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NRL finals live updates: South Sydney Rabbitohs vs Newcastle Knights, eliminiation final at the Sydney Football Stadium
Posted Fri 11 Sep 2026 at 6:53pmFri 11 Sep 2026 at 6:53pmFri 11 Sep 2026 at 6:53pm, updated Fri 11 Sep 2026 at 8:11pmFri 11 Sep 2026 at 8:11pmFri 11 Sep 2026 at 8:11pmSkip to timeline
Week 1 of the NRL Finals series kicks off with the elimination final between South Sydney and Newcastle at the Sydney Football Stadium.
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Fri 11 Sep 2026 at 7:50pmFri 11 Sep 2026 at 7:50pm
Live updates: Souths vs Knights
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By Simon Smale
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Fri 11 Sep 2026 at 8:16pmFri 11 Sep 2026 at 8:16pm
21′ Incredible defence Souths
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By Simon Smale
Bradman Best gets the ball out quickly to Greg Marzhew.
But Jack Wighton is there and makes a brilliant tackle around the hips to drag the Newcastle winger into touch just short of the line.
Fri 11 Sep 2026 at 8:15pmFri 11 Sep 2026 at 8:15pm
20′ Penalty Knights!
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By Simon Smale
Latrell Mitchell has lost the plot.
He has tackled McEwen off the ball as Gagai ran at Johnston and went past him.
Perhaps Wayne Bennett would have preferred that Mitchell has been sin binned just to cool him off for 10 minutes.
Because he’s lost his head out there at the moment.
Fri 11 Sep 2026 at 8:11pmFri 11 Sep 2026 at 8:11pm
16′ Souths defence
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By Simon Smale
That’s good defence from Souths, Jack Wighton making the tackle and dislodging the ball as Fletcher Sharpe tries to go around the outside on the left edge.
Fri 11 Sep 2026 at 8:10pmFri 11 Sep 2026 at 8:10pm
15′ Penalty Knights
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By Simon Smale
Jayden Sullivan was there making a tackle and then he crowds the tackler.
It’s getting a bit intense.
Fri 11 Sep 2026 at 8:09pmFri 11 Sep 2026 at 8:09pm
14′ GAGAI RUNS STRAIGHT AT MITCHELL!
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By Simon Smale
AND IT IS VERY TASTY IN THAT TACKLE!
Dane Gagai just ran straight at Mitchell, who has the red mist, makes a tackle and then slaps his hands about a bit, McEwen working as a body guard to pull the giant Souths centre back.
Key Event
Fri 11 Sep 2026 at 8:08pmFri 11 Sep 2026 at 8:08pm
13′ MITCHELL AND GAGAI ARE INTO EACH OTHER!
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By Simon Smale
Latrell Mitchell and Dane Gagai are getting into each other!
Mitchell has thrown a punch! He’s missed, but he’s thrown a punch.
Gagai then rabbit punched him back.
Both men pushed and shoved each other.
Ashley Klein says it’s a penalty to the Knights.
Not on report. No sin binning.
I am stunned that there’s no more out of that from the referee.
Well this could get tasty.
Fri 11 Sep 2026 at 8:06pmFri 11 Sep 2026 at 8:06pm
13′ Souths chance
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By Simon Smale
Souths get a six again call that looked a bit questionable for me.
The Rabbitohs move the ball to the left, Walker puts a kick in and Johnston can’t get there as Young chased back.
OH BUT NOW IT’S ON!
Fri 11 Sep 2026 at 8:04pmFri 11 Sep 2026 at 8:04pm
12′ Smith to Young again!
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By Simon Smale
But this time Young goes a bit early and can’t hang on.
Young has the right idea, trying to get up high over the top of Johnston, but that time he wanted to bend gravity to his will, and just couldn’t do it.
An escape for Souths, who just seem so at a loss of how to deal with him.
Fri 11 Sep 2026 at 8:03pmFri 11 Sep 2026 at 8:03pm
10′ Souths error!
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By Simon Smale
Cam Murray drops the ball cold!
That’s a bad error from the Rabbitohs skipper and it’s handed the ball to the Knights about 35 metres out from goal.
Great attacking chance here.
Fri 11 Sep 2026 at 8:02pmFri 11 Sep 2026 at 8:02pm
10′ Dom Young has a go again
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By Simon Smale
It’s another Sandon Smith kick, and Dom Young has taken off after it again.
The South Sydney defence seems intent to just watch these bombs raining down on them – while the Knights are willing to chase everything.
Fri 11 Sep 2026 at 7:58pmFri 11 Sep 2026 at 7:58pm
6′ Try Newcastle!
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By Simon Smale
Sandon Smith puts his boot to ball.
It’s a nothing kick really but Dom Young leaps over a static Latrell Mitchell, with Cody Walker just looking at him.
He passes the ball off to Jermaine McEwen who races over to score.
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That’s really poor defence from the Rabbitohs, not contesting the bomb and they were punished.
Great start for Newcastle!
