The Roosters would have been able to activate 18th man Adam Keighran if Burgess had been sin-binned for the tackle on Tedesco.

Remarkably,South Sydney scored when down to 11 men against the Roosters’ 13 in the first half after Milne’s high shot on Joseph Suaalii,who was switched to fullback in Tedesco’s absence,in a game which will surely earn its own chapter in the Book Of Feuds.

“Where do I start? It was chaotic and it sort of descended into a long,odd rugby league game in the end,” Roosters coach Trent Robinson said.

“It got to the point where it was so stop-start,not what really we want to see in the game. I think as spectacle it would have been interesting and different,and then the footy moments were won by Souths.”

The Roosters,who had won eight straight matches to surge into the finals,appeared to have all the momentum when they twice scored when a man down after Victor Radley’s fifth-minute sin-binning for a sly punch on Milne in a tangle on the ground.

But the Rabbitohs climbed back into the contest when Latrell Mitchell,who fought back tears on the ground amid cheers from South Sydney faithful during his post-game interview,crashed over to give South Sydney a 12-8 half-time lead despite attacking against a defensive line with two extra players.

“He had real intent on his week,” Demetriou said of Mitchell,who also booted five conversions from as many attempts. “He came in and was really focused on his role. We wanted to get him in areas that would expose them rather than just getting bullied all the time.”

Robinson angrily denied his team laid down for penalties in a match which lasted well over two hours thanks to regular interventions from referee Ashley Klein and the bunker.

“They didn’t lie down for any penalties,” he said. “I take umbrage to any suggestion we lie down for penalties. I have an opinion on us,and we don’t do it. You can feel I’m passionate about that and it won’t happen.

“I thought[the match officials] handled the game really well. I thought we descended the game,as in both teams. I thought Ashley and the bunker handled the game as best they could.”

Angus Crichton was also knocked out in the first half attempting a tackle on Burgess,and the Roosters were down to one man on the bench when Daniel Tupou,who came into the match off a groin problem,aggravated the problem and didn’t return in the second half.

The Roosters clawed their way to within 10 points after Nat Butcher pounced on a Luke Keary with his team again a man down,only for the Rabbitohs to advance to week two thanks to Isaiah Tass’ late try after an Alex Johnston double,who racked up 30 tries for the season in consecutive years.

“I think the emotion got the better of both teams as times,and we’ve got to take some responsibility for that,as the Roosters do,” Demetriou said. “It’s concerning[we could be missing players],but to be honest I don’t think they were that bad. We’ll wait and see,and whatever it is we’ll deal with it.”

SOUTH SYDNEY RABBITOHS 30 (Alex Johnston 2,Latrell Mitchell,Jai Arrow,Isaiah Tass tries;Mitchell 5 goals)defeatedSYDNEY ROOSTERS 14 (Angus Crichton,Daniel Tupou,Nat Butcher tries;Sam Walker goal) at Allianz Stadium. Referee:Ashley Klein. Crowd:39,816.

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