I never felt Souths were going to win that prelim.....you guys were far too good that year, I knew Souths would fold.Don't get me wrong we will rightfully start favourites, They should and will be pushing for a premiership but it is very hard to win.
Even in last years Grand Final, We made 1 error and still only won by 2 points.
That was with Broncos handing us 8 points.
2022 in the game v Parra we only got on top once Moses went off. We were down 12-0 in the Prelim
2021 that final series was full of missed opportunities.
So you need a whole lot of luck to win competitions, most of which you can make but potentially we have a teenager replacing the best centre in the game.
Key bench player missing.
So I think while they of course will be disappointed should we not win it, There is are going to be those years that the luck/skill needed is missing