The kick is MISSED! Off the woodwork! We spoke about kicks earlier – how crucial will that be?
Fri 11 Sep 2026 at 7:54pmFri 11 Sep 2026 at 7:54pm
3′ Brilliant defence Souths
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By Simon Smale
The Knights shift the ball to the left side.
It’s a lovely move and Greg Marzhew barrels towards his opposition number, and Campbell Graham stands his ground and powers him into touch just on half way.
Great start.
Fri 11 Sep 2026 at 7:52pmFri 11 Sep 2026 at 7:52pm
1′ Kick off
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By Simon Smale
Latrell Mitchell kicks off for the Rabbitohs, in their traditional red and green, the Knights bringing the ball back with occasional front rower Tyson Frizell.
Key Event
Fri 11 Sep 2026 at 7:50pmFri 11 Sep 2026 at 7:50pm
Tonight’s referee is Ashley Klein
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By Simon Smale
Ashley Klein will lead the officiating team tonight.
Dave Munro
and Belinda Sharpe are the touch judges.
Chris Butler is in the Bunker.
Fri 11 Sep 2026 at 7:50pmFri 11 Sep 2026 at 7:50pm
Phil Blake will ring the Legacy Bell
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By Simon Smale
The London-born utility back, who played 75 games for the Rabbitohs between 1987–90, winning the minor premiership with the club in 1989.
Loading Twitter contentFri 11 Sep 2026 at 7:48pmFri 11 Sep 2026 at 7:48pm
What happened earlier this season?
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By Simon Smale
If we are treated tonight to anything like what these two teams served up during the regular season, then we could be in for something special.
The two teams have shared their matches this season, with Newcastle winning a 14-try shoot out at Hunter Stadium in Round 9 by a score of 42-38.
Both teams scored seven tries each, with Latrell’s missed kick and a penalty goal from Kalyn Ponga accounting for the four-point difference.
Then, in Round 19, the Rabbitohs hung on to claim a 24-22 victory on Jai Arrow’s birthday, with Ponga scoring two tries in a matter of minutes in the final 10 to set up a breathless finale.
Fri 11 Sep 2026 at 7:46pmFri 11 Sep 2026 at 7:46pm
Nothing better than a tight finals game
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By Simon Smale
Hello Simon, Hoping for a tight game with the Knights surprising the unsuspecting Rabbits with a flurry of trys late in the game – sorry Wayne…
– Mike
If the previous two games between these sides this season are anything to go by, it’s going to be tight and high scoring.
Fri 11 Sep 2026 at 7:46pmFri 11 Sep 2026 at 7:46pm
Kick problems?
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By Simon Smale
Indulge me for a minute or two.
The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a finely tuned attacking machine. No team in the entire NRL has scored more tries than they have with a whopping 129.
- Rabbitohs 129
- Warriors 127
- Panthers 117
- Sharks 115
- Knights 114
- Dolphins 114
That’s all well and good, but the attacking area they have struggled in during 2026 is goal kicking.
The Rabbitohs rank eighth in the league with just 88 goals kicked this season.
That is the same as the Knights, incidentally.
And look, it might not be too much of an issue, but it means that, on average, given the Rabbitohs score 5.4 tries per game and only kick 3.7 goals per game, are leaving points out there.
Latrell Mitchell is only kicking at 61.7 per cent this season, kicking only 37 of his 60 kicks successfully, while benched kicker Latrell Siegwalt is a little better at 70.6 per cent (24 from 34).
Mitchell’s last outing saw him kick at just 50 per cent.
He is, however, one of just four players in the league this year to kick a two-point field goal, however.
The Knights are not much better to be fair, with Kalyn Ponga (72 per cent, 36/50) and Sandon Smith (71.9 per cent, 46/64) far from the most accurate at 15th and 16th respectively.
Dylan Brown has kicked a one-point field goal for the Knights.
In a tight one, that could end up being the difference between the two sides.
Fri 11 Sep 2026 at 7:44pmFri 11 Sep 2026 at 7:44pm
Costly errors
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By Simon Smale
We all know that errors can kill teams in the finals, and Newcastle has a couple of culprits in its side that are prone to a howler.
Dom Young has made 39 errors this season, the fifth most in the entire league.
He has also made 33 handling errors, the most of any in the two sides playing tonight, with Fletcher Hunt (29) not far behind.
That being said, Kalyn Ponga (31) has made errors more per game (2.1) than Young (1.7), as well as making 26 handling errors.
For Souths it’s Cody Walker (34) who has made the most errors.
Of the two teams lining up tonight, it is Knights second row forward Jermaine McEwen who has given away the most number of penalties (16), just one ahead of Walker (15).
Keep an eye on Latrell Mitchell for Souths, who has given away 11 penalties at a rate of one per game.
In terms of defence, Knights could do worse than run at lock forward Cameron Murray, who has missed an average of 1.7 tackles per game this season, the same rate of misses that Knights halves Sandon Smith and Dylan Brown have managed.