Isn’t Jamie Humphreys turning out to be quite the buy for South Sydney?
With Lewis Dodd suspended, Humphreys won the race to wear the No.7 jersey for the Rabbitohs in round one.
Then in round two, on a warm and hazy Saturday afternoon in Wollongong, Humphreys calmly slotted a field-goal from 30 metres out to give them an unlikely second straight win to start the season.
How on earth did the Rabbits win this one? They lost Jai Arrow after he was forced to undergo a second head injury assessment. Tallis Duncan came from the field in the second half with a hamstring injury. Keaon Koloamatangi was stretching out a cramp just after half-time.
Just when they needed someone to produce something special, the $150,000 recruit from Manly delivered.
Souths trailed 24-12 and looked gone for all money. But Cody Walker scored approaching the hour, then big Sean Keppie steamed over from close range to level the scores.
Kyle Flanagan puts the Dragons ahead in the first half.Credit: Getty Images
At the end of a set with six minutes remaining, Walker spilled an awful pass behind his head, Siliva Havili threw an even worse pass to Humphreys, but the Cameron Murray lookalike glanced at the posts and struck it sweetly from 30m out. It never looked like missing.
Watching Souths and St George Illawarra for much of the second half was like watching two heavyweight boxers out on their feet who had no energy to finish the job.
Wayne Bennett’s men are suddenly two from two. Shane Flanagan’s mob head into the bye round still searching for a win.
It was not a vintage game, but Souths will be delighted to have banked another two points. Any win they can notch while Latrell Mitchell is on the mend is a bonus.
English recruit Dodd was meant to start the season at halfback, but a suspension and niggling shoulder injury gifted the job to Humphreys. And there is no way Humphreys will lose the No.7 jersey any time soon, especially if Souths continue to win.
Bennett would have been disappointed with how many forward passes his side threw. We counted at least five. But there was no faulting their effort.
Former Rabbits Lachie Ilias and Damien Cook would have loved to have got one over their former club,
but Ilias struggled to have an impact while dummy half Cook finished the game at centre for the injured Moses Suli.
One positive for the Red V was the return of a bulked-up Tyrell Sloan. Sloan spent last weekend in the NSW Cup, but moved well and finished with a first-try try double. He has clearly spent plenty of hours in the gym over the summer, and looked a lot thicker through the chest. He was a proper handful.
His opposite was debutant Bayleigh Bentley-Hape, the young Kiwi who was cheered on by a huge support crew easy to spot in black while sitting in the blazing sun on the hill.
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