Latrell fires as Souths dismantle determined Titans
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An explosive first half from Rabbitohs fullback Latrell Mitchell has put the Titans to the sword 32-12 at Bankwest Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Mitchell scored one try and set up two more as the Bunnies raced to a 24-6 lead in the first 24 minutes and while the Titans fought back impressively from that point the Souths defence was good enough to ensure their second win of the season.
Returning playmaker Cody Walker added some spark to the Souths attack while Cam Murray's return to the middle continues to pay dividends. Mitchell's third try assist of the game in the final five minutes sealed a big win.
To the Titans' credit they improved dramatically from the time of Souths' fourth try, keeping the Rabbitohs try-less for the next 50 minutes and creating plenty of second half chances, but they weren't able to narrow the Bunnies' lead enough to cause any serious concerns for Wayne Bennett.
Coming off last week's morale-boosting win against the Wests Tigers, the discipline shown to stay in the contest was admirable. Bryce Cartwright shook off a middling first half with a dangerous second, proving a constant threat on the right edge.
There is one concern from the Rabbitohs, with second-rower Jaydn Su'A placed on report for a shoulder charge in the second half.
Match: Rabbitohs v Titans
Round 5 -
home Team
Rabbitohs
10th Position
away Team
Titans
16th Position
Venue: CommBank Stadium, Sydney
Mitchell opened the scoring in the fourth minute, helped by a late-set penalty conceded by the Titans, hitting a Cook flat ball at the line for first points.
The Titans hit back four minutes later when Phillip Sami burned Braidon Burns on a right-side shift but that was as good as it got for the visitors.
A Bryce Cartwright forward pass in the set after points was followed by two six-again calls against the Titans with the pressure eventually telling when a deft Walker grubber handed Alex Johnston a simple four-pointer.
Dane Gagai was the beneficiary of a perfect tap-on from Mitchell in the 18th minute before Burns profited from a Mitchell grubber that wrong-footed the defence with the Bunnies going at a point-a-minute after 24 minutes.
The Titans had their share of chances, several times earning repeat sets at the Rabbitohs' line, but asked few questions of the defence. The only further points in the opening stanza came when Tyrone Peachey fouled Cody Walker as he chased an attacking kick, handing Reynolds an easy two points in the final minute of the half.
The Titans began the second 40 with renewed vigour, producing their best defensive set of the game to earn territory then finishing their set perfectly with a Jamal Fogarty bomb that was collected by Anthony Don, who handed it off for Cartwright to score.
Bennett: Mitchell will do better at fullback than he did at centre
Having also fixed up their woeful first-half completion rate, the Titans were able to assert some sustained pressure.
A Cartwright kick to an unmarked Don was a fraction too heavy while Keegan Hipgrave lost it trying to barge over from dummy half and later some desperate Souths scramble was needed to deny Don from another kick.
With 14 points to make up and 14 minutes remaining, Cartwright was denied after the Bunker found a Titans knock-on in the lead up to his put-down and with their fifth close call coming up empty the team seemed resigned it was not to be their day.
Instead it was that man Mitchell who asserted himself once again, busting a tackle and offloading to hand Gagai his second of the afternoon.
