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Ben Horne and Steve Jancetic
September 5, 2010
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TODAY will be an emotional roller coaster for South Sydney players, with their season teetering on the precipice.
The Bunnies face a long wait to find out whether they'll be playing for a top-eight position against St George Illawarra at 7pm.
Brisbane went agonisingly close to toppling Canberra on Friday, another result that would have opened an avenue for Souths to sneak into the play-offs. But the Raiders' win means the Rabbitohs now have only one hope.
At 3pm, everyone from Russell Crowe to Reggie, the team's mascot, will cross their fingers, toes and rabbit ears praying that Canterbury can upset Manly at Brookvale Oval and give them something to play for later on.
If the Bulldogs win, then Souths will have to immediately put their game faces on, knowing that if they beat the Dragons and make up less than 10 points in for and against, they can steal a finals berth.
However, if the Sea Eagles claim victory, the Rabbitohs will need to overcome the huge psychological letdown and deal with the fact that they are playing for pride and that their strong squad has squandered a golden opportunity.
''All we can control is what we do on Sunday regardless of the result, whether it's to get into the eight or whether it's for pride to finish the season off strong,'' said Souths skipper Roy Asotasi.
''It would be good [to be in with a chance], but that's something we can't control, so we've just got to focus. It could be our last week or we could have an extra, but the main thing is we just have to win against the Dragons, who are the benchmark side, and if we do well there, then who knows?
''We've had plenty of opportunities to sneak into the eight and I guess this is our last chance, our last shot at it.''
St George Illawarra captain Ben Hornby said his side still needed some last-minute fine-tuning before the play-offs, and for that reason would resist the temptation to rest key players against Souths at WIN Jubilee Oval.
The Dragons have already sewn up the minor premiership and, regardless of what happens in the final around against the Rabbitohs, they'll be back at Kogarah next Sunday to play finals football and hopefully earn themselves a valuable week's break.
Hornby admitted that putting players on ice for the match had been discussed, but in the end the Dragons decided they didn't want to risk continuity.
''At the end of the day we still want to go out there and play well - you don't want to get out of any rhythm at this stage,'' he said.
''It's all about fine-tuning your combinations. If you give blokes a week off, they've got to take another week sometimes to get that back.
'''We'll put out a pretty strong side. I think everyone wants to get a bit of game time before the finals.'
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...-for-miracle-at-brookvale-20100904-14v7l.html
