NRL 2021 preliminary final: South Sydney Rabbitohs v Manly Sea Eagles – live!

48 mins: Walker is forced to kick from miles out and Manly can turn the screw here. But they don’t. Two tackles into a frenzied drive there’s a loose carry and the Bunnies have a turnover on halfway. That was a crucial momentum shift.

46 mins: Manly have upped the tempo and they’re hitting the line hard this set. Souths tackle well, but when Paulo defuses the bomb he slips over and the Bunnies are pinned 10m from their line.

Oh ho! Now the Sea Eagles are coming. That is a fierce defensive set, Maroon jerseys hurling themselves at the ball carrier. This really is on!

Manly don’t threaten for five tackles, then on the last Foran keeps the ball alive and gets play flowing to the left. Schuster then accepts the ball with two men under his nose and offloads in the same movement – brilliant, just brilliant, and Garrick has the easy job of finishing on the outside. Is this the start of the comeback? It all originates from that brilliant quick thinking from Trbojevic accepting South Sydney’s kick.

Garrick slots the touchline conversion. Is this on? It could be on, you know…

43 mins: I pressed ‘send’ too soon on that previous post. I failed to spot Trbojevic fielding the kick with one foot in touch and his body almost in the splits, meaning the Sea Eagles take their set from 45m out instead of deep in their own half.

42 mins: Immediately Manly try to go through hands early in the first set of the half. They get to halfway and DCE bombs to Taaffe. Nothing flash from South Sydney in reply. No need to take any unnecessary risks with that scoreline.

The teams are out for the second term. Can Manly mount a comeback?

21 completed sets to 11. Trbojevic only 41 metres gained. Manly with just one linebreak and one offload. Wild stats!

It sure will, but mainly just to keep his troops calm. They looked dangerous whenever they had decent field position, but those moments were all too rare. If they can control the footy and territory for 10 minutes, they’ll score points and Souths will tighten up.

Wayne Bennett has one foot in another NRL grand final.

40 mins: DCE with the cute kick-off, and it pays off. Can they force a late breakthrough with two or three tackles? Trbojevic tries to do it all by himself. Then DCE kicks, Koloamatangi does excellently on the ground, but he takes a knee to the back of his noggin for his troubles.

That could knock the stuffing out of Manly. From mounting their first multi-set attack of the night to conceding a fourth try, in no time. Cook and Reynolds orchestrated a superb attacking set through the middle, then they turned their attention to the right wing where Reynolds times a beautiful cutout pass that Paulo accepts and flies over in the corner. Just too quick and too slick.

Taaffe drags his touchline conversion effort across the face.

37 mins: The first raid is down the left edge and it results in a six-again, but immediately afterwards there’s a turnover and the Bunnies turn defence into attack in the blink of an eye!

35 mins: Harper is up out of the line at pace to disrupt Walker at the point of receiving a pass, and Manly can establish territorial dominance before half-time.

34 mins: Manly gain some valuable territory to establish a platform in midfield, but they remain a long way off applying any field position pressure on Souths. By contrast, the Bunnies gobble up T Trbojevic on his line after he holds on to a high ball. It precedes a decent set from the Sea Eagles though and after a lovely offload from Olakau’atu, DCE has space on the right wing, but he loses balance and staggers into touch like a drunk on a slip-and-slide. Nothing at all going Manly’s way so far.

32 mins: Reynolds makes his first kick of the night, completing a midfield set for Souths. His hammy must be decent enough.

Manly grind their way out of defence but South Sydney are back at pace and on tackle four look to spread play to that dangerous left edge which gets them to 30m. Walker’s kick on the last is a huge bomb and tapped back on the 10m line. Cook crumbs like an AFL small forward, backs himself to evade Harper’s tackle, then dabs an instinctive left-footed kick infield with all the precision of a Phil Mickelson chip to the pin, and it’s bounce perfect for Walker to grab and touchdown. Brilliant broken field footy from the Bunnies. Walker was flat on his back after being flattened in the action of kicking the bomb, but he recovered to support the second phase and was in the right place at the right time to snag a brace.

Taaffe continues his superb night off the tee.

