Head Coach Michael Maguire has labelled this week’s clash with the Dragons as a great opportunity for both players and fans to be a part of history, with the match being played at the Sydney Cricket Ground, home to some of Rugby League’s greatest moments.
With Maguire's looking to develop his emerging Rabbitohs in these final fixtures, the Rabbitohs boss wants to see individuals perform this Friday at the SCG.
“I’ve been able to blood a lot of younger kids this season and with that, the experience is going to grow and I see us going to the right place, at the moment in the season, we’ve got to go out and play our best footy,” said Maguire.
“I think that’s been probably a big transitioning period for us at the moment, obviously with Greg being able to come back in and we’ve got a few others there to come back and come in over time, but these younger boys have shown what they can do this year.
“Angus Crichton’s obviously one of them that’s really come out and put his game out there for everyone to look at, and he’s going to have another big growth in him throughout the preseason but our big focus is this week.
“As much as we’re not getting the results we’d like, it’s a pretty exciting time.”
South Sydney and St George Illawarra have a famous rivalry stemming from the mid-20th century, where both Clubs asserted their dominance as two of Australian Rugby League’s powerhouses, taking out 21 of 23 Premierships from 1949 to 1971.
'Madge' believes the history of both Clubs will help build up the occasion of the match.
“Obviously this week we’re playing at the SCG and there’s a lot of history between the two teams, there’s a lot of great players who’ve played on that turf for both clubs, so allow our players and our younger guys to have that experience I think is fantastic,” said Maguire.
“It’ll be a good game. They’re a big pack but I think our boys are looking forward to getting out there and playing.
“Hopefully all the businesses out there that have Souths supporters and St George supporters will let them off early and they get out to the SCG and come watch a good game of footy.”
Maguire furthermore gave injury updates on Sam Burgess, Adam Reynolds, Angus Crichton and Aaron Gray.
“He’s (Sam) tough like most of the boys, so he’ll be right. Adam’s the same,” said Maguire.
“Angus is doing well himself, I think he’s had a few bumps and bruises which has been stated over the last couple of weeks but they’re getting better now so it’s allowing him to play his best footy.
“At the moment he’s been able to train and he’s been able to do everything, so while he’s able to do that I think why not get him out there and playing. We’ve got a very good staff that assess everything and we’re obviously very open with our players so we don’t want to put them at a worse situation than where they’re at, but in his case he’s actually improving, so while that’s happening there’s no reason why we can’t play him.
“He’s (Gray) close for this week. We’ll assess him again tomorrow, but he’s probably another week away”
