South Sydney are just 80 minutes away from playing in the NRL grand final, but they will do so with a very different approach to the team that last made it to the season finale six years ago.
Former Storm, Queensland and Kangaroos star Billy Slater cast his eye over the attributes of the 2014 premiership-winning Rabbitohs and compared them to the 2020 side which will take on Penrith on Saturday night for a spot in the grand final.
Slater said the way South Sydney play these days is completely different to the game-plan that last led to them lifting the Provan-Summons Trophy. He said considering all the changes in the team since then - a new coach, departed legends and the many obstacles faced in the 2020 NRL season - they could be even better than the last cardinal and myrtle clad side that last won a premiership.
"[In 2014] it was through a power game. They had so many power athletes through that middle third of the field, and they used the middle of the field like a highway," Slater told Wide World of Sports' Billy's Breakdown.
"It was George, Tom and Sam Burgess - they led the way and then off the back of that they used their skill out wide. Through that middle third of the field, they created the quick play-the-balls by going through the middle, playing fast, big and powerful and then they had power athletes on the edges as well.
"Ben Te'o on the right, and they had skill and footwork with John Sutton on the left. Luke Keary played off the back of it with his running game, using the short sides. But again, it was that middle third of the field - power, power, power."
Tom Burgess remains at Souths, but many of the other names Slater referred to have since departed the club. And with that has come a very different approach to footy under supercoach Wayne Bennett.
"Now we fast forward to 2020, it's a vastly different South Sydney team. They don't have that power and size through the middle, so what they do is they use their skill and ball movement to create quick play-the-balls," Slater said.
"We see Damien Cook get out, we see the likes of [Adam] Reynolds and [Cody] Walker combine a lot, and when the halves combine a lot, it creates indecision at the defensive line.
"Off-loads create second-phase football. Cam Murray, he's got the quickest play-the-ball in the competition, but it's the ball movement that gives them the unstructured defensive lines they attack against."
The halves combination of Reynolds and particularly Walker is what most excites Slater.
He said Walker is often underestimated as simply an "instinctive football player", however Slater argued that his ability to combine that with structure is what makes him such a dangerous weapon.
"By far the key for the Bunnies is Cody Walker," he said.
"He has that ability to change on the run it's a split second - a defensive decision, something that his teammates have done like an offload, and he can change.
"Back in Round 12 against the Dragons, that was the making of Cody Walker. He had a real leadership role in the game. They found themselves 16 points down and their halfback and captain Adam Reynolds went off the field through injury, and it was Cody Walker that really stood up. He scored a couple of tries and set one up, and really led the way in that game. He's done it against the big sides as well.
"Cody Walker has probably been the form player of the competition. He's a natural ball player, a natural footballer and I think the [six again] rule changes have certainly helped him throughout the year."
Another key element of the evolution of South Sydney has been the electric play of halfback Damien Cook and the team's incredible resilience after the injury of Latrell Mitchell, Slater said.
"Cook has come on in the back half of the season and I think it's off the back of that ball movement. He's been damaging out of dummy-half this season," Slater explained
"When Latrell went down earlier in the season, we thought it was the end of the premiership run for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, but the emergence of Corey Allan has certainly changed that.
"He's been a shining light since Latrell went down and scored four tries in nine appearances this season. It's been his ability to create opportunities for his outside men with six try assists and eight line break assists, and to be able to promote the ball to those exciting outside backs like [Dane] Gagai, [Campbell] Graham and Alex Johnston.
"Johnston has been the leading try-scorer of the competition due to the ball movement of the South Sydney Rabbitohs and Corey Allan has certainly played his part in that regard.
"It's been a great resilience from the Rabbitohs to lose one of their best players and continue to improve their football."
from WWOS https://wwos.nine.com.au/nrl/how-2020-south-sydney-rabbitohs-have-evolved-since-2014-premiership-billy-slater/3bfbeef5-10aa-49f1-ae5d-d5c754ddd6c1
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