South Sydney Rabbitohs preliminary final player ratings

Player ratings for the South Sydney Rabbitohs team for the NRL preliminary final against Canberra.

1. Adam Doueihi: Copped early punishment from Joey Leilua and then Joe Tapine, but retrieved a number of Jack Wighton and Josh Hodgson kicks well. Made several incisive runs to rack up 136 metres in the first-half and 194 for the match. Another heavy tackle from Josh Papalii and Doueihi was off for an HIA. But returned and was one of Souths' best. 8.5/10

2. Alex Johnston: Head was heavily bandaged after last week’s head clash against Manly. He had to revert to fullback while Doueihi had his concussion tests. Made a tackle bust and eight runs but was quiet by his standards. 5.5

5. Campbell Graham: Gave away a penalty early for holding on too long, but Jarrod Croker missed the shot at goal. Graham was moved into the centres through James Roberts' absence, but scored the last try of the night. 6

4. Dane Gagai: Defence had a lot more starch in it this week as he contained Croker, and then ran over him and Nick Cotric to score the Rabbitohs' first try. He also dragged down Wighton after a 60-metre bust. 7.5

19. Corey Allan: Lost the ball trying to get back into the field of play, which led to the Raiders’ first try. But got close to the try line himself a couple of times, and busted out of two tackles. 5.5

6. Cody Walker: Stripped of the ball on the try line by Hodgson, but followed up with a grubber which forced a scrum after John Bateman knocked on. First play and Gagai scores in the right corner. Walker was creative and cunning all night with two line breaks and 10 tackle breaks. Made a try-saving tackle on Aidan Sezer in the second half and dragged Nicoll-Klokstad back into the in-goal. 8.5

7. Adam Reynolds: Positional kicking was on song in the first half. But kicking out on the full not long after the break was uncharacteristic. Made up for it with a left-foot grubber for a repeat set and then a break down field, which led to Nicoll-Klokstad being sin-binned. 6.5

12. Sam Burgess: Took the first hit-up from kick-off after he was shifted to starting prop by coach Wayne Bennett. Hurt his left shoulder reaching out to bring Croker down and came to the sideline for a spell. Played 52 minutes and was hampered by the shoulder when he returned. 6

9. Damien Cook: Jumping quickly out of dummy-half caused headaches for the Raiders, and almost led to a first-half try by Junior Tatola. He topped his side’s tackle count (54) as per usual, but couldn’t stop Papalii at the death. Seemed to lack his usual spark as the game wore on. 6.5

10. Liam Knight: Made 30 tackles and two off-loads but didn’t have the sting of previous games. 6

11. John Sutton: Good last-tackle kick to get a repeat set midway through the second half with the game in the balance. Stole the ball off John Bateman in a reversal of fortune, and gave the last pass – a try assist – to Campbell Graham as his final play in the NRL. 6.5

16. Ethan Lowe: Was Josh Hodgson’s first strip victim of the night, but tackled anything that moved from there on. Ran for 108 metres. 6

13. Cameron Murray: Worked well with Sam Burgess through the middle from the get-go. Brought down Croker on a burst as he typically threw himself everywhere in defence. Had the second-highest tackle count (34) for the Rabbitohs. 7.5

Interchange

8. Tom Burgess: Had 27 minutes on the field and made eight runs for 100 metres but lacked real penetration. 5.5

15. Junior Tatola: Was a handful close to the line once again, and kept the Raiders on their toes for the 32 minutes he played. 7

17. Mark Nicholls: Carried the ball up well but with just 15 minutes game time it wasn’t long enough to leave a real mark. 5.5

20. Dean Britt: Hadn’t played since round 23 when he came off the bench in the 22-20 win over the Broncos, but got the call-up at the 11^th hour for the preliminary final. He pushed up hard in his 26 minutes in the second half. 6

Canberra Raiders preliminary final player ratings

The views in this article do not necessarily express the opinions of the NRL, ARLC, NRL clubs or state associations.