Forty-three years. How many times have we heard that number over the past fortnight?
South Sydney have done all the hard work over the past 29 weeks to make it to the big dance but now they must keep their emotions in check to bring their fans a premiership for the first time in over four decades.
If this was a regular club game I would be tipping an easy Rabbitohs victory, but with the grand final comes the added pressure of expectation.
While I still believe the Rabbits will be lifting up the trophy come 9pm this Sunday night, the Bulldogs do have some things going in their favour.
The first is the old adage that you have to lose one to win won. Canterbury made the grand final only two years ago and that should be enough for them to not be overawed. The majority of their team have played in a grand final, compared to only Greg Inglis and Lote Tuqiri for South Sydney.
Another thing going for the Bulldogs is the suspension of Issac Luke. He is a pivotal attacking player who will be sorely missed by the bunnies. Apisai Koroisau is a star of the future but the occasion may prove to much for a player with only limited first-grade experience in his last game for his club.
Manly’s finals run shows the difference in quality to the whole team when the hooker is missing. Jayden Hodges showed flashes of brilliance but semi-final football is a whole new ball game. The Bulldogs would possibly not even be in this year’s grand final if it wasn’t for a poor ball from Hodges out of dummy half to Daly Cherry-Evans in extra time.
The advantage gained by Luke’s absence can even out if Michael Ennis is ruled out as expected. Des Hasler is no doubt up to his old tricks this week, naming Ennis the same day that the man himself said he was no chance of playing. If Ennis is missing it will be interesting to see if Des opts for the experience of Reni Maitua or the exuberance of Moses Mbye.
There’s no doubt that we will not find out the answer to that question until an hour before kickoff.
But what gives the Bulldogs their biggest advantage heading into Sunday’s game is that no one expects them to win.
They have come from seventh place to rocket into calculations and will have to become the first team in the NRL era to win the competition from outside the top four. All the expectation falls on to the shoulders of the Rabbitohs and Canterbury will be hoping that the occasion proves to much for the boys from Redfern.
South Sydney have a few things going in their favour too, one of which is devastating form.
The Rabbitohs have so much talent that Chris McQueen, a current State of Origin player, will be coming off the bench. Their backline is quality from their halves through to their centres and wingers. The creme de la creme of their backs is of course Greg Inglis, who will go down as one of the game’s best.
Their forward pack is just as good, with the Burgess brothers the headline acts followed by Ben Te’o, who put in one of the all time great semi-final performances last weekend against the Chooks. If he performs like that again this weekend then watch out Canterbury.
If Souths go in firing they should have no problem disposing of the Dogs, if they don’t then we could have a repeat of 2001 on our hands.
Jhonatan
Guest
I think Souths are in with a serious shot, i'm conifdent now more than I was at the start of the season, they're playing 80 minutes. As for Everingham he's a freak! who knows why it's taken him so long to break into the NRL, but he's here to stay. He alone could go a big way to getting them in the play-offs, the amount of confidence he has is the most impressive thing he barges far more experienced players out of the way, 100% sure of his ability, and then delivers. Wow. And yes, Dave Taylor is probably my favourite Souths player, second maybe to Issac Luke. Would be absolutely gutted to see him go, his try against Penrith a few weeks ago is pretty much my favourite moment of the season so far thought he was Benji Marshall! and was! I just this moment saw Manly actually, they were really impressive for sure particularly Cherry-Evans, he's been a bit unsure and seemingly unconfident since the whole contract debacle, which clearly threw him a little bit, but he was tremendous this week I agree, he was pretty much faultless. I remember I saw an interview with him once, and he seems for all his bravado on the field to be a pretty timid character, shy, so it's very conceivable he was put off by the attention, but tonight ahhh! He proved today that he was worth every penny of the price he negotiated. I was also really impressed by Jamie Buhrer, who had his best game today I think. Can I confess that my feeling is that I am not really a fan of Kieran Foran? they certainly didn't miss him today, and i'm not really certain he is as brilliant as most people say. Yeah originally it was the Roosters, but we swapped it to the Cowboys damn! The Cowboys just got crushed in the second half. I don't think it necessarily tarnishes their prospects of going far this year, they weren't at their best, they can improve on that. Gav Cooper and Tamou were terrific, but too many of their attacking guns just weren't really firing, Thurston was far too uncertain individually to lead a team. Aaron Payne was strong in the first half but didn't retain the form when they put him back on midway through the second half just settle on one, Neil Henry! I don't like this tactic some teams (Brisbane also!) use, swapping hookers, it just doesn't work, you lose momentum and it disrupts the flow. In rare cases it works, but it takes a special blend of players with enough in common to maintain performances, with enough different to make a change worthwhile. Stupid! If they'd left Aaron Payne on, i'm not saying it would have won them the game, but I think taking him off reduced their chances, they had form going at the time.Having said that, that was a great game for Melbourne, it was i'd say their best all round team performance, rather than just being the Billy/Cameron/Cooper show, Widdop's really stepping up and Dane Nielsen was fantastic. Not to mention some of the forwards, who were strong and along with those of Cronulla's, are probably the most attacking in the league (maybe Souths, but in a different way). The Storm can score tries anywhere they please, without necessarily relying on the Big Three now that's scary! So dangerous. I thought at the start of the year the Storm would win it (again ignoring the whole salary cap fiasco), so some reason people were all about the Tigers and Broncos foolz!Hopefully we'll both be a little more accurate in tipping next week I got 3. Damnit, my comments are always so long, i'm harping gibberish.
jacksyd
Guest
All week we have been given opinions on why Souths will lose and how to beat Souths from a one sided minority. Let me ask this. Can you offer any logical reasons as to why Souths can win? Its the roosters vs Souths last week all over again, except the argument for the roosters was a lot stronger than that of the bulldogs.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Yep - and it's been building all week. Every 'it's been 43 years' and 'this is souths to lose' and 'the dogs are gonna get smashed' just cinches the pressure tighter. The dogs despite the drama around Ennis have been ultra relaxed. Dessie is having fun throwing up a different option at 9 every day. Maguire has been getting more uptight as the week has gone on. He looks like he wishes the game was today. The pressure of being favourites and having all the pressure on them is building. No one expects anything from the dogs - they're lucky to be there after all - and they're playing the underdog role perfectly.