{"id":659663,"date":"2026-05-09T11:09:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T11:09:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/659663\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T11:09:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T11:09:26","slug":"rabbitohs-thump-sharks-as-alex-johnston-scores-hat-trick-and-latrell-siegwalt-shines-on-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/659663\/","title":{"rendered":"Rabbitohs thump Sharks as Alex Johnston scores hat-trick and Latrell Siegwalt shines on debut"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"TomSave<\/p>\n

You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n

Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n

AAA<\/p>\n

Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon has implored his side to \u201charden up\u201d and says he is \u201csick of waiting\u201d for them to click into gear after a dismal defeat to South Sydney.<\/p>\n

Alex Johnston\u2019s hat-trick was the headline act in a thumping 36-12 South Sydney win over Cronulla on Saturday night, but the understated star of the evening was another Rabbitohs centre named Latrell stepping up on debut in his namesake\u2019s absence<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Rabbitohs rocketed into outright fourth spot on the NRL ladder \u2013 behind the Roosters and ahead of the Wests Tigers \u2013 courtesy of a resounding victory in Campbell Graham\u2019s 150th match.<\/p>\n

Three Souths tries between the 25th and 34th minutes blunted the Sharks\u2019 attempts to generate momentum as the visitors faltered badly a week after routing the Tigers 52-10<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It is a decade since Cronulla won a premiership and their defensive frailties against a side that shapes as a genuine September threat suggested they are not grand final contenders.<\/p>\n

For a team with such impressive consistency \u2013 having finished between second and fourth on the NRL ladder from 2022 to 2025 \u2013 they are not doing a great job in challenging the narrative that they can\u2019t go to another level when required.<\/p>\n

\"CronullaCronulla players react after conceding another try.Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought we had a Shark-like performance last week, but not tonight,\u201d Fitzgibbon said. \u201cIt looked more important to them and not important enough to us. I didn\u2019t think we were hard enough tonight.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m getting a bit sick of waiting for it to be honest. It\u2019s up to us. I still believe we have a good side \u2026 but we\u2019re not displaying it regularly. The only way out for us is through. We\u2019ve got to harden up and do the simple things better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnston crossed for three tries in an outstanding performance, two of which were set up by debutant Latrell Siegwalt, who replaced the injured Latrell Mitchell in Souths\u2019 starting side and booted the first points of the night with a penalty.<\/p>\n

Siegwalt reportedly asked Souths for 120 tickets for friends and family, many of whom travelled hundreds of kilometres across NSW to Accor Stadium to watch the young Indigenous star make his NRL bow. The Wagga Wagga product only found out on Thursday, his 25th birthday, that he would be playing after Mitchell pulled out of the match with a back injury.<\/p>\n

\"LatrellLatrell Siegwalt was impressive on debut for Souths.Getty Images<\/p>\n

Siegwalt\u2019s great, great-grandmother Gladys celebrated her 100th birthday in Walgett on Friday and no doubt would have been thrilled watching her talented relative, who has made a name for himself in the Queensland Cup, chalk up a big win.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe real Latrell turned up,\u201d said Souths coach Wayne Bennett said. \u201cHe was very good and I was very proud of him.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a tryless opening 25 minutes, Souths found their rhythm with three in 10 minutes to open up an 18-0 lead.<\/p>\n

Siegwalt set up Johnston\u2019s second try down the left edge. As much as teams study and prepare for South Sydney\u2019s attacking raids on that side of the field, stopping it is another matter entirely. In full flow, it is a beautiful thing to watch.<\/p>\n

\"AlexAlex Johnston crosses for one of his three tries.Getty Images<\/p>\n

Siegwalt again provided the final pass for Johnston for Souths\u2019 fourth try, beautifully drawing in the last defender and showing he belongs at this level.<\/p>\n

Graham\u2019s milestone match unfolded perfectly as he crossed untouched for a try in the final minute, while Sharks halfback Nicho Hynes endured an underwhelming night in his 100th game for the club.<\/p>\n

The Sharks\u2019 lack of bite down South Sydney\u2019s end was epitomised when pint-sized Rabbitohs fullback Jye Gray dislodged the ball from Sharks reserve Jesse Colquhoun\u2019s grasp despite a 28-kilogram weight disparity.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Greg<\/a><\/p>\n

Gray contributed with a try assist and 237 run metres as Wayne Bennett\u2019s men prepare to travel to Magic Round full of confidence for a clash with the Dolphins on Friday.<\/p>\n

Cam Murray shook off a high shot on his jaw before crashing over 13 minutes from full-time for the Rabbitohs\u2019 fifth try of the evening to make it 30-0 after Siegwalt\u2019s fourth conversion of the evening.<\/p>\n

Consolation tries from Kayal Iro and Mawene Hiroti in the last eight minutes saved the Sharks from complete embarrassment.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Sharks enforcer Cam McInnes could miss his side\u2019s next match against the Bulldogs after being put on report for a high shot on Edward Kosi in the first half.<\/p>\n

News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Save<\/p>\n

You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n

Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n

\"TomTom Decent<\/a> is the chief sports writer for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":659664,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-659663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659663","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=659663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659663\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/659664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=659663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=659663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=659663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}