Premiership winners Gorden Tallis and Braith Anasta are backing South Sydney to make one of the most improbable runs to finals in NRL history.
The Rabbitohs lost nine of their first 10 games this season to sit dead last after Round 11 having sacked their coach Jason Demetriou.
But the Bunnies have since won four on the trot and with a 5-9 record they are 14th on the ladder and just two wins outside the top eight.
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Based on the 2023 ladder, Souths will need 13 victories to play finals which means they’ll need to win eight of their remaining 10 games to cement their spot.
Anasta admitted he hadn’t run the numbers but based on what he’s seen over the past month, he believes the Rabbitohs can feature in September.
“Can the Bunnies make the finals? I think they can. From what I’ve seen,” Anasta said on NRL 360.
“I haven’t done the maths but I love what I’m seeing and I think they’re only going to get better. They were solid (against Manly last weekend) and Jack Wighton is doing a great job.”
Tallis said between Latrell Mitchell returning to career-best form and Damien Cook being squeezed out of the club, they could be on the cusp of something special.
“I think they’re a momentum side and there’s no doubt that with Latrell playing Origin he’s got his mojo back, Cookie leaving (could galvanise them),”
and there could be a fair bit of momentum coming their way with the emotion (of it all). Are you going to write them off?”
James Hooper added: “I got somebody in the Fox Sports Lab to crunch the numbers and I think they’ve got to win eight out of their last 10 games, which is a monumental assignment but the way they’re playing at the moment, I’m with you boys. I think they’re absolutely a great hope.”
But veteran rugby league scribe Brent Read was having none of it and said Latrell Mitchell would win his first Dally M Medal if Souths pulled off the impossible.
“I think they’ve got no chance, to be honest. I love Souths, I love Latrell. But eight out of 10, that’s a bit much, please,” Read said.
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“The mountain is too high to climb, I think they’ll finish the season really strongly but not that strong. I don’t think they can win eight out of 10.
“If they win eight out of 10, Latrell will win the Dally M because he’ll have to bring them home and win man-of-the-match in every one of those games.
“He could, but I think it’s unlikely.”
Source Agencies
