South Sydney halfback Adam Reynolds showed off his pinpoint attacking kicking game as the Rabbitohs edged the Sharks 14-12 at ANZ Stadium in Round 2 this year. Coming off the back of an impressive win over old rivals Sydney Roosters in their season opener, Souths were off to a fast start with Reynolds putting in a pinpoint cross-field chip on the run for Andrew Everingham to score in the 4th minute. Ten minutes later Reynolds was at it again, with a grubber behind the line sitting up perfectly for a flying Dylan Farrell.
Cronulla hit back soon after on the back of a Todd Carney run, the Sharks five-eighth breaking a tackle and shifting the ball out to the right for Michael Gordon to steam through and score.
That made it 12-6 and it was 23 more minutes before either side troubled the scoreboard attendants with Reynolds kicking a penalty goal right on half-time to make it an eight-point game at the break.
The Rabbitohs had plenty of chances to put the game to bed in the second stanza but after wasting all of them, they gifted Cronulla a try as a loose pass was swooped upon by Beau Ryan who raced 95 metres to score and make it 14-12. Unfortunately for the visitors, they couldn’t add to that and land a killer blow and Souths came away with their second win from as many starts.
There was very little between the sides in the stats columns either, with Souths enjoying a slight edge in possession with 51 per cent although Cronulla produced 21 offloads to the Rabbitohs’ seven.
Greg Inglis was strong for the home side with 198 metres and eight tackle-breaks while his opposite number, Gordon, ran for 171 metres, scored a try, made two line-breaks and produced 12 tackle-breaks.