Love them or hate them, there is no denying that the South Sydney Rabbitohs are one of Rugby Leagues great markers of history.
As the most successful club in Australian Rugby League history the Rabbitohs hold a special place in the games heart. The club know as the pride of the league, a team that has not tasted premiership success since 1971 and a club that had to fight its way back from extinction to get to where it is today.
This is the first great club in the games history. A team that was a powerhouse for decades. This is the club that gave us Clive Chuchill, a player I still rate as the best to every play the game. It’s the club that have us John Sattler whose Grand Final heroics will always be remembered.
Most people reading this article only know one South Sydney Rabbitohs. For decade they have been a struggling club. Sure they had rare moments here and there, but they were few and far between.
If South Sydney can manage to get through to the 2013 Grand Final it will be a moment Rugby League historians look back on with great interest. The oldest club in the NRL rising from the ashes of The Super League War to show that they can still be a force.
For a club like South Sydney close enough is not good enough. If they lose tonight’s match it would rightfully be seen as a failure. Their opponents in the Manly Sea Eagles are a tough side, one that has had to battle through wars just to make it this far. It won’t be an easy task for Souths at all.
Manly are old hands when it comes to this point of the season. They have so much finals experience. For the most part, South Sydney can’t say the same thing. Manly have won a lot of games at this time of the year. None of South Sydney players, or even their coach for that matter, was alive when Souths last won their way into a Grand Final.
I believe the winner of the 2013 Grand Final will come out of this match. Two of the league great winners battling it out for a new slice of history.
It doesn’t get much better than that!
