South Sydney coach Wayne Bennett has stressed for the past few weeks that his side isn’t a top-four team yet, but after getting through a brutal month against some of the premiership favourites, the Rabbitohs can sense a path for them to surge towards a spot in the finals.
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Four-straight losses against the four top teams doesn’t tell the whole story for Souths, who lost by six points to the Warriors and Bulldogs, blew an early lead in Canberra and fell to the Storm in golden point in a thriller at Accor Stadium.
The tough stretch has left them only above the Titans on the ladder, but they’re only four points outside the top eight, still have two byes up their sleeve and welcome back injured stars Cody Walker and Campbell Graham this week.
“Lots of things are possible,” Bennett said ahead of Saturday’s showdown with his former side the Dolphins.
“The next couple of weeks are pretty important to us.
“There’s not much between all the teams right now, so we need to start getting a few wins behind us and see what the rest of the season brings.”
Thursday night’s epic between the Panthers and Bulldogs put the rest of the competition on notice, with a new standard set in the race to the finals.
“I did watch some of last night. It was really Penrith playing Penrith, that’s what I thought,” Bennett said.
“They’re part of the benchmark, but there are other teams out there playing well like Canberra, the Warriors and Storm.
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“There are a lot of teams in the mix right now, but our own aim over the next 10 weeks is to get to that place.
“We know what it looks like and we’ve played those top-four teams in the past month, so it’s a case of learning from that and taking some confidence from that, which I think we have.”
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While a finals spot is driving them, the Rabbitohs are also being motivated by Alex Johnston’s push towards all the all-time try-scoring record after he crossed four times last week to move within six of Ken Irvine’s record.
Johnston now has 206 tries but the milestone hasn’t been a distraction for the club, with Bennett pleased that he gets to be involved in such a special moment given he grew up watching Irvine score tries for fun.
“It is going to be a massive moment. I’m just thinking how we’re all going to handle it,” he said.
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“It could be two or three weeks in the coming or he could be one or tries off and it doesn’t happen for a couple of games.
“I hope it’s over this year, I really do, but it’s going to be pretty special and I’m pleased I’m here at the time it’s going to happen.
“The anticipation will build each week now. He’s managed to score a try each week that he’s played since he’s been back from injury, so hopefully he’ll get there by the end of the season.”
