Rabbitohs' revival in finals push; Sea Eagles exposed as young gun ...

The Rabbitohs have secured a crucial 16-0 Round 16 victory in a low-scoring and scrappy affair against the Sea Eagles to record four wins in-a-row.

There was a staggering 23 errors in the clash, while the Sea Eagles completed at only 68 per cent in a dismal showing at Accor Stadium.

The first four-pointer of the night came from Richard Kennar, who burst over the line whilst the rain continued to pour down Sydney.

MATCH CENTRE: Rabbitohs v Sea Eagles, scores, stats

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It was veteran hooker Damien Cook who orchestrated that four-pointer, hitting his centre with a pinpoint pass on the tryline.

The next try came in the 20th minute, with Cody Walker finding young livewire fullback Jye Gray in space.

The 20-year-old then sliced through the line to score his first ever NRL try in a special moment for the rising star who was labelled “excellent” by Greg Alexander.

He’d been sidelined since Round 9 due to a syndesmosis injury, but returned just in time to slot into the No.1 jersey for Latrell Mitchell who was called up for the Blues in the centres.

From there it was a see-sawing clash that saw both teams make a mountain of errors.

Sea Eagles flyer Tommy Talau crossed the white line, but the Bunker almost immediately ruled out the try after Ben Condon stopped in the defensive line as a decoy runner.

Keaon Kolomatangi scored in the closing stages of the clash, grounding the ball off a Damien Cook kick.

While Anthony Seibold’s side had no joy on Saturday night, it was a special night for Fiji international Caleb Navale who made his NRL debut.

Going back in the record books, the last time the Rabbitohs scored eight points or less and won was in 1989.

Read below for the big talking points out of the clash!

RABBITOHS’ SENSATIONAL TURNAROUND

a year after they squandered top spot to sensationally miss the finals, the Bunnies are on the cusp of one of the great turnarounds and are now just four points outside the top eight with a bye coming up next week.

Sydney’s wet weather and the drain of State of Origin turned this one into a game the purists even struggled to enjoy, with stadium officials declaring a very generous 10,576 turned up to watch Cook step up with Latrell Mitchell missing.

The veteran rake announced earlier in the week that he’d be off to the Dragons on a two-year deal, and he showed on Saturday that he’s still got plenty of petrol left in the tank with two assists and three line-break assists when everyone else struggled.

Elsewhere, rugby league legend Cooper Cronk praised the Rabbitohs and Ben Hornby for turning their fortunes around.

“Well done to South Sydney. What was it, five weeks ago, that’s four wins in-a-row now, they were on their knees,” Cronk said.

“The club was in a really bad spot. Jason Demetriou was sacked, their players weren’t playing well at all, they lacked a lot of spirit in the way they went about it.

“But something has turned. Four on the trot. Well done.”

SEA EAGLES’ ORIGIN WOES

There will be plenty of talk on the Northern Beaches about pausing the competition during the Origin period after a depleted Sea Eagles side failed to offer anything in attack as they missed the chance to move up to sixth.

Daly Cherry-Evans, Jake Trbojevic and Haumole Olakau’atu were on Origin duty, Reuben Garrick and Taniela Paseka were both nursing injuries from last week and Tom Trbojevic was still out, with the Sea Eagles forced to play Tommy Talau in the halves with a large chunk of their squad unavailable.

Talau did well to deny Alex Johnston on the stroke of half-time but he dropped a ball to start the second half and then had a try disallowed for obstruction, with halves partner Luke Brooks forced to do the bulk of the kicking.

The night couldn’t have started any worse with Manly burning its challenge after two minutes, and it didn’t get any better with Talau placed on report twice for a late hit on Cody Walker and a high shot on Jai Arrow.

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GRAY’S TIMELY RETURN

Jye Gray returned from a syndesmosis injury in Round 16 at the perfect time, slotting in for Latrell Mitchell at fullback after he was called up for Origin.

The 20-year-old is a star of the future and has already shown he can well and truly mix it with the best in first grade, scoring his first NRL try in his fourth game on Saturday.

It was a complete performance for Gray in Round 16, running for 175 metres and breaking four tackles to go with two linebreaks.

What’s more is Gray made five tackles with no misses, explaining South Sydney legend John Sutton has been instrumental in his development week to week.

“Obviously everyone in the spine (have been important),” Gray said.

“Cookie (Damien Cook), Cody (Walker), Trell (Latrell Mitchell). Everyone that was there for me last year.

“They all give a helping hand. And I’ve got to give a shoutout to (John) Sutto as well. He’s a big influence. He helps me after every game, goes through video and stuff.”

Meanwhile, he almost hailed the importance of halfback Walker on his game.

“He does all my thinking. I turn up, catch the ball and run as hard as I can. I trust him to make the right decision. He’s so good to play with,” he said.

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