TheCleaner
15-04-08, 09:40 PM
What's gone wrong?
15/04/2008 8:59:22 AM
Adam Lucius
Sportal
Don't for a minute think there is a heap of sympathy out there for struggling South Sydney.
Rival clubs are privately delighted the 'Hollywood Rabbitohs' are doing it harder than an extra in a low-budget San Fernando production.
Five rounds in and the Armani-wearing Bunnies are more Kelly Country - stone motherless last with five losses from as many starts.
Co-owners Russell Crowe and Peter Holmes a Court - omnipresent in the stands last year as Souths headed towards their first finals appearance in 18 years - have seemingly lost interest in their expensive 'toy' and are nowhere to be seen.
Where has the love gone?
Coach Jason Taylor, who could do no wrong in his rookie year, has suddenly started doubting his own ability and seems unable to find the answers or a remedy to Souths' poor start.
The NFL-style huddle he called during a tense moment of Monday night's narrow lost to the Sharks indicates a desperate coach at the point of breakdown - or one who has watched on Any Given Sunday once too many times.
The truth is many in the rugby league community predicted Souths' rapid demise.
And just as many are enjoying it.
With the publicity-savvy Crowe and Holmes a Court leading the way, the Rabbitohs embraced the media spotlight and dared to think outside rugby league's closetted square.
One of the game's oldest clubs was suddenly all hip and happenin' - so cool even Snoop Dogg was wandering the streets of LA in a Souths jersey.
There were the suits, the Book of Feuds, the documentary, the celebrity supporters, the pre-season trip to Jacksonville.
Somewhere along the way repeat sets of six and kicking games lost their importance.
Rugby league is a conservative game played and administered by people whose thinking, by and large, starts and ends in the game's limited postcodes.
The Bunnies set themselves up for a big fall by trying to shake up century-old thinking and doing things differently.
It was a bold move and for a while it worked.
But it only had legs as long as the team was winning.
As one Souths insider told me: "We're over all the corporate crap. We've forgotten it's all about winning footy matches."
Until they start doing that, it may be more 'Gory, gory to South Sydney' as the season wears on.
15/04/2008 8:59:22 AM
Adam Lucius
Sportal
Don't for a minute think there is a heap of sympathy out there for struggling South Sydney.
Rival clubs are privately delighted the 'Hollywood Rabbitohs' are doing it harder than an extra in a low-budget San Fernando production.
Five rounds in and the Armani-wearing Bunnies are more Kelly Country - stone motherless last with five losses from as many starts.
Co-owners Russell Crowe and Peter Holmes a Court - omnipresent in the stands last year as Souths headed towards their first finals appearance in 18 years - have seemingly lost interest in their expensive 'toy' and are nowhere to be seen.
Where has the love gone?
Coach Jason Taylor, who could do no wrong in his rookie year, has suddenly started doubting his own ability and seems unable to find the answers or a remedy to Souths' poor start.
The NFL-style huddle he called during a tense moment of Monday night's narrow lost to the Sharks indicates a desperate coach at the point of breakdown - or one who has watched on Any Given Sunday once too many times.
The truth is many in the rugby league community predicted Souths' rapid demise.
And just as many are enjoying it.
With the publicity-savvy Crowe and Holmes a Court leading the way, the Rabbitohs embraced the media spotlight and dared to think outside rugby league's closetted square.
One of the game's oldest clubs was suddenly all hip and happenin' - so cool even Snoop Dogg was wandering the streets of LA in a Souths jersey.
There were the suits, the Book of Feuds, the documentary, the celebrity supporters, the pre-season trip to Jacksonville.
Somewhere along the way repeat sets of six and kicking games lost their importance.
Rugby league is a conservative game played and administered by people whose thinking, by and large, starts and ends in the game's limited postcodes.
The Bunnies set themselves up for a big fall by trying to shake up century-old thinking and doing things differently.
It was a bold move and for a while it worked.
But it only had legs as long as the team was winning.
As one Souths insider told me: "We're over all the corporate crap. We've forgotten it's all about winning footy matches."
Until they start doing that, it may be more 'Gory, gory to South Sydney' as the season wears on.