Ahhhhhh. Good morning to all my fellow Souths members and fans, and happy game day!! Get up, get moving, rise and shine ahead of a big day. The day has finally arrived, and we take on the Bulldogs tonight in a crucial contest for our Season. Playing the Dogs is always fierce. They are one of our biggest and most traditional rivals, and it's no secret that both clubs don't really like each other. It's a rivalry that stretches back well over 80 years now and honestly, the feeling between the two clubs and the history between the two clubs in that time is worthy of its own Book of Feuds. Plenty of massive. Spiteful games, Finals, Grand Finals, player poaching, it's had the lot. As I said, always a fierce game against them and I expect nothing less tonight.
Looking at Canterbury, it's really hard to get a read on them to be honest, and I don't really know what to expect from them today. There's no doubt they have been really struggling lately and haven't been going well. They got beaten 66-0 by the Knights last week which is crazy. However, I do think we need to beware of the wounded Dog. I think there is bound to be some kind of a bounce back tonight. There has to be. They're too proud of a club not too. I have no doubt in my mind that we'll see them come out and play probably the most fired up they have all year because they'll be extremely desperate to turn that around and they'll be looking for some kind of response. With the players we have missing, they'll probably see this as a great opportunity to not only bounce back with the way they play, but potentially rebound with a win. So we MUST be wary of that, and we MUST weather that. It's no secret, and I mean no disrespect when I say it's no secret, they don't have the best roster or the best line up right now for a number of reasons. Injuries have played their part. However, despite this, there is still some real strike weapons in their side that we need to shut down. The main one is Burton of course; he's got to be one of the main focusses as almost everything comes off him. But also, guys like Averillo, Sexton now, Preston; they all pose a threat.
For us, you could probably say similar to be honest. We don't have the best line up today either, we can't hide from that. Missing nine of our regular 17 because of Origin and suspension, and most of them are literally all our big guns. So, there's no doubt that's made this game much more even and it's squared the ledger right up to the point where I think it could be anyone's game. A positive of this though, is that there should be no complacency from us tonight. We are not in a position to be complacent and think 'easy win.' Full strength I'd maybe think that, but certainly not with who we're missing. We cannot take them lightly now. Hopefully this means the boys get their attitude right because that's been the biggest thing that's been letting us down in our losses. It came right last week but we need to continue that on. Bring the same attitude and energy, and the rest will take care of itself. Play Rabbitohs Footy, complete your sets, kick to the game plan, focus on defence. If we can get those three main things right, we'll hopefully be okay. I also want to see a real next man up mentality. Tonight is not about who we're missing, it's about the 17 guys that are going to take the field. We still have enough strike out there to get this done and like JD said yesterday, if everyone just goes out there and gives their all, gives a good account of themselves, then the result will take care of itself. Step up lads, now is your time.
The key to winning this is the forward battle. Whoever gets on top there will win, I think. If they can get on top, we may not have the attack to strike on the back foot, but if we get on top, then it makes it a bit easier to limit someone like Burton for them. Our pack is still very, very good so I'm confident the lads can do it through the middle.
In conclusion, I'm actually expecting a really tough game tonight. But it's certainly one we have to get up for. Let's go lads!!! Go and get it done!!
Glory, Glory.
