The Shane Flanagan era at St George Illawarra is off to a bad start as South Sydney defeated St George Illawarra 28–6 in the Charity Shield.
8827 spectators arrived at Jubilee Stadium on Saturday to witness the commencement of a new era, but they would have come away with the impression that Flanagan’s Dragons are still a work in progress.
His team faced a Souths team without Latrell Mitchell, Cody Walker, Jack Wighton, Campbell Graham, and Damien Cook, and although they started at nearly full strength, they managed only one try, which was gifted by a rival mistake.
The Dragons faltered late as players gradually came off the bench, giving up three tries in the final eighteen minutes to fall far behind after a defensively strong start.
Ahead of their season debut, the Rabbitohs, meanwhile, are excited about traveling to Las Vegas the next week.
Regarding the victory, Souths coach Jason Demetriou remarked, “It’s a good start.”
“You want to see (the team) pursuing the things that we stated we value, even though you know it won’t be perfect. Tonight, I witnessed that.
After St George Illawarra fired Junior Amone in the off-season, Kyle Flanagan had a respectable but unmemorable five-eighth club debut.
Early in the second half, he put on a display and went near to breaking the line, but that was the closest he got to scoring points that would inspire.
Zac Lomax was unable to play any fullback because of back spasms, and his 2024 position is yet unknown.
Lomax started the first half on the wing, moved to the center, and was early marked.
Lachlan Ilias of South Sydney, who is still trying to prove he is a top-tier halfback, completed two passes to the deck before halftime.
As the seconds passed before the big break, the first bounced into Mikaele Ravalawa’s hands for the only attempt for the Dragons.
It happened 36 minutes after the Rabbitohs had taken the lead with a similar mistake.
The ball was knocked out of Tyrell Sloan’s hand and into Jacob Host’s by Ilias’ hit.
After the interval, the Rabbitohs’ strength in the middle proved to be crucial, keeping the game in the balance.
On his way back to Souths, Braidon Burns was awarded a try by Cam Murray and Sean Keppie, who had an outstanding 156-meter club debut.
Just after the drinks break, Davvy Moale stormed over, and the Rabbitohs soon followed.
It was already confirmed that prospective Maori representative Jacob Gagai would be free for Las Vegas after serving his one-match punishment in the All Stars encounter.
Tallis Duncan, the forward who is seen as a potential star, may come under investigation for upending Ben Murdoch-Masila during that match against Manly.
