 18. Hohepa Puru 20. Riley Jones