Are South Sydney the real deal?

[yobbo84]

Luke and Inglis returning will obviously be a big boost. Not so sure about Asotasi.

Asotasi > Ben Lowe & Dave Tyrrell

 

[BunniesMan]

Luke and Inglis returning will obviously be a big boost. Not so sure about Asotasi.

He's no superstar anymore but when you consider he'll come in to replace whoever Maguire decides is our worst forward, that's a huge step up.

Your forward pack is only as good as its weakest link, and if that becomes Asotasi instead of Lowe, we're a much better team.

 

[bulldog]

And I think with souths it's the same as the doggies been great over the season but in finals they're a relatively new side to the finals in terms of their playing group bar a few players.

Teams like Melbourne and manly will be both dogs and souths big tests of they come up against them in the finals

Agree with that, regular season form counts for nothing once the finals roll around, a lack of finals experience could hurt them both pretty easily when you look at the rest of the likely eight.

 

[Packy]

Our record against the Dogs is 1-1 and should be 2-0 if Farrell kept his toes up. We lost our 1 game against Melbourne in round 2. We've beaten the Sharks and Cowboys comfortably. We got done twice by the Broncos and fair play to that. They seem to have our measure, but our second game against them was our worst performance of the season. We didn't give ourselves a chance. We'll get a good indication of where we are at on Friday, but our record against the current top 6 is 3-2 so I would have thought we'd proven a fair bit to be second at round 23.

You can't play the "could have" game.. if Burgess didn't make that break old mate shit-leg-tats would never have been in a try scoring position.

 

[Doga]

Yes they are. They are very good across the park. Have a few underrated players who won't be for too long. Very good team. Like the Digs they are very well coached too

 

[Doga]

To all the butthurt souths fans. Dylan farrell did not have a god given right to score that try. Try saving is part o Ben barba's game and that is what happened.

If you want to use that as an excuse then also look at an out of the ordinary missed tackle that allowed burgess to stroll through.

All part of the game. Souths lost. Not could should would have about it.

Either way dogs strolled down the other end and scored again.

Nothing certain!!

 

[innerwestrabbit]

I think the comp is wide open. There seems to be at least 6 teams that on any given day can win the comp. It will come down to holds there nerve and injuries in the finals. The rabbits had a tough draw to start the comp and yes the second half of the draw has been easier. The two teams I would be most nervous about in the finals would be the Storm and the Broncos in form and at full strength. Just there style of play concerns our team. Bulldogs and Sea Eagles we have had good records against Bulldogs this year and Sea Eagles last year one a piece each year respectively. Look at the Bulldogs we beat them in April with a weaker team and the second game could have gone either way we had a stronger side that day. After the first 15 mins of that game I thought we were going to belt the Dogs and perhaps the players did as well.

The only dissapointing performance was against the Warriors. Clearly we have got better as the year has gone on, defence, confidence and even attack. You can only beat what is put in front of you. IMO we can win the comp! I feel more confident if we can knock over the eagles and the sharks though!

 

[Parra Pride]

No.

 

[Evenflow]

Sitting second on the ladder at this late stage of the season you'd have to say yes they are the real deal. That said and as mentioned finals footy is a whole other beast to regular games and while they have their share of old heads, they also have plenty of young blokes and it's impossible to know how they'll handle themselves at the business end of the season.

 

[Desert Qlder]

It is not really up for debate any more. They are playing consistent, high quality football at levels better than most of the competition.

Although they may not go on to win a the premiership, it is unfair to deny them their due for transforming themselves from a mediocre side into one the competition frontrunners. They are a playing group that goes hard for the little things, and takes pride in their defense. There is strikepower to score from anywhere across the park, and ability to get into a grind. In short, they have the type of qualities good sides possess. Their supporters should be heartened by that and proud of everything they have achieved so far.

The lack of experience come finals time may end up counting against them. But I personally feel experience is a little overrated as it is. If their is enough confidence and willpower within a group, then that group should get the job done. Inexperience in the halves didn't stop Manly from rampaging to the premiership last year.

I would confidently predict them to be a preliminary final side.

