South Sydney star Latrell Mitchell has led his side to a dominant victory over Canterbury in the opening game of a bumper Good Friday double-header.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The centre scored a double and finished with 20 points as the Rabbitohs secured a 32-24 win in front of a big crowd at Accor Stadium.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Canterbury led 18-12 at half-time but the game turned four minutes into the second half when skipper Stephen Crichton suffered a shoulder injury. The centre played no further part in the match and will be sent for scans for the AC joint injury.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Rabbitohs took control of the contest after Crichton left the fray and didn’t look back. Tallis Duncan was exceptional, while Cameron Murray also scored a try in an impressive second-half showing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We stay in Sydney’s west for the latest instalment in the epic modern-day rivalry that is the Panthers and Storm.<\/p>\n
The last time the Storm lost three in a row was midway through 2022 so you can expect their big guns Cameron Munster, Jahrome Hughes and Harry Grant to come out firing as they look to put their campaign back on track.<\/p>\n
Follow all the action from Round 5 of the NRL Telstra Premiership on NRL.com’s live blog.<\/p>\n
Rabbitohs v Bulldogs at Accor Stadium<\/p>\n
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NRL Press Conference: Rabbitohs v Bulldogs – Round 5, 2026<\/p>\n
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Rabbitohs v Bulldogs – Round 5, 2026<\/p>\n
Full-time:\u00a0South Sydney have produced a near flawless second half to run over the top of the Bulldogs and claim a comprehensive victory in the annual Good Friday clash. The Rabbitohs were on song in front of a big crowd at Accor Stadium, turning an 18-12 half-time deficit into a 32-24 win. Canterbury’s afternoon turned pear-shaped when captain Stephen Crichton suffered a shoulder injury in the 44th minute and he played no further part in the game. Rabbitohs 32 – Bulldogs 24.<\/p>\n
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Connor Tracey Try<\/p>\n
80th minute:\u00a0Something to celebrate in the dying minutes for the Bulldogs with Connor Tracey crossing with just under 60 seconds left to play. Matt Burton nailed the conversion, but the deficit remains eight as the clock ticks down.\u00a0Rabbitohs 32 – Bulldogs 24.\u00a0<\/p>\n
75th minute:\u00a0Canterbury are starting to chance their arm as they chase points and the errors continue to mount. The Bulldogs have now made nine errors in the second half as this match slips away from his grasp. South Sydney have completed 24 of 24 sets after half-time, Canterbury are just five from 13.\u00a0 Rabbitohs 32 – Bulldogs 18.<\/p>\n
70th minute:\u00a0Ill discipline continues to hurt the Bulldogs and the Rabbitohs have extended their lead. This time it’s Sean O’Sullivan who is penalised for a high tackle on Jye Gray, moments after the South Sydney fullback dropped the ball. Gray has left the field for an HIA, while Latrell Mitchell slotted another penalty goal. He’s up to 20 points for the game now.\u00a0Rabbitohs 32 – Bulldogs 18.<\/p>\n
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Latrell Mitchell 2nd Try<\/p>\n
67th minute:\u00a0South Sydney have capitalised on the opportunity with Latrell Mitchell producing a sensational pick up to score his second. Cody Walker put the grubber through, Connor Tracey spilled the ball and Mitchell somehow picked it up off his shoelaces to extend his side’s lead.\u00a0Rabbitohs 30 – Bulldogs 18.<\/p>\n
64th minute:\u00a0Canterbury continue to make life difficult for themselves, conceding another penalty to hand South Sydney an easy exit from their own end. In more disappointing news, captain Stephen Crichton has been ruled out for the remainder of the match and will go for scans on Saturday.\u00a0Rabbitohs 24 – Bulldogs 18.<\/p>\n
60th minute:\u00a0Captain’s Challenge for the Bulldogs and this is a big moment in the game. Jacob Kiraz spilled the ball on the first tackle and argued the ball was stripped. The Bunker quickly dismisses his appeal and rules it was a loose carry. South Sydney have a scrum 15 metres out and a chance to kick further clear.\u00a0Rabbitohs 24 – Bulldogs 18.<\/p>\n
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Cameron Murray Try<\/p>\n
57th minute:\u00a0The Bunnies are back on top, with Cam Murray winning the race to a Jamie Humphreys grubber. Wayne Bennett’s men have had the upper-hand since Bulldogs skipper Stephen Crichton left the field and they now have the lead.\u00a0Rabbitohs 24 – Bulldogs 18.\u00a0<\/p>\n
56th minute:\u00a0Just when Canterbury looked to have turned the momentum, Cameron Ciraldo’s men concede another penalty and South Sydney are back on the attack.\u00a0Rabbitohs 18 – Bulldogs 18.<\/p>\n
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Tallis Duncan Try<\/p>\n