27 mins: After their lucky escape Souths go down the other end and get more good fortune when Olakau’atu can’t gather the grubber on the last tackle and it’s a repeat set in the shadow of the line. The Bunnies get back to work, probing the Sea Eagles’ defensive line. Taaffe has a look, then Campbell Graham dives over from dummy-half! The on-field call is no-try. The TMO cannot confirm grounding with two Manly players between Bunny and turf. It’s all happening.

25 mins: Not for the first time tonight the Bunnies cough up the ball in midfield. Manly have yet to capitalise. Foran turns a safe set into something more dangerous with a dart to the left edge Suddenly there’s some momentum. On the last they keep the play alive and go all the way to the right. Trbojevic enters the line, pins his ears back and takes on Johnston and Taaffe – and he barrels his way over! What a footballer he is. Hmmmm, the grounding isn’t great. It’s given on-field, but replays show the ball comes loose right at the crucial moment. The TMO is involved. Overturned! For the second time this half Manly are denied a score! That was tough, but probably the right call. It should probably be said that Trbojevic had his winger in acres of space on his outside…

The Bunnies can sense their moment and they’ve stepped up the tempo a notch. Inside Manly’s defensive 10m they push and push, earning a six-again in the process. Surely this is only a matter of time? It’s all on the right edge near the line. When will they switch? Now, is when, and four passes later Alex Johnston has his 28th try of the year. Manly defended stoutly on their line and Saab did his best to rush up and influence play, but the Rabbitohs have that move down pat and cannot be stopped with the winger diving into the corner.

Taaffe curls a magnificent touchline conversion through. South Sydney well on top here.

22 mins: Another HIA for Manly. Taupau now needs some attention after putting his head in the way of Cody Walker’s knee near the posts. His eyebrow’s split open and that will need stitching up and a concussion test. Souths take advantage with a strong push and a line drop-out.

20 mins: On the second tackle Manly engineer a lovely move from midfield to the left edge to create the first inches of space for Trbojevic all night. Turbo burns 20m then offloads to Garrick to complete a classic winger’s try around the outside… or not. Play is called back for an obstruction in the build-up with Reynolds taken out in the line by Olakau’atu. Did it really interfere with play? Probably not, but the TMO understand the laws better than I do.

18 mins: Manly are easing their way back into the contest and get their first attacking kick away but Paulo deals with it in the right corner. The Bunnies execute a solid set and chase hard behind Walker’s bomb, denying Trbojevic any space to rebound. Soon afterwards Murray concedes the first penalty of the night with a lazy arm into a falling tackle allowing Manly to attack from halfway.

16 mins: Souths lose possession in midfield and Foran counters quickly. With their first decent look the Sea Eagles go through hands to the right to try to isolate Saab, but the defence is across quickly and the speedster is scragged over the touchline.

From the resulting set the play remains on the Rabbitohs’ left and Gagai elects to kick a couple of metres from the line. It isn’t great but it rebounds off Saab’s legs, bobbles every which way off hands, and Walker is on the spot to touch down! The TMO had to check a mass of possibilities – including a penalty try against DCE for pulling back Gagai – but a conventional four-pointer is awarded.

Taaffe clips the inside of the left-hand upright with his conversion but it goes through. Clearly Reynolds has an issue if he’s not taking kicks. Walker has done all the field kicking so far. Interesting.

13 mins: Manly have read South Sydney’s attacks well so far, rushing up to influence the interplay on the left edge. On the latest occasion Walker is smothered as he looks to link with Reynolds, but there’s a Manly hand involved and it’s six-again.

11 mins: Both sides get back to work in midfield but Souths again look dangerous going through hands on the left edge. Trbojevic is forced to smother a kick just a couple of metres from his line.

As expected Keppie has failed his HIA. Manly with only three on the bench for the majority of this contest.

9 mins: Fast aggressive defence off the scrum denies the Bunnies any space. A six-again is awarded soon afterwards but the Rabbitohs can’t capitalise when Taaffe can’t hold on under pressure. This has been a fast and full-blooded start, and the Sea Eagles will be pleased to have avoided an early concession after a mountain of South Sydney pressure.

