Bulldogs-Rabbitohs NRL match interrupted by flash storm, lightning

Or not as it were, when he feigned to bomb early, took off on the last tackle, found Jacob Kiraz and then backed up to score the opening try.

Canterbury were full of life and playing with more width than usual as first Marcelo Montoya down the left, then Connor Tracey down the right, joined Sexton on the scoresheet.

For 30 minutes, the Bulldogs pretty much did as they pleased. And then, the lightning.

Not until the resumption, under a sky darker than it ever should be at 5:10pm, did Souths actually get a crack at Canterbury’s line.

A midair, 39th-minute fumble by Blake Wilson then fell for Alex Johnston to score possibly the simplest of his 202 NRL tries.

Leading 18-4 after a shortened half-time break, the Bulldogs weren’t the same in the second stanza. Neither were the Rabbitohs, with Tallis Duncan’s 58th-minute surge to the line reward for their improved discipline as possession evened out.

Jake Turpin was especially out of sorts off the Bulldogs bench, flying into contact too high on more than one occasion. He ended up on report and sin-binned for belting Tyrone Munro, but not until Montoya had scored his second try and provided welcome breathing room.

Both sides lost their way when Souths held a 13-on-12 advantage. Josh Curran could have easily needed a HIA from the bullet pass Mahoney rocketed straight into his front-rower’s face.

Keaon Koloamatangi was called off for his own concussion assessment in far less dramatic fashion, as the Rabbitohs pushed passes and panicked.

An off-side call against kick chasers denied Tracey when the Rabbitohs couldn’t contain a grubbering ball. It proved a 12-point turnaround as Souths went left for Duncan and Johnston to send Jack Wighton over.

A Bulldogs penalty goal kept things civilised. A 78th minute, chip and chase try for Munro undid that, making for a six-point ball game with 90 seconds to play. But the comeback wasn’t to be. Lightning had already struck more than once after all.