Source :- THE AGE NEWS
Parramatta have come within a sliver of the greatest comeback in NRL history, but have gone down 28-24 to South Sydney, who moved one step closer to a top-eight finish.
But the manic victory looks to have come at a cost as young Souths halfback Ashton Ward injured his hamstring attempting a sideline conversion in Saturday’s first half.
Alex Johnston crossed for three tries as Souths took an imperious 28-0 halftime lead in the veteran winger’s first game at Allianz Stadium since breaking the NRL’s tryscoring record.
The Eels lost Brian Kelly to the sin bin for a professional foul after just 92 seconds and conceded three tries without him, then watched as gun fullback Isaiah Iongi went down with a knee injury just before the break.
But against all odds, and with no realistic finals hopes to play for, Parramatta were hoisted back into the contest by off-contract journeyman Ronald Volkman.
With Josh Addo-Carr deputising at fullback and hooker Ryley Smith in the centres, five-eighth Volkman’s attacking nous threatened to help the Eels pass the standing record for biggest NRL comeback (26 points).
After Tallyn Da Silva crossed for the Eels’ first try, Volkman kicked through for Smith to nab their second before spinning past Matt Dufty for a four-pointer of his own.
When Jordan Samrani soared over makeshift winger Jye Gray and slammed Volkman’s kick down, Parramatta were within four points.
After forcing a dropout in the final minutes, the Eels looked set to go for the killer blow, but the returning Tallis Duncan regathered the Rabbitohs’ short restart.
In the same set, veteran Cody Walker kicked a 40/20 to put Souths out of trouble and on the attack for the final exchanges of a calamitous game.
In Indigenous Round, Walker had been integral to the Rabbitohs’ early lead, most memorably slamming a kick into the goalposts that Tevita Tatola regathered for a fantastic try.
The win lifts Souths back into seventh place to finish a weekend during which top-eight rivals Manly and Canterbury suffered potentially costly defeats.
They will likely make finals if they win two of their remaining four games, but have tough matches against Canterbury, the Warriors and Sydney Roosters on the run home.
Earlier, Manly endured a dark day in Perth, conceding a whopping 42 consecutive points as their finals hopes took an almighty hit in a 42-20 loss to Melbourne.
The Storm were horrible early on Saturday, with their completion rate sitting at just five of 12 as the Sea Eagles scored the opening two tries of the match to race out to a 14-0 lead.
But it was all one way traffic from that point on, with Melbourne piling on six unanswered tries either side of half-time to turn the contest on its head.
Manly’s fifth loss on the trot leaves their finals hopes on life support.
Kieran Foran’s men now nurse a 9-11 record, meaning they will have to win their last four games to have a legitimate chance of making finals.
In a further blow for the Sea Eagles, prop Taniela Paseka limped off in the first half after suffering a suspected MCL injury.
The Storm snapped a three-game losing streak, but at 9-12 they need to win their remaining three games and rely on other results to go their way in order to sneak into the post-season.
Fittingly, Melbourne’s Nick Meaney was a perfect nine-of-nine with the boot in a place he will soon call home.
The centre will join Perth next season and there were plenty of Bears fans in attendance to watch their future star.
Perth coach Mal Meninga led around 1000 supporters on a pre-match ‘Bear Walk’ in the rain to HBF Park to signify the venue will soon become a ‘Bear Pit’.
The NRL’s newest franchise launched their home jersey on Friday, with the red-and-black hooped strip paying tribute to the first-ever North Sydney Bears side of 1908, when the club was a foundation member of the NSW Rugby Football League.
AAP
