With the Warriors preparing to take on the Rabbitohs in Perth on Saturday, Flashback Friday relives one of the great nail-biters between the clubs.
The mercurial Stacey Jones once again proved the New Zealand Warriors’ saviour, sinking South Sydney 31-30 in an epic golden point triumph midway through the 2003 NRL season.
The lowly Rabbitohs had opened up an imposing 24-6 lead early in the second half over the previous year’s grand finalists, but Jones’ try just before the hour mark opened the floodgates as the visitors ran in three more four-pointers in the space of 12 minutes to take a 30-24 lead.
South regrouped, however, and Justin Smith converted his own try two minutes from fulltime to send the match in extra-time.
Jones then broke the Bunnies’ hearts with less than three minutes of golden point remaining, landing a running 35-metre field goal to clinch the win.
It was the Warriors’ maiden golden point game and just the third in NRL history after the innovation was introduced at the start of 2003, while Jones’ field goal was the first ever in golden point – and remains one of the best.
READ: THE RIVALRY – WARRIORS V RABBITOHS
Categories: FEATURES, Flashbacks
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