It wasn't flawless, but Latrell Mitchell took less than a minute to show why South Sydney hunted the gun fullback to replace Greg Inglis in Mudgee on Saturday.
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As the sun began to set over Glen Willow Stadium the South Sydney Rabbitohs sprung into action to defend the Charity Shield title and claim their eighth consecutive crown, defeating the Illawarra Dragons 26-12.
Latrell set the Rabbits off right from kick-off, flicking a delicate pass wide to Campbell Graham, who registered the first try of Saturday's match off the scrum two minutes in, with Mitchell having , but the Dragons soon replied with Paul Vaughun placing a try 11 minutes after followed by a Zac Lomax conversion.
It was the Dragons who polished off a 20 minute buffer zone denying multiple Rabbitohs try attempts with Tyrell Fuimaono diving for a try followed by a Lomax conversion to give the red and white contingent a 12-4 lead at half-time.
However, the second half of the derby had South Sydney's name all over it with Partick Mago scoring four shortly after the break, followed closely by Bayley Sironen at the 53rd minute, both complemented by a Blake Taafe conversion.
Five minutes on Kean Koloamatangi dove for four after a busting out of the pack and Alex Johnston scored his own with 15 minutes left on the clock which would ultimately be the final try of the night awarding the South Sydney Rabbitohs with a 26-12 victory.
- South Sydney Rabbitohs 26 (Campbell Graham, Patrick Mago, Bayley Sironen, Keaon Koloamatangi, Alex Johnston tries; Blake Taafe 3 conversion) def St George Illawarra Dragons 12 (Paul Vaughun, Tyrell Fuimaono tries; Zac Lomax 2 conversion)
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