Rabbitohs must break top-four hoodoo
SOUTH Sydney hooker Damien Cook says the red-hot Rabbitohs must beat a top-four team before the finals to be considered a genuine premiership threat.
Seventh-placed Souths may be flying on the back of four straight wins, but they are yet to defeat a team above them on the ladder this season.
The Rabbitohs get a chance to change this unwanted statistic when they take on competition heavyweights Parramatta on Thursday night.
Souths also face contenders Melbourne and back-to-back premiers the Sydney Roosters in the final five rounds.
Cook believes it’s paramount the Rabbitohs snare a top-four scalp to close out the regular season to receive a psychological boost.
“It would be important because beating those big teams gives you a lot of confidence with where you are heading as a team,” Cook said. “We are heading in the right direction. We’ve had some good wins in the last month, and now we can test ourselves against the top sides before the finals. We’ll worry about Parramatta this week, but we’ve got some big games after that as well.”
The Rabbitohs have rediscovered their attacking mojo in the past four weeks, racking up 147 points.
Most of this success can be attributed to the spine of Cook, Latrell Mitchell, Cody Walker and Adam Reynolds stringing consecutive games together.
This was shown against Manly last weekend when Souths piled on 56 points, 38 of those coming before halftime.
The Rabbitohs possess the NRL’s most formidable attack when its firing, but Cook knows his side must find another level for Parramatta.
The Eels have been in the top four all year and are having their best season since 1986 when they last won the title.