NRL finals live updates: South Sydney Rabbitohs vs Newcastle Knights, eliminiation final at the Sydney Football Stadium

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.

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.

Alex Johnston may have smashed Ken Irvine's long-standing tries record this year, but the South Sydney winger doesn't want any awards named after him - yet.

Johnston crossed for his 213th try in March, breaking Irvine's career try-scoring mark (212) which had stood since 1973.

There is already a statue of him outside the Rabbitohs' high-performance centre in Maroubra, but Johnston doesn't want to contemplate anything more at the moment, even though he currently sits on 240 tries.

Penrith winger Tom Jenkins and Johnston ended the 2026 club season level on 30 tries with both clubs in the finals.

Earlier this week Jenkins told media he thought the NRL's award for the top try-scorer each season should be renamed the Irvine-Johnston Medal.

"Maybe not while I'm still playing," Johnston said, when asked for his reaction.

"Maybe it's something that when it's all said and done it would be nice to leave a legacy like that."

The 31-year-old still has at least two more seasons left in him, becoming the the first Papua New Guinean player to sign with the incoming Chiefs franchise for 2028.

Since 1908 there have been 12 occasions where two players have shared the top try-scorer award and three times where three players have ended the year on top.

Johnston has won the Ken Irvine Medal for most tries in a season three times already - 2020, 2021 and 2022 - and now a fourth time sharing with Jenkins.

"It's funny because I didn't really want it to be a race. I just wanted to do my job of scoring tries, I was happy with that," Johnston said of his duel with Jenkins.

"He had such a good start to the year but lucky enough I was able to keep racking up the four-pointers and get closer and closer to him by the end of the season.

"I really like 'Milky' as a player - he's got some big years ahead of him as he's got all the attributes you need to score good tries."

It did come down to the wire. Heading into the final round 27 of the club season, Johnston was just in front 29 to 28.

He added another in Souths' 50-20 win over the Roosters on Friday and then two days later Jenkins scored twice in the 38-10 win over Wests Tigers.

Penrith fullback Dylan Edwards also scored but could have easily passed the ball to Jenkins to give his teammate a hat-trick and the outright season lead of 31.

"I had flashbacks of when Corey Allan gave me the pass so it could have been a full-circle moment for me," Johnston said.

In the final NRL club game of 2020 against the Roosters, Allan was in the clear but passed the ball to Johnston over the line so his teammate could move ahead of Cowboys winger Kyle Feldt for most NRL tries in a season.

It is the third time Johnston has landed 30 in a season and it's been a good omen for South Sydney travelling deep into the finals.

In 2021 the Rabbitohs made the grand final, but lost to Penrith, and in 2022 they beat Cronulla to reach the preliminary finals, where they were eliminated by the Panthers.

- AAP

Latrell Mitchell's massive front-on tackle of rookie Roosters halfback Toby Rodwell was as firm an indication as any that the former Blues firebrand is going to be a force to be reckoned with.

But the monstrous hit drew some criticism from Mitchell's former Roosters and NSW Origin teammate James Tedesco.

"It was fair play from Trell, the hit he put on," Tedesco told Channel 9.

"But I'm not sure about standing over him after.

"The poor kid is only 20 years-old and played two games."

Mitchell noted that in his debut as an 18 year-old in 2016 he had big-name players like Nate Myles and Jamie Lyon let him know the arena he was walking into.

"I do wish him [Rodwell] the best, it's just a 'welcome to first grade' thing. I got banged - it is what it is," Mitchell said.

"He [Tedesco] has got my number, if he's got a problem, ring me."

Mitchell has scored a try, two try-assists, six tackle busts and two line breaks since his return to NRL action.

Against the Roosters' reserves last week, Mitchell ran 110m in a powerful performance that also saw him pick up the most fantasy points, according to NRL.com, if that's a measure that people are at all interested in.

- with AAP

South Sydney star Latrell Mitchell has revealed a bulging disc in his lower back was so severe he doubted he would make it back to the NRL this year.

The injury restricted him to just nine games before he was forced out for 15 weeks, returning for the Rabbitohs' last two games of the regular season where they posted strong wins over Gold Coast and Sydney Roosters.

That has the Bunnies primed for their elimination final against Newcastle tonight, with two of their biggest performers in Mitchell and backrower David Fifita (hamstring) now at full strength.

But the picture wasn't that rosy only recently with persistent pain in his back and down his legs.

"For me I wanted to come back and add a bit of value, and to be fair, I didn't know if I was going to play again this year," Mitchell said on Tuesday.

"But something turned the corner and I was very happy … just couldn't wait to be back for my teammates.

"I was just going through the process and getting a lot of opinions, but there were some times there it was questionable.

"It was a bulging disc and apparently I've had it for a long time. But at halftime in the Knights (round-nine) game it was burning me … you wouldn't wish it on your worst enemy.

"But look it is what it is, and now I'm moving forward."

Latrell's impact has been immediate with a try, two try-assists, six tackle busts and two line breaks in his first two games back.

For the 29 year-old Mitchell - a two-time premiership winner with the Roosters - he is back in the NRL finals for the first time in four years.

"I'm keen. It's special and [coach] Wayne [Bennett] is a special man. We've got a good bunch of blokes here and we just want to do each other proud," Mitchell said.

"I love finals footy; I love big games. I've been and done it so for me it's about adding my value and experience now and doing it consistently.

"I've just come back and now my full focus is on the team."

- AAP

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