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Fri July 21 2006, 7:30PM AEST GMT+10Fri: Storm 28 d. Sharks 12 at Olympic Park, Melbourne (VIC)Crowd: 11,486 Sat July 22 2006, 5:30PM AEST GMT+10Sat: Bulldogs 25 d. Roosters 0 at Telstra Stadium, Homebush Bay, Sydney (NSW)Crowd: 14,020 Sat July 22 2006, 7:30PM AEST GMT+10Sat: Cowboys 26 d. Broncos 10 at Dairy Farmers Stadium, Kirwan, Townsville (QLD)Crowd: 24,658 Sat July 22 2006, 7:30PM AEST GMT+10Sat: Knights 24 d. Rabbitohs 18 at Energy Australia Stadium, New Lambton, Newcastle (NSW)Crowd: 14,599 Sun July 23 2006, 2:30PM AEST GMT+10Sun: Tigers 6 l. Eels 34 at Telstra Stadium, Homebush Bay, Sydney (NSW)Crowd: 21,456 Sun July 23 2006, 3:00PM AEST GMT+10Sun: Raiders 31 d. Dragons 12 at Canberra Stadium, Bruce, Canberra (ACT)Crowd: 13,504 Sun July 23 2006, 3:00PM AEST GMT+10Sun: Sea Eagles 32 d. Panthers 30 at Brookvale Oval, Brookvale, Sydney (NSW)Crowd: 15,177 Warriors bye
Sun July 23, 2006 All the football was played at one end of EnergyAustralia Stadium last night with Newcastle leading South Sydney 24-0 at half-time and ending up emerging 24-18 victors. Again it was so near, yet so very far for the Rabbitohs with only one win from 19 matches this season. The first half was all Newcastle as they looked to get their season back on track after a slump around the Origin period racing in four unanswered tries. Andrew Johns created the opening two tries for Brian Carney in the 3rd minute and Steve Simpson in the 18th for Newcastle to lead 12-0 with Johns converting both. Newcastle's 3rd try came in the 31st minute when Carney was caught with the ball on the last and he cross kicked towards the posts with Johns in position to score the try, which he added the extras with Newcastle up 18-0. Kirk Reynoldson scored in the final moments of the half with everything looking gloomy for the Rabbitohs being down by 24 at the break. The Rabbitohs came out a new side in the second half as Newcastle completely clocked off with Souths racing in quick tries to Paul Mellor in the 44th minute and Stuart Webb eight minutes later to reduce the score from 24-0 to 24-12 as Ben Walker converted both tries. Nathan Merritt scored in the final stages when Peter Cusack slipped a great offload to setup a thrilling finish. A lack of time and also poor decision making costed Souths any hope they had of forcing the match into Golden Point. Souths showed great courage in coming back from 24-0 down but their performances this season and the performances of Parramatta since Jason Taylor has taken over as coach makes the odds of Shaun McRae retaining his position next year as next to no chance. McRae at best will be coach by name only next year with Taylor unofficially running the show and McRae being the face of it all. Newcastle needs to put a full 80 minutes together before they can be considered serious Finals contenders. |