Bennett not keen on spoon talk as Bunnies fall to last

Hours after Gold Coast upset the Warriors to move off the foot the NRL ladder, the Rabbitohs were gallant but ultimately beaten by the Sharks on Saturday night.

Cronulla spent most of the game camped on the Rabbitohs' line, with more than 70 per cent of the game played inside the Sharks' attacking half.

But Souths still did enough to take a 6-2 lead at the break, holding firm as the Sharks bombed opportunities with dropped balls and forward passes.

Ultimately Will Kennedy's bat-on for Ronaldo Mulitalo and a Blayke Brailey try proved enough for the Sharks' third straight win.

The result ensured Cronulla will finish the round in the top eight, where Craig Fitzgibbon's men look likely to stay with a favourable run home.

"It was the very definition of (an ugly win)," Fitzgibbon said.

"Our execution was miles off, but at least we did the very thing we needed to do to keep them out of the game with field position.

"That was the pleasing part, not much else."

Souths, meanwhile, have more pain in a year when they have regularly had large portions of their salary cap on the sidelines.

Prop Tevita Tatola dislocated his shoulder scoring a last-minute try to narrow the margin, and Jack Wighton was sin-binned after a head clash that concussed Toby Rudolf was deemed a shoulder charge.

The Rabbitohs have not claimed a wooden spoon since 2006, and Bennett has never taken one home in 38 years of coaching in the premiership.

But Souths' eighth straight loss on Saturday night marked the worst losing streak of Bennett's career, with the Bunnies behind the Titans on for-and-against.

Bennett's men have two guaranteed points with a bye in round 26, while matches against Gold Coast and Parramatta could determine the fate of the spoon.

Not that the veteran coach is interested in the topic.

"I knew someone would ask that question," Bennett responded when asked if he was concerned about the spoon.

"I am not answering it."

Souths didn't lack spirit on Saturday, scoring with their only good set of the first half when Jye Gray stepped across field and put Tyrone Munro over on the siren.

But otherwise the lack of good ball meant halfback Lewis Dodd had little chance to create anything in attack, before he was taken off with 12 minutes to go.

The centre of attention when he arrived in Gosford as Souths' first-choice half five months ago for a pre-season trial, Dodd had only started one NRL match since.

The big-money Englishman did produce one of the key moments of the opening 40 minutes in defence, holding up Nicho Hynes after the Sharks halfback split Souths open.

"We only had two sets ... the rest of the time we were in the back of the field and finding it pretty hard to come out," Bennett said.

"He (Dodd) didn't let anybody down."

Souths will have regular No.7 Jamie Humphreys back from a concussion next week, after Bennett blooded playmaker Ashton Ward on Saturday night.

Australian Associated Press