 

[M2D2]

They deserve to be where they are. Only fools think otherwise.
Will they find glory on the 30th of September? Doubt it.

 

[the dude]

To all the butthurt souths fans. Dylan farrell did not have a god given right to score that try. Try saving is part o Ben barba's game and that is what happened.

If you want to use that as an excuse then also look at an out of the ordinary missed tackle that allowed burgess to stroll through.

All part of the game. Souths lost. Not could should would have about it.

Either way dogs strolled down the other end and scored again.

Nothing certain!!

We're not using it as an "excuse". We're simply saying how close the game was between the 2 sides. Bulldogs were the better side on the night just like we were the better side in round 6.

I agree with the general consensus of this thread, we are the real deal but anything can happen in September. I would be somewhat confident of beating any team at ANZ stadium though.

 

[851]

Souths are winning without Inglis and Luke,so they are the real deal,but geez they have had a dream run with the refs and video refs this year,even their coach is now worried about karma,and so he should.

 

[LoL@SouthHATERs]

I still think there's room for improvement, we vsed the dogs twice this year first time we won, we bombarded the shit out of that winger (forgot his name) which I think led to his axing after that gAme not sure. 2nd time it was a tight match till the final minute when Farrell dived a bit early which lead to BARBA to throw him out of play :lol: the broncos game was also a tight match for 60 mins we were defending so much that just lead to exhaustion and with that the tries just came in easily, also we had zero attack in that game. Once we vs the seagulls and sharks we may see if the mighty rabbitohs are contenders or pretenders...hopefully contenders :3

 

[BunniesMan]

Souths are winning without Inglis and Luke,so they are the real deal,but geez they have had a dream run with the refs and video refs this year,even their coach is now worried about karma,and so he should.

The penalty count was 5-1 against us ffs. We were not 5 times less disciplined than them.

We've won a number of games while on the wrong side of the penalty count.

So to suggest it's the refs giving us a leg up is completely wrong.

 

[851]

The penalty count was 5-1 against us ffs. We were not 5 times less disciplined than them.

We've won a number of games while on the wrong side of the penalty count.

So to suggest it's the refs giving us a leg up is completely wrong.

Yes you lost the penalty count,but the refs allowed Merrit to stay on the field(should have been binned),allowed a try of a knock on to Souths while denying a try to the Titans all while the game was in the balance,so yes you got the best of the calls,and not for the first time this year.
But your team deserve to finish top 4 because they have been consistent,something my team could only dream of.

 

[S.S.T.I.D]

I wouldn't say that we are getting a dream run with referees at all. 3 times in the last half of the season we've receieved 1 penalty in the entire game. And in one of those games the sole penalty was because our opponents kicked the ball out on the full from the kick off.

 

[Lambretta]

St. George-Illawarra in 2009 and Penrith in 2010 are the counterpoint to what you're saying. Neither of them fluked a high position, but they were both shown up when the shit got real.

This Souths team feels more like Penrith 2003 than Penrith 2010 and we all know how that ended up. They're probably not the out and out best side in the comp, but they're close to it and on their day can beat anyone.

I really think they are capable of being the real deal, especially if they go into their Finals games with all their big names on the park. Yes losing Inglis and Luke was a blow, but they have faced lower ranked opposition and have coped remarkably in their absence. Had they been playing Manly, Melbourne or Canterbury during these last couple of weeks they probably would have lost - but bring those two back in and Souths are a genuine contender.

 

[hillbillyjazzer1954]

Yes they are, but as other posters have said, The Finals is a whole new type of preassure and i think that might tell on the Younger Players, if they do not go all the way this Year though, they are setting themselves up for a Golden Era and a Grand Final win within the next few Years

Souths Supporters should be feeling Very Confident about their Future

 

[super_coach]

Without doubt the real deal, they are winning with their two best players on the sideline. Great forward pack and skill and speed to burn in the backs. The dogs and Manly are the two teams that will challenge them. Might come down to a shootout between Inglis and Barba both in great form.

Being a Tigers man I would love to see the bunnies win the big one after all their been through over the past decade or so and lets face it the Tigers are going nowhere