While the St George Illawarra Dragons and Penrith Panthers might be front-runners for this year’s premiership, the one club that could pose a serious challenge in season 2018 is the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
Since taking out the 2014 premiership, the Rabbitohs have been on a downward trend, bowing out of the 2015 finals race in the first round and then missing out on September altogether in the following two seasons.
Coach Michael Maguire, who delivered the club the title that broke a 43-year drought, was sacked last September in response to the three underwhelming seasons and was replaced by assistant coach Anthony Seibold.
What hadn’t helped Maguire’s cause was the fact captain Greg Inglis suffered a season-ending knee injury against the Wests Tigers in Round 1 last year, and his leadership and experience was sorely missed on the field.
Inglis, who turned 31 earlier this year, has returned to the individual form which saw him become one of the most feared players in the game after struggling with depression during his time on the sidelines.
He was also selected to captain the Queensland State of Origin team following the retirement from representative football of Cameron Smith, and led by example despite his state going down to New South Wales in the opening Origin game at the MCG on June 6.
Greg Inglis of the Rabbitohs. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
The spark that had been missing in the Rabbitohs’ attack in recent years has also returned under Seibold, who is an assistant coach to Kevin Walters in the Maroons team.
The Bunnies are the most potent scoring team in the NRL and are close to becoming the first team to crack 400 points scored this season, following their 42-24 win over the Parramatta Eels on Thursday night.
It marked the tenth consecutive match in which they have scored 18 points or more, and also marked the second time they have scored 42 points in a match, after doing so against the Canberra Raiders in Round 7.
Their left side, where Inglis defends, is the most dominant in the game with the team having scored 22 tries on this side of the field, eight more than the next-best, the Manly Sea Eagles. Inglis, Alex Johnston, Cody Walker, Hymel Hunt and Braidon Burns have all scored tries on this flank.
Angus Crichton and Damien Cook have earnt selection for New South Wales in this year’s State of Origin series with their good individual form, while Dane Gagai has been solid since joining the club from the Newcastle Knights at the start of this season.
Their current seven-match winning streak, which includes wins over fellow top four teams the Dragons and Warriors, is their longest since 1994, and the longest by any side this season.
After the stand-alone representative weekend, in which they are expected to be one of the most affected teams, the Rabbitohs will venture up to Cairns to face the Cowboys in what is effectively a home game for the latter team.
This is because the Cowboys will be making the short flight north from their Townsville base. And despite their poor form this year, they still remain a threat, though many believe their co-captain Johnathan Thurston has gone on one season too late (the 35-year-old will retire at the end of this season).
The trip to Cairns is then followed by a club bye, and then five straight games at ANZ Stadium, which if the Rabbitohs win all five can set them up for a top-four finish especially with a tough trip to face the Brisbane Broncos at Suncorp Stadium to come in Round 23.
The Broncos were the last team to beat the Rabbitohs, in Round 8, but the Bunnies certainly had their chances in that match and it counts as one of three losses by four points or less the club has suffered in 2018.
They also lost to fellow top four teams the Panthers and Dragons in rounds two and five respectively, while the other loss came at the hands of the New Zealand Warriors (by twelve points) at Optus Stadium in the opening round.
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But in recent weeks, the club has rediscovered their attacking flair, and this has coincided with the return of Greg Inglis from his knee injury which saw him sidelined for nearly the entire 2017 season.
They will start favourites in at least seven of their nine remainders, with the tough tests coming against the Storm (at home in Round 21) and the aforementioned match against the Broncos in Brisbane.
If they can win the majority of their remaining matches in the run to the finals, then there is no doubt this team can create something special in September as they seek to win their second premiership in five years.
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