48th minute:\u00a0The Rabbitohs have pounced and it’s through the channel Stephen Crichton usually defends. A pair of high tackle penalties allowed South Sydney to build attacking pressure and they eventually pounced. Jye Gray stepped into first receiver, Tallis Duncan ran an excellent line and burst through a large gap to score the equaliser. Meanwhile, Crichton is being assessed for an injury to the AC joint in his shoulder. Rabbitohs 18 – Bulldogs 18.\u00a0<\/p>\n
44th minute:\u00a0Concern for players from both teams, with Bulldogs skipper Stephen Crichton clutching at his right shoulder after landing awkwardly in a tackle. Rabbitohs fullback Jye Gray is also struggling with a shoulder injury, having been tackled following a spectacular take of a bomb. Crichton has left the field and is heading straight up the sheds. Sean O’Sullivan enters the fray and will play in the halves, with Matt Burton shifting to the centres. Gray will stay on the field for now. Rabbitohs 12 – Bulldogs 18.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kick-off:\u00a0We are back underway in front of a big crowd at Accor Stadium. South Sydney have first use of the ball as they look to hit back early in the second half. Canterbury dominated the final 10 minutes of the first half and they are out to pick up where they left off.\u00a0Rabbitohs 12 – Bulldogs 18.<\/p>\n
Half-time:\u00a0The siren has sounded on an entertaining 40 minutes and it’s Canterbury who take a six-point lead into the sheds. South Sydney were impressive in the first 20 minutes but the last 10 were all Canterbury. Tries to Lachlan Galvin and Sitili Tupouniua saw the Bulldogs turn a 12-6 deficit into an 18-12 lead and they will look to keep the momentum rolling after the break.\u00a0Rabbitohs 12 – Bulldogs 18.<\/p>\n
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Bulldogs apply the pressure and Tupouniua seals the deal<\/p>\n
38th minute:\u00a0Sitili Tupouniua came close to scoring a few minutes ago and now he’s got one of his own. Canterbury continued their tactic of kicking bombs to Alex Johnston, who spilled the ball. Enari Tuala scooped it up and was dragged down centimetres from the line by a desperate Jye Gray tackle. Tupouniua picked up the ball from dummy half and muscled his way past Gray to score in the corner.\u00a0Rabbitohs 12 – Bulldogs 18.\u00a0<\/p>\n
35th minute: Canterbury have hit their stride and they have their first lead of the afternoon. A dominant set saw the visitors roll 100 metres down the field before Matt Burton put up a bomb on the last. Latrell Mitchell went up for a contest with Enari Tuala, Mitchell knocked it on and it was picked up by an offside Cody Walker. The Bulldogs opted for the penalty goal to take the lead.\u00a0Rabbitohs 12 – Bulldogs 14.<\/p>\n
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Lachlan Galvin Try<\/p>\n
32nd minute:\u00a0The Bulldogs have instantly capitalised on the opportunity, with Lachlan Galvin pouncing on a grubber in the in-goal. The halfback noticed Jye Gray was out of position and kicked for Sitili Tupouniua. The forward was in a tussle with Jack Wighton for the ball, it got deflected and Galvin was on the spot to score the try.\u00a0Rabbitohs 12 – Bulldogs 12.\u00a0<\/p>\n
30th minute:\u00a0Canterbury have their chance to hit back. Stephen Crichton produced a silky pass to send Jacob Kiraz away down the left flank. The winger threw an offload straight to Rabbitohs opposite Campbell Graham, who spilled the ball. Fresh set on the attack for the Bulldogs. Rabbitohs 12 – Bulldogs 6.<\/p>\n
26th minute:\u00a0Stephen Crichton has made an uncharacteristic error on the first tackle. The Bulldogs compounded the error by being slow to pack the subsequent scrum. The clock ran out, handing the Rabbitohs a penalty. Latrell Mitchell slotted the attempt at goal and the lead is six. Rabbitohs 12 – Bulldogs 6.<\/p>\n
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Latrell Mitchell try<\/p>\n
24th minute:\u00a0Latrell Mitchell is claiming a try and the Rabbitohs have hit straight back. Tallis Duncan burst through the Bulldogs defensive line before being tackled by Connor Tracey. A couple of plays later, Cody Walker noticed Tracey was out of position and produced a deft kick into the in-goal for Mitchell to charge through. The centre got there just before it crossed the dead-ball line to put his team back in front.\u00a0Rabbitohs 10 – Bulldogs 6.<\/p>\n
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Marcelo Montoya Try<\/p>\n
20th minute:\u00a0South Sydney have largely controlled the opening 20 minutes of this game but we are all locked up after Marcelo Montoya produced a sensational effort to stay inside the field of play and score Canterbury’s first of the game. The Bulldogs have attacked extensively down their right edge this afternoon and shifted the ball that direction again as they chose to run the ball on the last. South Sydney had the defensive numbers, but Montoya bounced out of a tackle, kept his foot centimetres inside the sideline and scored the try.\u00a0Rabbitohs 6 – Bulldogs 6.\u00a0<\/p>\n
