The week couldn’t have started any worse for the Rabbitohs with Latrell Mitchell going down injured, but they find themselves in the top four after a Cody Walker masterclass ruined another Mitchell Moses milestone.

Walker tormented Kelma Tuilagi with a try in each half as Souths overcame the mid-week loss of their best player to knock off a terribly disappointing Parramatta side 32-12 on Thursday night.

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The veteran five-eighth sliced through twice with almost identical plays, while Brandon Smith and David Fifita both had strong games to help them pick up two crucial competition points for a team that’s already had three byes.

South Sydney’s attack has won them countless matches over the years, but it was their defence that got them home this time around with a couple of huge plays to deny certain tries when the Eels had all the momentum.

Tallis Duncan came up with an extraordinary tackle to deny Sean Russell, while diminutive halfback Ashton Ward somehow stopped Ronald Volkman before his teammates scrambled to shut down an overlap.

MATCH CENTRE: Eels vs Rabbitohs live score

BIG HITS

UGLY MILESTONE

Moses must hate these special games because he’s now lost every major milestone match that he’s played in.

And this one was particularly ugly with the blue and golds completing just 60 per cent of their sets as all their recent good work came undone.

It took two Souths tries for Eels coach Jason Ryles to throw a walkie talkie and punch a hole in a wall, and things didn’t get any better despite Moses setting up two tries to get them level early in the second half.

That’s as good as it got with Moses coming up with four errors, including a poor pass that was intercepted and eventually led to Tallis Duncan’s second try of the night.

In defence, the Eels half was disappointing as well with a couple of bad defensive reads leading to South Sydney tries.

“Mitch Moses had an unusually really poor night in defence,” Fox League’s Matty Johns said.

“Both of those Walker tries he slid out when he didn’t have to. It wasn’t a good 250th. That’s every milestone game he has lost,” Eels legend Nathan Hindmarsh added.

KICKING AND SCREAMING

Eels centre Sean Russell faces a nervous wait for the charges to drop after he was placed on report for an ugly incident that saw the Rabbitohs awarded a potential eight-point try.

It all started with Parramatta attacking South Sydney’s line, only for powerhouse winger Ed Kosi to intercept a pass to flip field position.

Duncan then crashed over a few plays later, with the Bunker spotting an act of foul play from Russell who kicked Duncan in the head as he grounded the ball.

Souths missed the first shot at goal but then converted from in front as Kosi limped off with a cork, while fullback Jye Gray was forced off a couple of minutes later after a sickening head clash with Russell but passed his HIA.

STAT ATTACK – Fox Sports Lab

Fox Lab Expected Set Points: Rabbitohs 26.6, Eels 23.6.

Both teams struggled with completing their sets (Rabbitohs 78%, Eels 60%) and the Eels struggled in the attacking zone, scoring only two tries despite having 39 tackles in the opposition 20.

Souths climb into the top four for the moment, with their eight win of the season. Already the ninth time they have surpassed 30 points this season – have done so more in a year on just three occasions.

Eels 10th loss of the season – their sixth by 20 points or more. Have scored just 69 points in their past five games.

Souths won 10 of 11 against the Eels since 2020 – Easily the Eels worst record against any team over that period. The average margin of those wins is almost 20 points.

Sean Russell was placed on report for lashing out with his boot trying to stop the Tallis Duncan try. He had a dangerous contact charge in round 5.

Ed Kosi limped from the field mid-way through the second half with a bad cork to his quad.

Jye Gray left the field just before the hour mark for a HIA after a nasty head clash, but he passed his assessment and returned to finish the game.

Unfortunately for Mitchell Moses, another milestone game passes with a loss. It was a very unhappy night for the Eels playmaker, with 4 errors, and three try causes.

Cody Walker scored the 18th try double of his career – 3rd this season.

Fox Lab POTM -Tallis Duncan grabbed the 5th try double of his career – second against the Eels. He set up another try and ran 17 times for 146 metres, and made 15 tackles without missing one.

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