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Who can beat Souths this season? On current form most sides are going to struggle: they’re well drilled, big and fast, and they’re playing very confident football.
That said, I’m still not convinced that Souths will be there on Grand Final day.
What? I can almost hear you spluttering in your coffee.
The reason is simple: I think Souths are playing to their maximum ability right now. This is as good as it gets, and as good as that is, when semi-final football rolls around, all teams have to go up another 10% in intensity.
I just don’t see where Souths will find that lift.
This is where the teams that have been there before will rise to the occasion. I’m talking about Melbourne and the Bulldogs, in particular.
At the start of the season, I predicted that those two teams would fight it out for the premiership title again and nothing has changed that opinion. The way those teams play, when they get to the semis, they invariably take it to another level.
This is where Souths will struggle. They are so clinical, they actually remind me of Melbourne, which is hardly surprising given Michael McGuire’s pedigree.
While I have no doubt that individual players such as Inglis, Burgess, and Luke can go to the next level at the big end of the season, it’s the younger, less experienced players who may be overwhelmed once they hit the big stage.
One thing I’ve learned about Des Hasler over the years is that he can always get his players to lift for the big games. The Bulldogs get a lot hungrier.
Are they playing well now? Absolutely not. But they are capable of turning things around.
That said, they’ve got to make the top four to do it, so they have to start stringing some wins together.
Outside of Melbourne and the Bulldogs, Manly are another side that can win the crunch games; and the Roosters have really surprised this season.
Honestly, I didn’t think they would turn things around the way they have. But they look like a very happy, well drilled team. Coach Robinson has done a great job in having them in contention for the top four.
But back to Souths. It’s notable how closely Michael McGuire has mimicked the Bellamy approach to coaching: mistake free, hard grinding football, complimented by a few game breakers who can quickly change the direction of a game.
It’s been exciting to watch but I just don’t think it’s going to be enough this year.
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