Report: Raiders Jersey Flegg side through to Grand Final

Hannah McGrory

Canberra Raiders have booked a Grand Final showdown with the South Sydney Rabbitohs after scoring a convincing 22-12 win over the Sydney Roosters in a Preliminary Final at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium on Saturday night.

The Raiders came out roaring and impressed early after scoring in the opening minutes, through second rower Kai O’Donnell.

A close opportunity was created by the Roosters but they were held up by a strong defensive Raiders outfit. They came back firing through Freddy Lussick who powered over the line in the 28th minute for their first try of the game. The conversion from Coby Thomas had the scores locked up at 6-all.

Raiders five-eighth Joe Roberts was next amongst the action after crossing for their second try of the night. The conversion was unsuccessful but they still took a four-point lead heading into half time.

The Raiders picked up where they left off in the second half with fullback Manase Kaho scoring a try and Tobias Westcott nailing the conversion to extend the lead to 16-6.

They were in again five minutes later with backrower Lachlan Lewis barging his way over on the left-hand side and Westcott landing his third goal of the night to put them in control at 22-6.

The pressure continued to build for the Roosters as they conceded two penalties but with two minutes remaining they grabbed consolation try through Egan Butcher. Thomas added the extras to put some respectability back in the score line at 22-12.

The Raiders will now face Souths on Sunday 29 September in the Jersey Flegg Cup Grand Final at Bankwest Stadium.

Penrith Panthers v South Sydney Rabbitohs

Kristy Harris

The South Sydney Rabbitohs are heading to the Jersey Flegg Grand Final after upsetting the Penrith Panthers 28-16 today at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium.

They sat at fifth position on the ladder in the regular season but pushed their way to the top throughout this final’s series, winning all three finals games against the St George Illawarra Dragons in week one and Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in week two.

Rabbits winger Kane Allan earned himself two tries in the fourth and ninth minute of the first half, keeping the opposition scoreless until Panther Jake Tago put one over the line for his team in the 20th minute.

The Panthers went into half-time with a 12-point deficit thanks to another try by South’s hooker Joshua Cook upping them to 16-4.

The red and green came out into the second half with the same power and momentum they left the field with in the first half, with Peter Mamouzelos putting down another four-pointer.

Panthers didn’t give up and showed the opposition they were still in the game when they went back-to-back with two tries from Matt Burton and Charlies Staines.

It was 22-16 with one minute on the clock when winger and captain Nicholas Mougios sealed the deal for Souths with an epic run from the 30-metre line to the posts and reliable Blake Taafe followed with a successful conversion.

South Sydney’s opposition will be determined tonight when Sydney Roosters verse the Canberra Raiders at 7.15pm.