Surging Rabbitohs set to party like it's 1989

MARIO Fenech whispers, like he fears Michael Maguire is listening.

MARIO Fenech whispers, like he fears Michael Maguire is listening.

"Every time Madge sees me, he says; 'Mate, do me a favour, just keep it down, just keep it down.'

"I say, 'Sweet mate'. "But it's hard not to get excited. It's been a long time for us Souths fans and this team is going to make us proud."

The first thing you should know about this new Rabbitohs coach is that Maguire smiles like Wayne Bennett, and says about as much.

They say he hates hearing anyone talk Souths up, even after four straight wins.

Maguire figures talking does no one any good, especially the players.

But then you think of what this recent success means to old Rabbitohs like Mario, who've been searching for a reason to cheer for 23 long years.

That was the last time the Bunnies had a fair dinkum footy team, back when Mario led them to a minor premiership in 1989 before they were blown out the backdoor.

Tonight, Souths take on the Bulldogs in a Sydney blockbuster.

It's being talked up as one of the games of the season - and how long since Souths have been involved in one of these?

"I'm extremely proud," Fenech continued. "And I say to the fans, we do have a team to be proud of.

"But they have only just started their adventure with Michael.

"Going on what the boys are saying, I wish he had coached me, the boys love him.

"You don't have to be a rocket scientist to work it out.

"Back when I played, you wanted to play for your coach (George Piggins).

"And that's probably the secret to Wayne Bennett's success, too.

"There are a lot of similarities there. I'm told (Bennett) puts a hell of a lot of effort into learning about his players. Their families, their ups and downs he supports them on and off the field.

"Well mate, guess what, it's the same with this bloke."

But how would this current side rate against Mario's mob of misfits from '89?

"I look back and it was remarkable how we had this bond," Fenech said.

"We would all get together and look into each others eyes and say; 'Look, we all want to be the best, we don't want to be second'.

"And because we had a mongrel pack we could test out other teams. There were plenty of times when we could beat teams better than us because of that. We had a belief and now you can see that as well."

You talk about South Sydney's firepower today, but back then they had a pack to scare the Devil himself. Fenech, Ian Roberts, Les Davidson, David Boyle, Wayne Chisholm, Michael Andrews ...

Craig 'Tugga' Coleman still talks about '89 like it was yesterday, the wonderful camaraderie, how they played for Piggins, and the injustice that robbed them of their ultimate dream. "If Roberts stays fit, we win the comp," Coleman said.

"He did his groin, remember? We played most of the year without him. We forced him to come back in that semi-final against Balmain and after that he couldn't walk, got rolled out in a wheelchair.

"But we were going tit-for-tat that game and there was nothing in it.

Then Blakey threw a long ball and Ross Harrington scored in the corner.

"I'll never forget it, Martin Weekes, the touch judge, called a forward pass when Harrigan was going to award the try.

"We scored in the far right-hand corner towards Centennial Park, we would have hit the front, it would have been over. And Martin Weekes calls it back I'll never forgive him for that. I gave it to him one night, years later, I saw him at a pub in Maroubra and I gave it to him."

So what does Tugga think about this side of 2012?

"I honestly think they can win the comp," he said.

"You know, we had something like nine Souths juniors in the starting side back then and we were close mates. This side here are playing for each other and they have an outstanding coach. What he's done from last year to this year is just unbelievable."Like Inglis, I have never seen him so committed. How aggressive is he?

"When he's scoring a try, he's spiking the ball in the ground; 'Get that into you,' he's saying.

"And they've got really, really good forwards, like us.

"George was the coach back then and we all loved playing for George. I think it's the same now with Maguire. You can just see what he is teaching them, you get a feeling how they respect him by talking to the players.

"The whole district is buzzing and you know the other thing, a lot of the players are really good people. My son plays Harold Matthews and Sam Burgess was at training the majority of the time, putting his time in with the kids. A lot of footballers cop a bagging for giving nothing back these days, but I tell you, Sam Burgess is a bloody good bloke.

"They all are, and it goes back to the coach. Russell Crowe, if you're reading this, get on the phone and sign him up again because at the end of the three years he is going to be a wanted man."

Even Piggins admits he likes the changes Maguire has brought in.

Its been well documented why George no longer goes to the games and no one can blame him for standing his ground on that.

But from a distance, he admits he still cheers for the players. "Yeah, I watch them every week," he said. "I think they have the potential to make the four and I like what Maguire is doing. You know with me it was never about football.

"I don't think they have a weakness in any position right now and they are going to be there at the end this year.

"It is good because we haven't been up there for a while.

"They just have to keep a lid on it for now."

Which is probably one comment Maguire wouldn't mind reading, even if he doesn't like talking himself up.

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