The Dolphins have been left to rue a senseless hit from Kenny Bromwich that left them outnumbered as the Rabbitohs ran riot in the second half.
Wayne Bennett’s side was excellent in the first half, taking a six-point lead into the sheds before conceding five unanswered tries after the break as South Sydney ran out 36-14 winners at Suncorp Stadium.
Bromwich was given his marching orders by referee Ashley Klein in the 61st minute after a careless hit on Rabbitohs winger Taane Milne.
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The Kiwi backrower had chased through a Dolphins kick, but rather than contest the ball he ran straight into Milne who was attempting to catch it.
South Sydney held a 20-14 lead at the time and piled on three tries in the space of six minutes as Bromwich sat in the sin bin leaving his team one man short, with one of the tries coming barely a minute later.
Bromwich played 216 games with the Melbourne Storm before joining the Dolphins, with many of them coming alongside Cameron Smith, and the former Storm skipper was baffled by his old teammate’s act.
“I’ve played a lot of games with Kenny Bromwich and I’ve never seen him come up with a play like that before,” Smith said on Nine’s NRL coverage.
“He’s got that timing all wrong.”
Bromwich’s brother, Dolphins skipper Jesse, was also baffled by what he called a “stupid” play.
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”He’s not normally one to do stupid plays like that, but it was pretty tough on us at that time of the game,” he told Nine after the game.
“I might have to have a quiet word to him, he doesn’t take them too well though.”
To make matters worse for Bromwich, he came off second best in the exchange, requiring a HIA shortly after the brutal clash.
The match started in perfect fashion for the Dolphins, with Euan Aitken crossing over for the first try of the match in the first minute.
Campbell Graham hit back for the Rabbitohs in the 22nd minute, before Jeremy Marshall-King struck seven minutes before the main break.
Graham scored his second under controversial circumstances just four minutes into the second half, with the Bunker awarding the Rabbitohs a try despite replays showing Graham pushing a defender in the back in the lead-up.
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Cody Walker, Isaiah Tass, Latrell Mitchell and Alex Johnston all hit the scoreboard in the end, as South Sydney ran out comfortable winners.
Jason Demetriou’s side will host the reigning premiers Penrith in round eight, while the Dolphins will host the Gold Coast Titans at Suncorp.
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