A rampant South Sydney ran in three tries in 13 minutes to break free of an arm wrestle early and overcome the ladder-leading Broncos 32-6 at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.
Rabbitohs centre Campbell Graham continues to give himself every chance of making his Origin debut this year with a first half double setting up a 12-6 lead for the visitors after 40 minutes.
He then crossed for a third try as the Rabbitohs stretched their lead to 16 after 50 minutes with Latrell Mitchell and Cody Walker finding the spark required as the game hung in the balance in the middle of the contest.
The Broncos took an early 2-0 lead when Cameron Murray was sin-binned for a professional foul, but the Bunnies held their nerve to cross first via Graham when Lachlan Ilias placed a grubber close to the line.
Brisbane otherwise had all the running with Murray in the sheds and struck on the left edge with Adam Reynolds sending Jesse Arthars over with a long cut-out pass.
Mitchell powers over
The competitiveness of both sides was on show throughout the match, bringing some tension in various plays, particularly with Reynolds lining up against his former club for the second time in his career.
Damien Cook brushed aside a knee concern to send Graham over for a double four minutes before the break and Souths extended their lead two minutes into the second half when Latrell Mitchell collected a Herbie Farnworth error in the air.
Farnworth had a few minutes to forget, sin-binned shortly after for a tripping motion on Graham, which enabled the Rabbitohs to strike twice with him off the field and set up a winning lead.
What a ball by Graham
Graham's night out continued with the Kangaroos World Cup representative helping Walker to the line to push the lead out to 22.
The Broncos, without Payne Haas and Ezra Mam due to suspension, ran out of gas and had no answers for the Rabbitohs in the final quarter of the game with Mitchell crossing for a double late in the win.
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Match snapshot
- Cameron Murray was sin-binned early for a professional foul early with the Broncos taking a 2-0 lead before conceding a try during this period.
- Scores were locked 6-6 until a Campbell Graham double in the 36th minute broke the deadlock.
- Graham continues to put his hand up for Origin selection with a hat-trick of tries and try assist in the victory. Graham is now the leading NRL try-scorer with 11 tries in 2023.
- Latrell Mitchell has now scored tries in his past six games at Suncorp Stadium and eight this year - his best efforts in a season since 2021.
- Broncos centre Herbie Farnworth was placed on report and sin-binned for a tripping tackle on Campbell Graham.
- The Rabbitohs ran for over 200 metres more than the Broncos with post-contact yardage a clear difference between both sides.
- Tevita Tatola (164 metres) made a successful return from a knee injury while Tom Burgess (170 metres) led from the front for the Bunnies.
- The Rabbitohs have now won eight of their past 11 games at Suncorp Stadium.
Play of the game
The game was already complete and so Latrell Mitchell decided to have some fun with his second four-pointer looking more like a bit of backyard fun with a kick and regather sending him over for a 14th career double.
The ball lands in Latrell's lap
What they said
"I thought we started a bit scratchy but the big boys started well for Brisbane. I thought Cam going to the bin switched us on a little bit defensively. We got some real intent and made it hard for Brisbane to get off their line which took their attacking players out the game. Campbell Graham is doing what he needs to do to put himself in the frame for future representative honours." - Rabbitohs coach Jason Demetriou.
Rabbitohs: Round 9
"I thought we started OK but then was on the slippery slide for most of the match. We had a couple of opportunities we didn't take and we paid for it at the end. The more the game went on the worse we got. You've got to grab your opportunities and Souths showed up tonight with a better mentality. We got what we deserved, and they got what they deserved." - Broncos coach Kevin Walters.
Broncos: Round 9
What's next
Both sides will return to Suncorp Stadium in Round 10 for Magic Round. The Broncos will feature on Friday night in seven days with a clash set against the Sea Eagles. Payne Haas and Ezra Mam will return from suspension.
South Sydney will take on Melbourne for the second time in 2023 on Saturday night.