South Sydney Rabbitohs beat Wests Tigers to hop to top of NRL ladder Wests Tigers 18 South Sydney 32 SOUTH Sydney are back at the top of the premiership ladder. And regardless of the result of Sydney Roosters' clash with Gold Coast on Sunday, they will have the chance to end the season there. The Rabbitohs' victory over Wests Tigers, fighting back from an 18-0 deficit after 14 minutes, hands the NRL what they dearly wanted: a final-round blockbuster between the Rabbitohs and the Roosters for the minor premiership. On the run: Greg Inglis lights the afterburners. It's advantage South Sydney right now. The Roosters are still to play this weekend and the Rabbitohs will have a home crowd on their side at ANZ Stadium next Friday night. "Without a doubt, you think about it," Souths coach Michael Maguire said of the minor premiership. For us, that's something we'd like to achieve along the way, but the boys are pretty focused about what's in front of us over this next month. They will need to improve on their performance against the Tigers. Lock Sam Burgess's early sin-binning handed the Tigers an early advantage and they struck three times while the Englishman was absent. Still, that the Tigers' only points of the contest were confined to that period will please them. "It's a great opportunity for the club, the players," Maguire said. It's an important game, the last opportunity to practice before ... the finals. The Tigers will finish next week. And that was clear, as five-eighth Benji Marshall broke down during the presentation, after his final home match for the Tigers. It's been a disappointing year and a tough year for everyone involved in the club, but I asked the boys to play with some pride, and I can't fault the effort. Most observers would have felt the Tigers needed a numerical advantage to beat the Rabbitohs. And after four minutes, that is what the Tigers got, after Burgess stripped the ball from centre Tim Simona. "It was an unusual one," Maguire said. " I'll have to talk to Daniel [Anderson]. I was quite unsure of why he was sent off. The Tigers made their opponents pay with three tries - Simona, fullback James Tedesco and back-rower Ben Murdoch-Masila scored to give the match an old-fashioned ambush feel. But once the numerical order was restored, the match settled down. Souths eventually hit back through halfback Adam Reynolds, just before the half-hour mark, sparked by a dart from hooker Issac Luke. The Rabbitohs were well off their game in the first half, but they were still in it with a try just before the break. Tigers winger Lote Tuqiri's air-swing gave his opposite Dylan Farrell the try from Reynolds' kick. Seven minutes into the second half, the Rabbitohs were level. And it was the man who had been off the field at the same stage of the first half, Sam Burgess, who produced the try. The Tigers did well to hold the Rabbitohs out for much of the second half. Their toil was highlighted by Tedesco's wonderful tackle on a flying Nathan Merritt. But four minutes later, a penalty against Marshall after the officials ruled a strip on five-eighth John Sutton gave the Rabbitohs their chance to lead. Reynolds made no mistake. Four minutes later, Luke's bust handed Merritt what he thought he had earlier, and Luke Burgess finished the contest off in the dying minutes. That gave the match another first; after the four Burgesses took to the same field on the same night, the oldest brother scored his first try in the NRL. After full-time, a fifth Burgess was on the field - mother Julie. "To be part of a bit of history - from 103 years, it's quite amazing to think, to have four brothers, particularly of that size, play in one team," Maguire said. Next week, the Rabbitohs will push for another first. SOUTH SYDNEY 32 (L Burgess S Burgess D Farrell N Merritt A Reynolds tries A Reynolds 6 goals) bt WESTS TIGERS 18 (B Murdoch-Masila T Simona J Tedesco tries B Marshall 3 goals) at Allianz Stadium. Referee: Phil Haines, Henry Perenara. Crowd: 14,891 Total votes: 376.