Here we go!!! Rise and shine ladies and gentlemen, get up and get moving all you South Sydney members and fans, it's game day once again!!! We've got a monumental one here tonight as we take on the high-flying Warriors, at home, over here in NZ. Given the two form lines of the teams and what's at stake, this game, for me, has become as big as playing someone like Penrith or the Roosters. It's a genuine blockbuster now given how the Warriors are going and the crowd is going to reflect that. It's sold out so we're going to face a very hostile environment today.
This is one of my most exciting games of the year as you all know. I'll be there, decked out in Red and Green, clapping my hands, stomping my feet and screaming my lungs out, doing everything I possibly can to get the boys home. We need all the support we can get.
Looking at the Warriors, well, there's a very different feel around them this year. I have mates that are Warriors fans so I watch a lot of their games and I've got to say, their turnaround under Andrew Webster in 2023 has been absolutely incredible. They've really turned a corner and are a different team this year. So much so, that I think they're the real deal this year and they're capable of finishing in the top four, that's the way they're headed right now. Just their whole mentality is different, they have a really hard, steely edge to them, and they play a great brand of Footy. There's a lot of desire, resilience and accountability in this side now and they get all the one percenters right. They don't make errors, they put in effort after effort every week, and the results have been showing for them as they currently sit 5th. There is not many weaknesses in this side anymore, everyone in their line up seems incredibly strong in everything they do. It's star-studded and has plenty of strike. A backline that is red hot right now, a halves pairing that is in career-best form, backed up by one of the best packs in the comp. Honestly, they're going to be extremely hard to beat but I think the key to doing it is the forward battle. That's what will decide this game today in my opinion.
For us, I want to see the boys put the foot down today and snap themselves out of this slump. We really need to. We've reached the point now where honestly, enough is enough. If it carries on like this any longer, the Season will start slipping away so we really need to arrest the slide as soon as possible and that has top start tonight. We've lost 4 out of our last 5 and I am sick of it. Absolutely sick of it. If we don't, I shudder to think what the Warriors will do to us tonight. We MUST steady the ship, we MUST stand up, take some pride in that mighty Red and Green jersey, and say 'enough is enough,' we need to be better. I'm sick of it and it ends today. Make no mistake, this is a real challenge today, probably one of the biggest of our Season thus far. It shouldn't be, we shouldn't be in this bad of a position, but here we are. The Warriors are currently playing much better Footy than us and they're playing in front of their sold out Stadium. In saying that though, in a way, I feel like that helps us today. Our issue over the last five weeks has been attitude and complacency. Well, given the situation, there should be no complacency tonight. The boys should be desperate. Our backs are certainly against the wall, everything is against us, especially with a few players out. We're massive underdogs against the Warriors for the first time in a long time. But you know what? That's what South Sydney is all about. That's what we thrive on so I'm calling on all the boys to thrive and lift tonight. There is a lot of doubt around this side at the moment but we certainly can do it. We are capable. It'll be a massive turnaround but we're capable. If, and that's a big if at the moment, we can get back to that Rabbitohs Footy we were playing to open the year. Over to you boys, show us that you want this. Our backs are well and truly against the wall and it's time to stand up.
This game is personal for me. It means everything. I'll be there for the first time since 2019 so I'll be there. The crowd will be against me but I don't care. I'll be doing everything I can to get the boys home. Being a Kiwi, playing the Warriors is always personal. I have a lot of mates that support them so if we were to lose, I'd never hear the end of it. Actually being there live just amplifies that. I've never seen Warriors fans this cocky, never in my life, especially after news of more players we could have out. They think they're putting 50 on us tonight. I'd love nothing more than to shock everyone and wipe that smile off their faces.
Game day and I'm fired up, absolutely pumped let's goooooooo!!
Glory, Glory.
