Rabbitohs coach Ben Hornby has identified a glaring issue with South Sydney’s defence after Saturday’s 28-14 loss to the Dragons at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium.
The Rabbitohs are reeling at the bottom of the NRL ladder after suffering their fifth-consecutive defeat, with the club failing to register a victory since March.
Hornby, who took charge of the Rabbitohs after former coach Jason Demetriou was sacked last week, confessed there was plenty of room for improvement.
“We’re just not winning those moments,” Hornby told reporters in the post-match press conference.
“When there’s a ball to be caught or a kick to be defused or a tackle to be made, at the moment we’re not quite nailing it.
“It was an improved performance, but we want to win.
“We can’t look back, we’ve just got to be looking forward.
“We’ve got to be better next week.”
The Rabbitohs have became the first team in NRL history to concede 28 or more points eight times across a nine-game run, with Hornby pinpointing tries off kicks as one of the club’s biggest concerns in defence.
“Tries off kicks are killing us at the moment,” Hornby continued.
“They’re hurting us. We need to sort that out.
“Sometimes you’re just not there, sometimes you get an unlucky bounce, whatever it may be, but we’re going to have a good, hard look at it.”
Rabbitohs fullback Latrell Mitchell, returning to the side after a lengthy stint on the sidelines, scored two of South Sydney’s three tries, but otherwise had a forgettable night with multiple sloppy errors.
“He wasn’t too bad,” Hornby replied when asked about Mitchell’s performance.
“He had some nice moments, but a couple of kicks he probably didn’t clean up.
“He’ll be better for the run.”
South Sydney captain Cody Walker confessed it was a “disappointing result” for the club.
“There’s some sad boys in there with the loss and they’re disappointed, but it was an improved performance,” Walker said.
“We’ve just got to build on that and hopefully things will turn in the future.”
Meanwhile, the Dragons have climbed to eleventh on the NRL ladder after securing their fifth win of the season.
“They’re a good club, a big club,” Dragons coach Shane Flanagan said of the Rabbitohs.
“They’re going through some tough times at the moment, but they’ll come out of it.”
The Rabbitohs will next face the North Queensland Cowboys at Suncorp Stadium for Magic Round next Saturday, with kick-off scheduled for 7.45pm AEST.
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