I have been writing this article for a while now. I had the privilege of writing it all those years ago for the game day newspaper, Rabbitohs News.
When I wasn’t a mother and I travelled the east coast and NZ and saw as many games as I could afford. I had weeks upon weeks of losses to write about but never ever did I not find a positive.
And I will not start today.
This team we have appears to be dented, but it is not broken. We have had some fans question their integrity on field and I will never ever become one of those people. No one likes to lose.
We are a team in the city near many, many others in the city who has had great success in recent times. In a 12 month period we won EVERYTHING that was available to us. You can only imagine who wants to snap up our players and put a dent in our side.
We are dented, but not broken.
We still have a lot to improve on and some cobwebs that need a good shake but we will come good. There are 15 others teams vying for the exact same thing as us, and I remember back in the days when I had yet another loss to write about all I remembered was saying 'every dog has their day.'
This is where integrity should not be questioned. You do not always make it to the NRL on talent alone. You need guts, you need determination and you need to be competitive. If you don’t have these qualities, you will struggle.
I do not believe for one minute that any of the players Madge and his staff have picked lack any of these qualities. This is a tough game and if you take your eyes off the ball for one second, there is always someone else there to pick it up. Our boys would hate this season that has been produced, and will be doing everything they can to rectify the form.
You know what, last week against the Cowboys we did alright. We took a game to them and if we had won I would have been over the moon, but it was a tough ask.
Combinations have been a big test for us this season. Getting them squeaky clean has been trying, and when we thought we had it right, injury would strike, Origin would happen and we would take another step back.
This is something I see us overcoming in the off season, with no doubt. Until then though, I am going to keep my eyes on the prize.
Something else I think we will see improve is our forward domination. I think some of the responsibility on our big guys’ shoulders at the same time as them stepping up to the roles of the 'senior' players has affected them. Having ‘Sutto’ out for so long gave our young, big fellas responsibility they were not expecting but with the experience I can only see improvements.
'Every dog has their day.’ An overused cliché maybe? Nup, it’s a good motto to follow in this tough game we love.
Do you know what though, our day is not done. Our success has not been achieved, we have more, we want more and we will see more.
Do you know why?
Because we are the Mighty South Sydney Rabbitohs. We have risen from the dead, we have battled wars in this game that no other team will ever combat and we are NEVER finished.
Keep plugging away boys. I am behind you, I believe and I will never forget where we came from.
UP THE MIGHTY RABBITOHS!
