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V for victory ... Issac Luke celebrates the win over Sydney Roosters. Source: Brett Costello / News Limited
South Sydney underlined their NRL premiership credentials in the opening round of the season with an impressive 28-10 win over the Sydney Roosters on Thursday night.
| 2 Tries 5 |
|---|
| James Maloney 3' | Nathan Merritt 10' |
| Sonny Bill Williams 75' | Nathan Merritt 28' |
| Chris McQueen 40' |
| George Burgess 46' |
| Nathan Merritt 61' |
| 1 Conversions 4 |
|---|
| James Maloney 77' | Adam Reynolds 12' |
| Adam Reynolds 30' |
| Adam Reynolds 47' |
| Adam Reynolds 63' |
The return of Sonny Bill Williams and the Roosters' recruitment of big-name stars Michael Jennings and James Maloney dominated the build-up but Souths' superstars took the plaudits in front of a crowd of 35,942 at Allianz Stadium.
A hat-trick of tries from Nathan Merritt laid the foundations for the victory along with Greg Inglis, who had hand in four of his side's five tries.
Williams marked his debut with a try late in the game - his first since July 7 2008, but it was nothing more than a consolation.
Young halfback Adam Reynolds outshone his opposite number Mitchell Pearce with an assured performance and Sam Burgess and Ben Te'o dominated the Roosters much-vaunted pack.
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Souths coach Maguire was delighted with his side's display and heaped praise on his forwards and Reynolds.
"They (the forwards) were clinical for us. I thought all out front-rowers stood up," he said.
"The Reyno understands the game and the balance he has between pushing a pass or putting a kick in goal, it's a big thing for the team.
"Adam's up there with (the best) with the ability with his kicking. He's one of the best kickers in the game."
Roosters coach Trent Robinson bemoaned his side's ill-discipline but said he was pleased with Williams' contribution after he played the final 50 minutes.
"It was great to see him back," Robinson said.
"We saw some stuff where he needs to get used to the game again and then we saw him trying to really push hard to try and get us back into the game as well so I was really pleased."
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"I saw some really good stuff with the ball and some good push and he was looking to create some stuff so I think that's the Sonny that we know.
"It's going to take a couple of weeks but it was nice to have him out there."
The crowd were on their feet after three minutes when Maloney marked his Roosters debut with a try.
However, the response from the Rabbitohs was swift, as man of the match Inglis blazed his way deep into Roosters territory before releasing Merritt with a bullet of a pass.
The prolific winger raced to the line for the 130th try in Souths colours.
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That kick-started the Souths forwards into action and they were rewarded when Merritt doubled his tally on the half-hour mark.
A teasing bomb from Reynolds was flicked into the path of Inglis, who found Dylan Farrell in space and the young centre offloaded for Merritt to score.
The setback prompted Roosters coach Trent Robinson to throw Williams into the fray for the first time since his controversial exit from Canterbury in 2008.
The Kiwi was greeted with a some heated words from Burgess, who then ran straight over the Rugby World Cup winner, much to the delight of the Rabbitohs supporters.
Souths continued from where they left off at the break, dominating in attack as the Roosters ill-discipline continued to let them down in addition to a number of basic errors.
The arrival of giant George Burgess from the bench added some extra beef to the Souths go-forward and the younger brother of Sam showed his potential with some powerful runs with the ball.
Six minutes after the break the Englishman scored his first NRL try when he bulldozed his way under the posts to end the game as a contest.
Merritt scored his third on the hour with Inglis once again the instigator to add some extra gloss, before Williams, who was quietly effective in his 50 minutes on the pitch, hauled in a Frank-Paul Nuuausala pass to race under the posts.
Reynolds kicked four goals, with Maloney kicking one for the Roosters.
Jennings was put on report just before the interval for a high shot on Beau Champion as was Sam Burgess for a high shot on Pearce.