15th minute:\u00a0Another near-miss for the Bulldogs after Cody Walker unleashed Alex Johnston down the left flank. The winger drew Connor Tracey before passing inside to Latrell Mitchell. The centre had a clear path to the try-line but Johnston’s pass travelled forward and Canterbury survive another scare.\u00a0Rabbitohs 6 – Bulldogs 0.<\/p>\n
13th minute:\u00a0Big scare for the Bulldogs as Jamie Humphreys comes agonisingly close to scoring. A towering Latrell Mitchell bomb befuddled Connor Tracey, who let the ball bounce. Humphreys was charging through and eventually regathered the ball but was dragged down a couple of metres before the line.\u00a0Rabbitohs 6 – Bulldogs 0.\u00a0<\/p>\n
11th minute:\u00a0We’ve entered the arm-wrestle phase of this clash, with both sides going set for set in the past few minutes. Canterbury continue to pepper the Rabbitohs back three with a string of bombs to Jye Gray and Alex Johnston but the Souths pair have been up to the task thus far.\u00a0Rabbitohs 6 – Bulldogs 0.<\/p>\n
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Alex Johnston Try<\/p>\n
5th minute:\u00a0There’s no stopping Alex Johnston. The NRL’s greatest try-scorer has another four-pointer, leaping high to pluck a Connor Tracey pass out of the air and racing 88 metres in the opposite direction to score the opening points of the game. Johnston has now drawn level with Josh Morris for most tries on Good Friday, with six.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The try came after an end-to-end start to the contest. The Rabbitohs had the better of the early exchanges but a classy kick return by Stephen Crichton and a set restart had the Bulldogs on the attack before Johnston struck.\u00a0Rabbitohs 6 – Bulldogs 0.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kick-off:\u00a0A crowd of more than 50,000 fans has descended on Accor Stadium for the annual Good Friday blockbuster and we are set for an epic tussle this afternoon. South Sydney are well rested following last week’s bye, while Canterbury are desperate to bounce back from a shock loss to Newcastle in Round 4. Latrell Mitchell has kicked off and we are underway.\u00a0Rabbitohs 0 – Bulldogs 0.<\/p>\n
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It was a great day last year, hopefully we can replicate it – M.King<\/p>\n
Stat Attack<\/p>\n
The Rabbitohs have won six of their last seven Good Friday games against the Bulldogs.
\nThe Bulldogs have lost their last three games at Accor Stadium.
\nRabbitohs winger Alex Johnston has scored 96 tries from 98 games at Accor Stadium.
\nBulldogs captain Stephen Crichton has scored 11 tries in 13 games against the Rabbitohs.
\nRabbitohs centre Latrell Mitchell has scored 12 tries in 14 games against the Bulldogs.<\/p>\n
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Great day, great crowd, great contest! – Bennett<\/p>\n
Late Mail<\/p>\n
Rabbitohs: South Sydney will line up 1-19 after the squad was locked in 90 minutes before kick off. Campbell Graham will track to make his return from a shoulder injury as South Sydney prepare to play their first game since Round 3. Moala Graham-Taufa shifts to the interchange as a result, with Wayne Bennett able to rely on stability ahead of the Rabbitohs’ Good Friday blockbuster. Brandon Smith remains at least a week away from returning from a calf injury. Salesi Ataata and Latrell Siegwalt dropped out of the squad in Thursday’s 24-hour update.<\/p>\n
Bulldogs:\u00a0Skipper Stephen Crichton has been named at centre but could spend time in the halves, as he did in last week’s loss to Newcastle. Bronson Xerri has moved one step closer to his return to the fold and is listed on the six-man bench. Josh Curran will miss the showdown at Accor Stadium but Canterbury welcome Sam Hughes back from suspension. Harry Hayes (concussion) was named on Tuesday but coach Cameron Ciraldo said Hayes hadn’t pulled up as well as they hoped after training earlier in the week and would miss the match. Jake Turpin was initially added to the interchange on Thursday after Hayes dropped out but Turpin has been replaced by Logan Spinks on the six-man bench in Friday’s final team update.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Panthers v Storm at CommBank Stadium<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"South Sydney star Latrell Mitchell has led his side to a dominant victory over Canterbury in the opening…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":582407,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[64,63,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-582406","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=582406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582406\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/582407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=582406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=582406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=582406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}