But the win appears to have come at a major cost with five-eighth and co-captain Mark Gasnier being forced from the field with a shoulder inury in the 63rd minute.

The extent of the injury is yet to be fully determined but reports indicate that Gasnier has a torn pectoral muscle, often a season-ending injury.

A Telstra Stadium crowd of over 20,000 were in attendance to see what is widely recognised at the unofficial start to the rugby league season.

With numerous new recruits on show for both sides, the Rabbitohs appeared to have the strongest team on paper with seven internationals taking the field. The Dragons named a side of relative unknowns with a number of rookies replacing injured regulars.

Prior to being injured, Gasnier's move to five-eighth appeared to deliver the desired results with the former international centre proving a handful close to the ruck and giving good service to his outside men. But following a tackle on Nigel Vagana in the 63rd minute, Gasnier left the field and ran straight up the tunnel clutching at his right shoulder.

South Sydney opened the scoring after just four minutes when back rower Luke Stuart ran onto a beautifully timed pass from half back Joe Williams close to the line. Williams converted and the Rabbitohs were 6-0 in front.

The Dragons struck back in the 22nd minute through centre Wes Naiqama. Dummy half with new recruit Simon Woolford exploited a simple decoy play to find Gasnier in the backline. The ensuing overlap saw a bullet pass from Gasnier to Naiqama who finished well to touchdown out wide.

An unsuccessful conversion attempt followed and the Rabbitohs were up by 6-4.

The Dragons hit the lead soon after courtesy of another backline movement, rookie full back Josh Morris chiming in and finding space from 15-metres out.

Naiqama had little difficulty with the conversion and the Dragons were 10-6 in front coming up to half time.

Souths responded with some entertaining football and were rewarded just before the break. Following a knock-on by 17-year-old Dragons winger Chase Stanley, the Rabbitohs capitalised with a David Peachey trademark flick pass behind the back and onto forward David Kidwell who offloaded close to the line. Shannon Hegarty swooped on the loose ball to score, the video referee checking for a knock-on and giving Souths the benefit of the doubt.

At half time it was 10-all.

The scores remained deadlocked before centre Nigel Vagana scored midway through the second half. Once again the Rabbitohs were given benefit of the doubt by the video referee after the ball was batted down by Peachey. Vagana was on the spot to score adjacent to the corner post.

Williams was unable to convert and with 20 minutes remainng, Souths were 14-10 in the lead.

With Gasnier off the field and Souths gaining the ascendancy, it appeared that the Bunnies were set to retain the Shield. But a wayward pass from Williams to David Fa'alogo saw Hornby pounce on the intercept and run 70-metres to score the winning try.

Details

DRAGONS 16 v RABBITOHS 14 (CHARITY SHIELD)
Scorers Dragons: W Naiqama, J Morris, B Hornby tries. W Naiqama 2/3 goals.
Scorers Rabbitohs: L Stuart, S Heggarty, N Vagana tries. J Williams 1/2, R Simmonds 0/1 goals.

Telstra Stadium, Homebush, NSW
Crowd: 23,053
Referee: Shayne Hayne
Kick off: 8.00pm
HALF TIME: 10-all
FULL TIME: Dragons 16-14

By the clock

4 min: TRY Rabbitohs
Luke Stuart
Conversion: Joe Williams
Rabbitohs 6-0

22 min: TRY Dragons
Wes Naiqama
Conversion (unsuccessful): Wes Naiqama
Rabbitohs 6-4

29 min: TRY Dragons
Josh Morris
Conversion: Wes Naiqama
Dragons 10-6

39 min: TRY Rabbitohs
Shannon Heggarty
Conversion (unsuccessful): Reece Simmonds
10-all

Half time

58 min: TRY Rabbitohs
Nigel Vagana
Conversion (unsuccessful): Joe Williams
Rabbitohs 14-10

74 min: TRY Dragons
Ben Hornby
Conversion: Wes Naiqama
Dragons 16-14

Full time: Dragons win 2007 Charity Shield

Trial Squads

ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS
Coach: Nathan Brown
1. Josh MORRIS
2. Luke MACDOUGALL
3. Wes NAIQAMA
4. Matt COOPER
5. Chase STANLEY
6. Mark GASNIER (c)
7. Ben HORNBY
8. Chris HOUSTON
9. Simon WOOLFORD
10. Dan HUNT
11. Ashton SIMS
12. Beau SCOTT
13. Ben CREAGH
14. Adam PEEK
15. Danny WICKS
16. Corey PAYNE
18. Lagi SETU
19. Ben ELLIS
20. Charlie LEAENO
21. Ricky THORBY

SOUTH SYDNEY RABBITOHS
Coach: Jason Taylor
1. David Peachey
2. Paul Mellor
3. Nigel Vagana
4. Shannon Hegarty
5. Reece Simmonds
6. John Sutton
7. Joe Williams
8. Peter Cusack (c)
9. Stuart Webb
10. Roy Asotasi
11. David Kidwell (c)
12. Luke Stuart
13. David Fa’alogo
14. Daniel Irvine
15. Dean Widders
16. Scott Geddes
17. Manase Manuokafoa
18. Joe Galuvao
19. Jaiman Lowe
20. Shane Rigon
21. Jeremy Smith
22. Germaine Paulson
23. Fetuli Talanoa

Upcoming matches
Round 1 of the NRL premiership
16-19 MARCH 2007
Fri 7:30 (Qld) 8:30 (NSW) - BRONCOS v COWBOYS - Suncorp Stadium
Fri 7:30 - STORM v TIGERS - Olympic Park
5:30 (NZ) Sat 7:30 (NSW) - WARRIORS v EELS - Mt Smart Stadium
Sat 7:30 - SEA EAGLES v RAIDERS - Brookvale Oval
Sat 7:30 - SHARKS v PANTHERS - Toyota Park
Sun 2:00 - KNIGHTS v BULLDOGS - EnergyAustralia Stadium
Sun 3:00 - TITANS v DRAGONS - Suncorp Stadium
Mon 7:00 - ROOSTERS v RABBITOHS - Aussie Stadium

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