The Warriors’ halves ran riot as the 2011 grand finalists put their early season inconsistencies behind them to score a much-needed 44-22 win at Mt Smart Stadium in Round 7 last year.
In an entertaining clash, it was the Rabbitohs that crossed first with big Dave Taylor winning the race to an Adam Reynolds grubber for an early 6-0 lead. But the Warriors wasted no time getting down to business with Shaun Johnson setting up consecutive tries from the boot and James Maloney chipping in with two superb passes for Bill Tupou and Simon Mannering to score.
Trailing 20-6, Souths hit back with tries to Andrew Everingham and Taylor again either side of half-time but the Warriors weren’t about to throw in the towel. Some quick thinking by Ben Henry following another great Maloney pass saw Mannering cross for his second and they turned on that old Warriors style inside the final 20 minutes with two thrilling tries to Henry and Krisnan Inu capping victory.
Souths made just 996 metres with the ball in hand to the Warriors’ 1274 and made 13 handling errors. Ben Matulino was superb up front for the home side with 170 metres and 16 tackles while Johnson, in sparkling touch, added four try assists out wide.
Michael Crocker worked hard for the Rabbitohs, making 47 tackles.
