South Sydney players were giving a dressing down by coach Wayne Bennett after Bulldogs smashing

Going scoreless can be a wake-up call for teams and that’s South Sydney players were given by veteran coach Wayne Bennett.

Veteran coach Wayne Bennett gave his South Sydney players a “reality check” in the wake of their horror show effort against the Bulldogs knowing the season could slip away if they can’t turn things around quickly against Melbourne Storm.

Rabbitohs centre Campbell Graham, who could also be playing for a spot in the NSW State of Origin side in coming weeks amid a raft of injuries to outside backs, said last weekend’s 32-0 mauling earned them a significant dressing down.

A litany of mistakes were punished and Graham, who started on the wing, said there was no uncertainty in the aftermath about where Bennett thought they had let themselves down.

“Wayne (Bennett) was honest, as he always is, and he gave us a reality check that we needed,” 25-year-old Graham said.

“Our last couple of performances have probably been slipping, so he’s cleared a few things up for us and narrowed our focus into how we can get back to playing our good footy.

Campbell Graham runs with the ball against the Bulldogs (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

“We didn’t even give ourselves a chance, to be honest, in that game with the amount of dropped ball and ill discipline, and defensively I thought there’s things that we could tidy up.

“We’ve looked at all those things today, and we will definitely be focusing on them going into the game this Friday.

“Probably the thing that’s going to light us up the most is to go out there and show that we’re a better team than what we produced.”

Souths will confront a Storm outfit smarting from a horror show of their own in a 42-22 loss to the Dolphins, in which Melbourne gave up 40 straight points.

The Rabbitohs have only beaten the Storm seven times since the club entered the NRL in 1998, and only four of their past 20 encounters, making the task even greater.

The Rabbitohs had now answers for the Bulldogs. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

But incentives to play well are everywhere including for Graham who missed all of 2024 with a serious sternum injury, including a potential NSW debut.

He was named 18th man in 2023, but he had to drop out because of his injury and with some NSW candidates injured, Graham wants to step up.

“I think I could, I’d love to, but in saying that I’m just focused on getting back out and playing consistent footy here first,‘’ he said.

“It’s been a pretty rocky start for me to start this year, so I don’t want to be thinking too much about a Blues jersey right now.

“But, of course, if the opportunity ever came, I would grab it with both hands.”