From the beginning of the season, South Sydney have been hailed as the surprise-packet to take it all the way in 2010. Under the watchful eye of Russel Crowe’s hefty wallet, the Rabbits have recruited well in the forward pack, and at full-strength, they are as big and as menacing as any team in the comp.
Five rounds out from the finals and the boys from Redfern find themselves languishing outside of the top 8, facing an uphill battle to qualify under the rigours of the toughest run home of any team in the NRL.
The hardcore fans are crying foul with claims of dubious refereeing decisions and a growing injury list, but let’s all get real here. Let’s call a spade a spade.
Souths have under-performed this year in epic proportions.
On paper, we all know how talented this team is. And yet the inconsistency of the Bunnies must be as frustrating to their fans as attempting to subdue a raging Rhino armed only with a wet newspaper.
It is not through a lack of desire. It is the result of a significant lack of attacking cohesion. The primary reason for this is that John Sutton does not belong in the number 6 jersey.
I know there might be many Souths fans ready to pitchfork me in the bum for declaring such sentiments, but I’m afraid it’s the truth. Sutton is a very talented player: he is big and has the ability to offload and pass at the line with great finesse.
But he appears to know very little about constructive play before the line and his kicking game can be deplorable.
These are MAJOR characteristics a five-eighth must possess in order to be consistently successful. The result has been the outside backs being starved of the ball, amazing when you consider how dominant their forward back has been.
Sutton has all the hallmarks of a great lock-forward/second rower.
John Lang must make the shift and bring up one of the young dynamos from the Toyota Cup if Souths are to have any chance in the Premiership (Souths have a tremendous wealth of talent in their Toyota Cup side).
The Sydney Roosters were in a similar predicament, with Braith Anasta keeping Todd Carney out of the number 6 jumper (crazy when you think about it). Since Anasta has been moved to his more natural role in 13, well, can anybody spot the difference in the team dynamic?
As an NRL fan who supports a rival club to Souths, I have a sneaking desire that they’ll never take the hint.
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