Walker on, Klemmer dies as Rabbitoh against Knight

A Cody Walker masterclass led the Rabbitohs to a 40-28 win over the Knights at McDonald Jones Stadium on Friday night as David Klemmer was sent off with a fiery finish to a free-flowing contest.

With Damien Cook and Cameron Murray on duty at Origin, Walker took charge with two tries, two assists and a 95-yard run as the Bunnies recorded their ninth win of the season to move up to fifth on the ladder.

Already missing their Blues brothers, the Rabbitohs lost Mark Nicholls and Alex Johnston to injury ahead of the game, and then Lachlan Ilias had to come off after a head clash with team-mate Tevita Tatola in the opening minutes of the game.

Despite an early setback the Rabbitohs opened the scoring in the 10th minute when Cody Walker scooped a loose pass, hit team-mate Thomas Burgess and fell. The try was sent to the bunker to check for a hit by Burgess but the green light was shown and Souths took a 6-0 lead.

Klemmer was expelled at the time of death

The home side hit back in the 15th minute when Tyson Frizell’s long break was followed by a sharp right-sided strike that Dom Young finished.

A rare attempt to tackle David Klemmer in the 19th minute helped the Knights extend the lead before Bradman Best celebrated his return from an elbow injury with a four-pointer from the sensational attempted assist of Edrick Lee, who flew high to drop the bomb. and then sends a flashy film feed into the center.

The Bunnies’ left flank moved swiftly in the 31st minute when Walker and Latrell Mitchell combined to place Richie Kennar to cut Newcastle’s lead to 16-12.

Milford on money

Just three minutes later Kennar got two goals from a deft left-footed shot by Walker and Mitchell’s sideline conversion gave the visitors the lead.

Approaching half-time and the Knights attacking, Walker put in a big game when he intercepted Mat Croker’s pass and ran 85 meters to score his second goal of the night.

An error early in the second half by the Knights gave the Rabbitohs field position and they capitalized on it when Walker put the ball on the plate for Kennar to complete the first hat-trick of his career.

Came in the 53rd minute and Tatola joined the tryscoring action with his sixth attempt in 108 career games after Tex Hoy failed to land Walker’s grubber and his brace pounced.

Kennar makes it three

A superb long pass from Adam Clune put Lee in the 59th minute as the Knights leveled at 34-22 but when the Rabbitohs capitalized on a fifth tackle and put Jaxson Paulo in the right corner, the margin returned to 16.

Mitch Barnett pulled one back for the Knights with 11 minutes to play to make it 38-28 and a short wrong dropout by Souths in the 75th minute gave Newcastle a shot but a desperate defense by Davvy Moale saved Best from close range.

In a fiery end, Klemmer and Keaon Koloamatangi faced each other before the Knights buffer was sent off in the next set to make contact with Daniel Suluka-Fifita’s head on the court. Mitchell scored a penalty for 40-28.

Paulo fingertips to the try line

Match Highlights

• Souths centre-back Lachlan Ilias was forced off for a HIA in the first minute and did not return.
• Latrell Mitchell was put on report in the 18th minute for a high tackle on Knights winger Dom Young, who was sent off for HIA following the incident.
• David Klemmer’s 19th-minute attempt was only the fifth of his NRL career and the first since round 25, 2017 for Canterbury against the Gold Coast.
• Souths supporter Thomas Burgess continued reporting in the 28th minute for a high shot at Daniel Saifiti.
• The Rabbitoh have won 12 of their last 14 matches against the Knights.

• Thomas Burgess was included on the bench but entered the fray in the first minute after hitting Lachlan Ilias’ head. The Englishman hit back with a 119 meters run in the opening 40 minutes and ended the night with 201 meters.
• Knights halfback Adam Clune left the field for HIA in the 42nd minute. He passed and returned to the game.
• Knight slut Jayden Brailey took the field early in the second half in his first game of the season after overcoming an Achilles injury.
• Newcastle have never beaten a top eight opponent all season.
• Edrick Lee has scored 20 tries in 19 games at McDonald Jones Stadium
• Daniel Saifiti and David Klemmer lead the way for the Knights with 331 yards running and 70 tackles between them.
• Pasami Saulo leaves the field with nine minutes to play for HIA.

Playing Games

Dom Young came up with two hard plays in the space of two minutes, thwarting Kodi Nikorima’s effort at one end with a final tackle and then completing a sweeping move to score in a corner in the next six set. Young’s pace came up front in pursuit of Nikorima and then after Tyson Frizell crushed the Bunnies in the middle, Young completed fine passes from Adam Clune and Anthony Milford to snatch Newcastle’s opening attempt. After his hat-trick last week against the Titans, it continued his rich form for the 20-year-old aviator.

Go alone Dom

Cody Walker has the talent to come up with big games when his team needs him and he capped off a brilliant first half with an intercept just as the Knights threatened to score. The nimble No.6 read the game beautifully and cruised through 85 yards to put Souths eight points clear at the break.

Walker covers the distance

What They Say

“I said to the boys over there, we lost 40 percent of our caps tonight, and nearly 1200 NRL experience games, but nobody blinked all week. I’m going to give the senior players a massive rap – not just for performances.” them but how they handled this week. Latrell is here, and Cody Walker has been amazing all week, and I think his performance tonight was amazing too. It’s the best win I’ve ever had during my time at the club, just in terms of character and willing pay the price and do what they have to do.” – Rabbitoh trainer Jason Demetriou

Rabbit: Chapter 17

“He’s got a high maintenance factor, Klem. He already got over it [the send off] with his teammates. He put in almost 70 odd minutes and he was frustrated and he let his emotions take over but he wasn’t the Robinson Crusoe for that to happen. People get frustrated.” – Knight Trainer Adam O’Brien

Knight: Chapter 17

What’s next

The Knights head to 4 Pines Park to take on the Sea Eagles in Round 18 and will be hoping to have Origin representatives Kalyn Ponga and Dane Gagai back on deck. They will be sweating the match review committee on Saturday to see if David Klemmer was charged after he was sent off at the end of the game.

The Rabbitohs will be hoping an eight-day turnaround gives Alex Johnston (quad), Mark Nicholls (concussion) and Lachlan Ilias (head knock) a chance to bounce back for the clash against the Bulldogs at Accor Stadium.

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