Cronulla Sharks vs South Sydney Rabbitohs NRL finals fulltime score: Straight sets for Sharks as Rabbitohs advance again

The South Sydney Rabbitohs are through to the preliminary finals yet again where they will meet the Penrith Panthers following a big win in their semi-final over the Cronulla Sharks on Saturday night.

The 36 points to 12 victory would see the Rabbitohs take a big lead into the halftime break, and then whether the storm during the second half to sprint away as they look to go one step better than last year, when they lost the grand final.

The win didn't come without concern for South Sydney though, with Alex Johnston and Siliva Havili both exiting the field with injuries, while Tevita Tatola will sweat on the match review committee after being put on report for a chicken wing type tackle in the second half.

Jai Arrow also appeared to come off the field with a leg injury in the closing minutes of the game.

It took just minutes for the Rabbitohs to get first points on the board, with Mark Nicholls crashing over off a short ball from Damien Cook through the middle third.

The third-minute try put the early microscope on the Sharks, with all the warning signs there early.

The first half continued with a game struggling to break out into any sort of reasonable rhythm. Dropped balls marred the fixture, but a pair of tries in the ten minutes before the break to Taane Milne and Cameron Murray put the Rabbitohs up 18 points to 0 at halftime.

It was a first half which might have been dominated by the Rabbitohs, but they hardly played all that well, with both teams completing horribly and making a bundle of errors.

The Sharks managed to grab the first try of the second half through Briton Nikora and keep a brief flicker of hope alive.

But it would be just minutes later that the Rabbitohs hit back. Off a poor kick, the Rabbitohs would have a seven-tackle set, managing to keep the ball alive with some fabulous passing and offloads.

A Latrell Mitchell ball to Taane Milne would see him throw it back inside to Lachlan Ilias who crashed over for a try which, with a conversion sending the lead back out to 18 points with just over 30 minutes to play.

The Sharks appeared to have managed to keep themselves in the game though with a second try on the right-hand side of the park, this time sparked off an incredible Briton Nikora behind the back pass to Jesse Ramien who would score in the corner. Bunker intervention would see the try overruled for the kick chase being offside however.

They would find a way over the tryline just 23 minutes from fulltime though as Ronaldo Mulitalo capitalised on an intercept to run the length of the field and cut the lead to 12 once again.

The Rabbitohs made things tougher for the Sharks though with 17 minutes to go as a lovely ball from Cameron Murray sent Cody Walker over for a try which took the lead back out to 18.

The Rabbitohs would put the game all but beyond doubt five minutes later as Taane Milne crashed over for a try.