Canterbury have imploded without captain Stephen Crichton after the Bulldogs skipper failed to finish his side’s 32-24 NRL defeat to South Sydney due to a shoulder injury.
Crichton landed awkwardly in a tackle involving Rabbitohs duo Campbell Graham and Jack Wighton in the 43rd minute and failed to return to the field on Friday.
At the time their star centre went down the tunnel at Accor Stadium Canterbury were leading 18-12, and he will now be in major doubt to face Penrith next Thursday.
Coach Cameron Ciraldo resisted the chance to throw disgruntled centre Bronson Xerri in as a straight-swap replacement for Crichton, instead shifting five-eighth Matt Burton to centre and bringing Sean O’Sullivan into the halves.
But after the reshuffle, the Dogs lost all fluency in attack as Souths laid on 20 second-half points to claim their third win from their opening four games.
Latrell Mitchell grabbed two tries and kicked six goals, finishing the match at fullback after Jye Gray went off for a head injury assessment.
Souths got an early break in front of a crowd of 49,813 when Alex Johnston picked off a Connor Tracey pass and ran 90m to score his 215th NRL try in the fifth minute.
Canterbury hit back through Marcelo Montoya before Mitchell touched down a Cody Walker chip-kick to the in-goal.
Mitchell missed the conversion from the left but then added a penalty to open up a six-point buffer with 12 minutes left in the first half.
Just as the Rabbitohs looked to be gaining the upper hand, interchange forward Sitili Tupouniua swung the game back in the favour of Ciraldo’s side.
The Bulldogs prop bent the South Sydney line and steamrolled two defenders in the build-up to Lachlan Galvin’s try when the Canterbury halfback touched down his own kick to the in-goal.
Crichton added a penalty goal before Tupouniua crashed over after Johnston dropped a bomb to give the Dogs a 18-12 halftime lead.
But after Crichton’s injury, Canterbury fell apart.
Immediately Souths struck back to draw level with Mitchell converting a try from Tallis Duncan, who glided through a gap between Burton and O’Sullivan.
Cameron Murray then dived on a Jamie Humphreys grubberkick before Mitchell touched down for his second try of the afternoon.
Tracey ensured the Dogs didn’t finish the second half without a point, bursting through Souths’ defence late on to grab a consolation try.
