Souths starting from scratch
May 27th 2008 09:20
Russell Crowe has finally taken action at South Sydney
So Peter Holmes a Court has left the Rabbitohs amist all the controversy surrounding the battered club.
The Millionarie businessman was simply not on the same page as fellow co-owner Russell Crowe and was removed without any hinderance, their relationship now in tatters.
In his place, former Chief Executives Shane Richardson and Nick Pappas have been brought in to take control of a club that is dangerously reaching boiling point.
Marquee player Luke Lewis has even expressed concerns that he is having strong thoughts of backflipping his four year contract at the Rabbitohs next season and stay with Penrith.
Former Premiership winning coach John Lang has also been reinstated at the club in the role of coaching consultant.
Do not be surprised if the head coaching position will be up for grabs at season's end, with Jason Taylor failing to produce the results that catipulted the Rabbitohs to finals football for the first time in 18 years.
All these recent developments at South Sydney clearly have the potential to either make or break the club.
Like it or not, their season looks to be over, and the Wooden Spoon once again looms large at the climax of season 2008.
This was a far cry to what the Rabbitohs were expecting at the beginning of the season. All the talk of start recruit Craig Wing leading the club to a premiership was diminished as soon as Rooster Riley Brown smashed his muscular frame against the exposed back of Redfern's great hope.
From then on, things have taken a turn for the worse and the nightmare looks set to continue unless a change in attitude is applied to not only the players, but the management of such an historical club.
In all reality that is the only difference between the Rabbitohs salvaging something from the centenary year of rugby league. A year where they were expected to deliver fans a piece of glory that has been seldom at the club for an age.
Although there will be no silverware for South's this season, the long and winding road to redemption has to start now.
At the same stage last year, the Sydney Roosters themselves were in a dark place and the results were showing big time.
They had the worst attack in the competition and leaked points more easily than a drunk driver behind a wheel.
The low of lows for the chooks came against Manly on a saturday night when they were thrashed 56-0. A result that lead to coach Chris Anderson's demise.
Everything seemed lost but in came inspirational figure Brad Fittler and the rest is history.
Since the dark days of 2007, Fittler's men are riding high in season 2008 and look destined for a tilt at the premiership.
The drastic turnaround at the Bondi-junction club was based on a change of attitude and character. That's all there was to it.
South's must employ the same characteristics of their bitter rivals to climb out of the cellar once again.
If it means installing new people in certain positons than so be it. The Rabbitohs seemed to be going in the right direction but have now had their legs taken from under them.
It is in these times that a club with the richest history of Rugby league in Australia take a stand and start moving forward one step at a time.
Actions have been taken by the men upstairs, but it is ultimately up to the seventeen players playing for the red and green each week that can steer their club from oblivion.
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