One of the greatest comebacks in our modern history after being down 28-4 at the break up at a hostile Dairy Farmers Stadium goes head-to-head with arguably one of the best Premiership purple patches in sporting history! Only you can decide which Moment moves forward!
Comeback against the Cowboys (2008)
Round 16, 2008. Arguably our best comeback, particularly in the modern day era.
With the Cowboys 28-4 leaders at the break, it was almost an impossible task for South Sydney to come back in the second half.
With just 30 minutes left in the match the Rabbitohs clicked into gear. Tries to Fetuli Talanoa, Craig Wing, Beau Champion and Luke Capewell, all converted by Chris Sandow, levelled the scored by the 75th minute.
Chris Sandow, in electrifying form in his debut year, would steal the show and seal the result with a field goal in the final minute of play. The Rabbitohs would withstand a late attack by the North Queensland Cowboys to seal their fourth win of the 2008 season.
Golden Era - Souths Win 5 Straight Premierships
Prior to 1925 Souths won only four premierships in 1908-09, 1914 and 1918 (with six times as runners-up). Balmain were leading the titles race at the time with six premiership wins. But there was something special about to happen after Souths were runners-up in 1923-24.
Howard Hallet Snr, who played with the club between 1908-24, and during that time he also represented his city, state and country with great distinction on many occasions. He took over as Souths’ coach in first and second grade in seasons 1925-26, and brought his expertise to the club. His impact was immediate as the club went through their 1925 games undefeated, and to this date, the only club in history to win all their premiership games, as well the City Cup (knockout).
They won their premiership by a comfortable 10 points in 1925 and their dominance was so great that the NSWRL were forced into introducing an automatic finals series the following season in order to maintain interest in the competition. The system stayed in place until 1953. In 2017, when the 10 Most Dominant Seasons in NRL History were chosen and Souths’ 1925 side were ranked in second place, just behind the great St. George side from 1959 (who were also undefeated, winning 19 games with 1 draw).
In 1926 Souths were 9 points ahead of Easts on the ladder. They defeated their arch-rivals easily in the semi-final by 21-5, and then played the young Sydney University ‘Students’ outfit in the Final, which was played at the Agricultural Ground in front of a healthy crowd of 20,000. In what proved to be a tough game, Souths led 11-0 at the break, and the only points in the second half came from a Students try and a penalty goal, with Souths winning comfortably by 11-5.
Alf Blair took over as captain-coach in 1927, and the Rabbitohs were three points ahead on the ladder from St. George. They easily defeated Wests in the semi-final by 38-6, and then had to meet the Frank Burge-coached St. George Dragons in their first ever final appearance, which was played in dreadful conditions at the
On a cold and windy day with sweeping showers, and a ground that was best described as treacherous, with some parts resembling a quagmire, a poor attendance of only 12,124 brave fans turned up to see the final. The first half produced a moment of genius from Souths winger, Benny Wearing. The ace winger seemed to lose control of the slippery ball but punched it infield – into the arms of giant second-rower and teammate George Treweek, who powered upfield and Wearing trailed him to take the return pass and score the try that gave Souths a 13-6 half-time lead. Souths went on to win by 20-11 to claim their third successive premiership.
Charlie Lynch, a veteran trade union official most of his life and vice-president of Souths in 1920-28 & 1940 (and club president between 1929-39), was selected as coach in 1928. He studied the coaching methods of the famous Arthur Hennessy, who used the no-kick policy with great success in the early days.
Souths lost their skipper Al ‘Smacker’ Blair to Longreach (Queensland), plus Alby Carr/Why and Syd Harris, who both went to play in England, and had many other hurdles to jump in a stop-start season punctuated by the Great Britain tour. They finished in third place on the ladder and their semi-final victory over St. George in extra-time at Earl Park still ranks as one of the greatest of all premiership performances. After the epic St. George match the Rabbitohs went on to crush Easts in the final by 26-5, before a healthy crowd of 24,966 at the Agricultural Ground.
The fifth successive premiership ranks as one of the all-time great Rabbitoh achievements. Alf Blair returned to the club, but they lost 5 players on July 25 when they sailed with the Fourth Kangaroos on their tour of Great Britain. The Rabbitohs won the minor premiership with four points ahead of St. George.
Their semi-final victory over Wests provided another epic moment in our proud history. Souths’ winger, Alan Righton, was sent off for punching in the first 10 minutes and at half-time the Rabbitoh’s 12-man team was down 8-10. Into the sun and running against the wind in the second half, they rallied magnificently for a commanding 22-10 victory. The champions did in style in the final against Newtown and after leading 19-2 at half-time, they easily won by 30-10 to claim their fifth successive premiership.
During the clubs first golden era they played in 78 games in total (winning 69, losing 8 and 1 draw), scoring 1,603 points and 708 points against. The top point-scorer and try-scorer during the era was Benny Wearing, who scored 366 points in 76 games, coming from 62 tries and 90 goals.
