Impassable Souths set defence record

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For 63 minutes South Sydney were perfect.

Ignore the flood of fumbles that are inevitable on foul nights like these. Defence wins out in a deluge and for over an hour the Rabbitohs could not be faulted, nor breached.

In an incredible statistic that's unlikely to be repeated this season, Souths did not miss a tackle until their count stood at 262 midway through the second half. By full-time they'd missed just five tackles and made 316.

Click on the live scores panel at the top of this page for game details and key stats.

While the count will be rechecked, the provisional results are an NRL record according to Fox Sports. The previous best is eight missed tackles, by Cronulla last season and North Queensland in their Round Four loss to Gold Coast.

While Nathan Merritt broke the club record for most tries, this was a team record that should live equally long in the foundation club's memory.

It came just days after the team met to discuss their resolve, following last weekend's much-needed win over St George Illawarra.

"We just spoke about ripping in and not leaving any energy in the tank," skipper John Sutton said.

Record breaker Nathan Merritt. Picture: Brett Costello Source: News Corp Australia

"We just wanted to concentrate on making one tackle at a time. It was a great effort."

Watching history unfold in the dry comfort of the visiting coach's box, Michael Maguire was aware his team had completed 184 tackles — 60 more than their opponents — without a blemish in the first half.

"The boys spoke about it during the week and wanted to stand tight together," he said.

"We went through that hard period (losing three games in a row), that we probably didn't want. The first half defensive performance was excellent."

To earn a 2-all deadlock at the break, it needed to be. The heavens might have opened with a vengeance five minutes before kick-off, but there were simply no leaks in South Sydney's defence as Penrith enjoyed a glut of goal line possession in the first 40 minutes.

Heavy rain hits Sportingbet Stadium. Picture: Brett Costello Source: News Corp Australia

By half-time South Sydney's entire starting pack — with the exception of David Tyrell — had each made 20 tackles. By full-time Ben Te'o topped the count with 41, followed Burgess brothers Sam (37) and George (35) to complete a memorable team effort.

Panthers coach Ivan Cleary felt his team were "unlucky" to dominate while the conditions were most hostile, but was nevertheless compelled to acknowledge the opposition.

"Hat's off to them," Cleary said. "It doesn't matter who you are playing against, to do that against any opposition is impressive."

The only time Souths line was genuinely threatened arrived with the result just about sealed in the 67th minute, when rookie winger Dallin Watene-Zelenziak dropped the ball with the stripe at his mercy.

Dylan Walker on the attack. Source: Getty Images

By that stage Souths were 12-2 leaders, following tries to debutante centre Kirisome Avua'a and Merritt's history-maker within 15 minutes of the resumption. Another try of note — rookie forward Kyle Turner's first in the NRL — capped a marvellous night for the visitors with nine minutes remaining.

With his new recruits still forming combinations, Cleary was still encouraged. His only regret was a decision to level the scores with a penalty goal shortly before half-time — an effective concession of South Sydney's defensive dominance.

Kyle Turner scores for the Rabbitohs. Picture: Brett Costello Source: News Corp Australia

"I didn't think we deserved to lose by that much," Cleary said. "For big chunks of the game, we gave ourselves a chance to win.

"The conditions played a part in the first half. The second half we were behind, and it was probably our lack of time together that played a part."

SOUTH SYDNEY 18 (K Auva'a N Merritt K Turner tries A Reynolds 3 goals) bt PENRITH 2 (J Soward goal) at Sportingbet Stadium. Referee: Ashley Klein, Adam Gee. Crowd: 11,674.

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