South Sydney are all but out of the NRL finals race after copping a 32-12 defeat to the Raiders from a nightmare trip to Canberra soured even further by Alex Johnston suffering a ruptured Achilles.
The veteran winger fell to the turf as he looked to take a hit-up in the first half at GIO Stadium and was immediately taken off after the non-contact injury which abruptly ended his 2024 season.
After recently overtaking Billy Slater into second spot on the all-time try-scoring list, Johnston will have to wait until next year to become the second player in premiership history to reach 200 tries.
With 195 tries for his beloved Bunnies, he is within striking distance of Ken Irvine’s all-time record of 212.
While it was a nightmare night for the visitors, Canberra gave their playoff hopes a huge shot in the arm with their ninth win of the season to join the Dolphins and Dragons in a share of eighth spot.
Raiders halfback Jamal Fogarty assisted three tries, kicked six goals and tormented the Rabbitohs’ makeshift backline with his towering bombs.
It was an unhappy homecoming for former Raiders star Jack Wighton in his first match at GIO Stadium since leaving for the Rabbitohs in the off-season.
Old habits die hard for Wighton – he needed to return to the sheds during the pre-game warm-up and was comically turned away from the Canberra dressing room after taking a wrong turn when he ran back up the tunnel under the Mal Meninga Stand.
Canberra dominated from the outset and shot out to a 12-0 lead inside the first 10 minutes after Jordan Rapana and Xavier Savage sliced through the South Sydney defence.
Jordan Rapana celebrates. (Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)
When centre Seb Kris broke through down the left edge, the home side was up by 18 before Taane Milne got the Bunnies on the board in the 30th minute.
Rapana added a second before Cody Walker controversially scored on the stroke of half-time when the veteran Rabbitoh appeared to propel himself over the stripe after he was tackled just short.
The bunker scrutinised the on-field call by rookie referee Wyatt Raymond before giving it the green light as boos rang out around the stadium.
From 24-8 up at the break, the Raiders rumbled to a 22-point buffer a few minutes after the restart when Ata Mariota plunged over.
Tallis Duncan crashed his way over and just got the ball down in Elliott Whitehead’s tackle to bridge the gap by four with 20 minutes left but makeshift goalkicker Damien Cook shanked the conversion attempt from next to the posts to make their unlikely hopes of a comeback even more improbable.
The Raiders soaked up some time and extended their lead with a penalty goal as they closed out what could be a crucial two competition points in their battle to make the final eight.
Whitehead finished the match in the sin bin after flopping onto a tackle even though it was after the final siren in a farcical end to proceedings.
Canberra have a formidable line-up of opponents standing in the way of their finals dream with a trip to Canterbury, a home clash with Manly, a date with the Cowboys up north followed by Penrith coming to the national capital then away games against the Roosters and Dragons.
Souths played without spark in attack and at times came up with some turnstile defending.
The loss leaves them four points adrift of the top eight in 14th and likely needing to win all their remaining games to make the finals.
With Johnston out for the season and Walker’s fitness also in doubt after limping off with a suspected hip flexor injury, that is looking a near-impossible feat.
with AAP
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