South Sydney have destroyed the Sydney Roosters by a scoreline of 52-12.
It would a good start to the game for Souths and it just kept getting better and better, to the point where they basically scored at will by games end.
This game also provided one of the greatest moments of sporting theater I have ever seen.
With Souths having just scored and on a roll the TV cameras turned to South owner Russell Crowe.
Russell gave a smile with a thumbs up….before turning the thumb downwards in a sign from his Gladiator days…..it was time for his men to finish the fight.
And they did!
Souths were outstanding and showed they are probably the fastest team in the competition right now. While their backs lack size they make up for it with work rate speed, skill and passion to perform.
Souths will be a horrible team to play when they are on a roll. With Issac Luke, Rhys Wesser, Chris Sandow and Craig Wing to arrive next week, when they get on a roll through dummy half they won’t be stopping until they hit the try line.
A lot of people have talked about Souths defense and their big, hard working forward pack, however they were just a side show to their backs who needed nothing to run away for a try in this game.
As for the Roosters, its not a good sign going into the 2009 season.
The end of the 2008 season for the Sydney Roosters was a disaster. Sure they had a young halfback a few injuries and a coach only just finding his feet, but overall the Roosters went out without even a whimper.
Thats what makes this loss to South Sydney so devastating. The Roosters showed that same lack of….well….anything.
Pearce was completely anonymous, Anasta tried hard but you expect more from him, the Roosters pack was completely dominated and their backs were bashed and out played by much smaller opponents.
The Roosters should have been perfect to counter the Rabbitohs. Their big, hard running back rowers should have been punching holes in the edge of the Rabbitohs defense. However they just offered nothing in this game and I have to say, I think this is going to get very bad very quickly.
I rate Brad Fittler as a coach. I think for a footballing brain you won’t find much better. He has the respect of his players and have drawn that line between his playing staff that shows in no uncertain teams that he is no their mates, he is their coach.
However, you have to look at the coach when a team just doesn’t get up like that. I wouldn’t surprise me if Fittlers job is getting serious discussion within the end of the month.
As for the Bunnies, just a great game and you can be sure that they will draw bigger crowds over the next few weeks.