8 mins: The Bunnies continue to apply pressure on Manly’s defence and Reynolds dabs a cute grubber to force a line drop-out. From that Taaffe eats up the metres, Paulo does brilliantly to keep the ball alive before being bundled into touch, and a Schuster knock-on invites the Rabbitohs to feed a scrum under the posts.

6 mins: The Bunnies look very lively in attack, pinching metres from dummy half and sharking left and right. Behind play Keppie is out cold after getting his head in the wrong place for a tackle on Nicholls. He could be done for the night after an HIA. The Rabbitohs continue to attack and look threatening on the left edge before changing tack to the right where Paulo cuts in from the touchline, angles infield, spots a gap, and takes on Trbojevic on the line. Does he get the touchdown? No! So so close.

5 mins: Now it’s Manly’s turn to rattle some ribcages with Croker and J Trbojevic getting busy. Souths complete their third consecutive set but Manly cannot respond in kind. Keppie with a loose carry in midfield and Reynolds pinches 25 m to set up the first attacking platform of the night.

4 mins: Souths are the first side to go through hands but a loose pass to the left edge forces them to concede 10-15m. They respond with another brutal defensive set, really putting some work into Manly through the middle.

2 mins: Yikes! Taaffe drops the kick-off – but backwards, and Souths escape. They complete their set near halfway and chase hard before executing a strong defensive effort complete with a couple of bone-crunching hits.

Who will return to Suncorp Stadium next week for the NRL grand final? We’ll find out in 80 minutes.

And now the Bunnies, in their green and red hoops with black accessories. Rabbitohs fans seem outnumbered in the stands to my eye.

Manly are out first onto the Suncorp Stadium turf. They’re in their traditional maroon and white. Plenty of fans cheering them out.

Taking a minor detour to Origin-land, Billy Slater’s appointment as Queensland’s new coach comes as little surprise, but landing on an unproven coach that was a playing legend is a move with no shortage of risk.

For Nick Tedeschi, tonight is all about the master Wayne Bennett.

Should South Sydney go on to win this competition, Bennett would become the first coach to lead three different clubs to a premiership and will equal Arthur Holloway’s record eight overall. His gap of 30 seasons between his first title and his last will also tie Holloway’s record of longevity.

Just the one enforced change from Des Hasler with Brad Parker failing a late fitness test on his injured hand and replaced in the centres by Moses Suli.

The Sea Eagles are again on record-watch tonight. Tom Trbojevic now shares the club record with Phil Blake for the most tries in a season, with 27. Trbojevic has reached his mark in seven fewer matches. Not far behind, Jason Saab sits on 26 tries in 26 games.

Meanwhile, Reuben Garrick, the NRL’s highest points scorer this season, is just 20 points shy of Hazem El Masri’s 2004 record of 342 points in a season.

Sea Eagles: 1. Tom Trbojevic 2. Jason Saab 19. Moses Suli 4. Morgan Harper 5. Reuben Garrick 6. Kieran Foran 7. Daly Cherry-Evans 8. Josh Aloiai 9. Lachlan Croker 16. Sean Keppie 11. Haumole Olakau’atu 12. Josh Schuster 13. Jake Trbojevic
Interchange: 10. Martin Taupau 14. Dylan Walker 15. Karl Lawton 17. Taniela Paseka

After a week’s hard-earned rest, the Rabbitohs are back at the starting line with the save 17 warriors that worked so hard to keep the Panthers at bay a fortnight ago. The array of ball players makes the Bunnies incredibly dangerous, but it was the defensive solidity that shone against Penrith. Nathan Cleary targeted young fullback Blake Taafe, and expect him to once again be sent plenty of high balls to test his nerve in such a high-pressure contest.

Rabbitohs: 1. Blake Taaffe 2. Alex Johnston 3. Dane Gagai 4. Campbell Graham 5. Jaxson Paulo 6. Cody Walker 7. Adam Reynolds 8. Mark Nicholls 9. Damien Cook 10. Tevita Tatola 11. Keaon Koloamatangi 12. Jaydn Su’A 13. Cameron Murray
Interchange: 14. Benji Marshall 15. Jacob Host 16. Thomas Burgess 17. Jai Arrow