Raiders v Rabbitohs: Wayne Bennett’s left-field plan for South Sydney
Wayne Bennett is seemingly unconcerned that experts such as Phil Gould are writing off the Bunnies because he knows the belief within his squad is all that matters.
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Wayne Bennett will make the most of South Sydney’s underdog status this week by sneaking the Rabbitohs out of Sydney and into enemy territory.
The Rabbitohs wouldn’t normally leave for Canberra until the day before the game but this week will travel down on Wednesday to prepare for Friday night’s clash.
Bennett is seemingly unconcerned that experts such as Phil Gould are writing off the Bunnies because he knows the belief within his squad is all that matters.
The match will be played in front of a record Raiders home-ground crowd and hardly anyone
is giving the Rabbitohs much hope of an upset.
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Canberra earnt a home preliminary final after beating Melbourne at AAMI Park and Bennett seems content to let the Raiders soak up the favouritism and spotlight.
Gould believes the Rabbitohs are “running on empty” after watching their unconvincing win over Manly.
“(Souths) haven’t really impressed me as a top-four team all year and I still think they have done extremely well,” Gould said on his weekend Macquarie Sports Radio show.
“I think they have overachieved to get this far.
“The South Sydney side right at the moment, I think they’re just about exhausted.”
As you might imagine, Bennett was having none of it despite the TAB rating Souths as the $9 premiership outsiders in a four-team fight. The Roosters remain the title favourites at $2.25, followed by Canberra at $3.50. Melbourne are at $4.25.
Bennett feels people are failing to recognise the spirit his team has had all year to fight back from so much adversity to still be alive in a preliminary final.
There is a feeling at the Rabbitohs that a club with less character probably would not have recovered after losing a player as inspirational as Greg Inglis so early in the season.
Inglis’s replacement Braidon Burns has also been missing for most of the year through injury.
On top of that, the Bunnies have played large chunks of the season without all three Burgess brothers, Sam, Tom and George, because of injury and suspension.
Bennett conceded the Rabbitohs had some luck go their way in the win over the Sea Eagles.
However, he felt some really good football was overshadowed by the sin-binning controversy, and especially his team’s ability to rally against the odds when behind.
That is the attitude Bennett wants his players to focus on this week and why he is getting them out of Sydney early.
He has no concerns about Sam Burgess, Adam Doueihi and Alex Johnston, who all have to go through concussion protocols.