Parramatta has fallen agonisingly short of pulling off the greatest comeback in NRL history as Souths lost their halfback to injury and almost blew the chance to play finals footy on a wild night at Allianz Stadium.
The Eels were down 28-0 at half-time and were lucky to be that close, but they stormed home after the break with the next four tries but couldn’t find the winner as the Bunnies held on to win 28-24.
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It felt like the home side was on track to win by 70 midway through the first half when Alex Johnston crossed for his third, but they simply had nothing after the break as the Eels threatened to pull off the impossible.
The biggest comeback remains 26 points but it looked set to be broken when the Eels pulled within four points with 13 minutes to play after Jordan Samrani flew above Jye Gray to score in the corner.
Jason Ryles must have delivered a speech for the ages at the break because his side responded with three tries in the opening nine minutes.
And they could have easily stolen it at the death had it not been for three huge plays from the Rabbitohs with Sean Keppie escaping the in-goal, before Tallis Duncan caught a short dropout and then Cody Walker iced it with a 40/20.
Isaiah Iongi dropped the ball in the opening set, Brian Kelly was sent to the sin bin a minute later, and by the time he returned it was already 14-0 as the Rabbitohs feasted down his side of the field.
Souths had nine line-breaks in the first half, with the visitors missing 29 tackles as they headed to the sheds down 28-0.
Ryles said his team wouldn’t have beaten a park football side after they lost to Souths earlier in the season, so you can only imagine what he would’ve been thinking at half-time before their epic comeback.
The stage was set for Souths to do something special with Cathy Freeman, Greg Inglis and Nathan Merritt in the house for Indigenous Round.
The night started so well with Johnston carving them up as Walker toyed with the defence every time the ball went left.
The five-eighth had three try assists and was denied an epic four-pointer of his own when Johnston made a huge break and threw a stunning ball back inside, only for the Bunker to spot a penalty earlier in the play.
This was the great escape from a team that can’t afford to clock off with a finals spot on the line, with the Rabbitohs to face the Bulldogs next week in one of the biggest games of the year.
There is one significant concern for the Rabbitohs after halfback Ashton Ward was helped from the field with a bizarre injury.
