South Sydney Rabbitohs are through to the second week of the NRL finals, defeating local rivals Sydney Roosters 30-14 at Allianz Stadium in the second elimination final.
In a chaotic display that saw seven players sin-binned, including two apiece to Victor Radley and Taane Milne, the Rabbitohs reversed their defeat from a week ago, where the Roosters took a 26-16 win at the same venue.
It took just four minutes for the first player to be sent to the bin, with Roosters enforcer Radley ruled to have thrown a punch at Milne.
And with the man advantage, Alex Johnston opened the scoring for the Rabbitohs.
The Roosters hit back through two scores, as Angus Crichton and Daniel Tupou went over, before the Rabbitohs lost Thomas Burgess and Milne to the bin, both for dangerous tackles.
But even with only 11 on the field, the Rabbitohs took the lead, as Latrell Mitchell scored to give South Sydney a 12-8 lead going into the break.
After halftime, the Roosters lost Kiwis prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves after a dangerous tackle on Burgess, as the two sides traded tries through Johnston's second and Jai Arrow for the Rabbitohs, as Nat Butcher clawed one back to keep Sydney in the contest at 24-14 down.
On the hour mark, Radley was sent off for the second time, along with Tevita Tatola of the Rabbitohs. Tatola was judged to have made a dangerous tackle on Roosters half Luke Keary, while Radley was sent off for retaliating.
As the final sin-binning of the game, Milne was sent off for a second time, tackling Connor Watson high and late, setting a new record for the most send-offs in a single NRL game.
One last try to Isaiah Tass completed the Rabbitohs' scoring, as Mitchell landed all five shots at goal as the Roosters joined Melbourne Storm in a first-week NRL finals exit.
The Rabbitohs advance to the second week, where they'll face Cronulla Sharks in the second semi-final, with the winner to face North Queensland Cowboys on September 23 for a spot in the Grand Final.
South Sydney Rabbitohs 30 (Johnston 2, Mitchell, Arrow, Tass tries; Mitchell 5 conversions) Sydney Roosters 14 (Crichton, Tupou, Butcher tries; Walker conversion)
