South Sydney Rabbitohs 36–16 Manly-Warringah — Preliminary Final, 2021 NRL Finals Series
24 Sep 2021 · Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, QLD · Attendance: 26,249
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Preliminary Final, 2021 NRL finals series: South Sydney Rabbitohs 36–16 Manly-Warringah, at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, QLD on 24 Sep 2021.
Sourcing caveat: Individual try/goal minute timestamps were not identified in sources found. No official player-of-the-match award was found for this fixture.
Scorers
| South Sydney Rabbitohs | Tries: Johnston; Paulo; Walker; Johnston; Paulo; Walker; Graham Goals: Taaffe (4/7 conversions) |
| Manly-Warringah | Tries: Garrick; Garrick; Trbojevic Goals: Garrick (2/3 conversions) |
Team sheets
| South Sydney Rabbitohs | Manly-Warringah | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blake Taaffe | Fullback | Tom Trbojevic | 1 |
| 2 | Alex Johnston | Wing | Jason Saab | 2 |
| 3 | Dane Gagai | Centre | Moses Suli | 3 |
| 4 | Campbell Graham | Centre | Morgan Harper | 4 |
| 5 | Jaxson Paulo | Wing | Reuben Garrick | 5 |
| 6 | Cody Walker | Five-eighth | Kieran Foran | 6 |
| 7 | Adam Reynolds | Halfback | Daly Cherry-Evans | 7 |
| 8 | Mark Nicholls | Prop | Josh Aloiai | 8 |
| 9 | Damien Cook | Hooker | Lachlan Croker | 9 |
| 10 | Tevita Tatola | Prop | Sean Keppie | 10 |
| 11 | Keaon Koloamatangi | Second Row | Haumole Olakau'atu | 11 |
| 12 | Jaydn Su'a | Second Row | Josh Schuster | 12 |
| 13 | Cameron Murray | Lock | Jake Trbojevic | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Benji Marshall | Dylan Walker | 14 | |
| 15 | Jacob Host | Karl Lawton | 15 | |
| 16 | Thomas Burgess | Martin Taupau | 16 | |
| 17 | Jai Arrow | Taniela Paseka | 17 | |
| Wayne Bennett | Coach | Des Hasler | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Ashley Klein |
Match report
South Sydney Rabbitohs booked their place in the 2021 NRL Grand Final with a dominant 36-16 win over Manly-Warringah in the Preliminary Final, played at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane. Like much of the 2021 finals series, the match was relocated to Queensland after a COVID-19 outbreak forced lockdowns across Sydney. South Sydney raced to a commanding 22-0 half-time lead, scoring seven tries to Manly's three, with Alex Johnston, Jaxson Paulo and Cody Walker each crossing twice, and Campbell Graham adding another. Manly's response came via Reuben Garrick (2) and a late try to star fullback Tom Trbojevic, whose four-pointer broke the club's 38-year-old single-season try-scoring record. The win secured coach Wayne Bennett's tenth Grand Final appearance, before South Sydney went on to lose the Grand Final to Penrith the following week.