One week after beating premiership favourites St George-Illawarra, the rising Rabbitohs can put a virtual nail in the coffin of a listing North Queensland as they travel to Townsville to meet the Cowboys.
The hype machine has started to surround South Sydney after they subjected the Dragons to just their second loss of the season on Sunday. Paul McGregor was quick to declare them 'the benchmark' but Rabbitohs coach Anthony Siebold would be wary of his squad reading too much into the headlines.
Looking good: South Sydney celebrate victory over ladder leaders St George Illawarra on Sunday.
Photo: NRL Photos
In any case, there was little time for Souths to indulge in any of the flattery on Monday. The entire team travelled to Nowra for the funeral of Cody Walker's mother Linda, who died suddenly after a heart attack barely a week before Sunday's clash.
It was a tragic event but Siebold ensured a united playing group would be on hand to support the popular five-eighth, who has been one of their best players in a 2018 season that has seen them present as a viable top four candidate.
"We're all going to head to Cody's mum's funeral [Monday] in Nowra – I think it's really important we support one of our mates," Seibold said on Sunday after the win.
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Victory on Sunday has seen the Rabbitohs progress into fifth place on the NRL ladder, with their 6-4 record the equal of Melbourne (fourth), the Roosters (sixth) and the Wests Tigers and Cronulla, who round out the top eight.
Trying to predict grand final winners at this stage of the season remains a fool's game but Souths have been the undoubted surprise packet of the early stages of the season.
Most thought they would take at least a season to find their feet under a new coach. Instead, their attack has been energised and their defensive prowess was enough to frustrate the Dragons for most of the afternoon as the old rivals slugged it out.
Their next assignment is a trip to North Queensland to meet a Cowboys outfit that can almost kiss their season goodbye if they lose again.
It has been a stark descent into mediocrity for the Cowboys, who started the season as a popular pick to find themselves in a another grand final given the talent they appeared to have at their disposal.
Now they are mired on just three wins from 10 games and are 14th on the ladder. While Johnathan Thurston will remain, they will lose a number of players to the Origin series as their degree of difficulty increases every week.
The Cowboys were sixth on the ladder this time last season and already had six wins to their name. They would end the season in eighth, just making the finals, with 13 wins.
If that was the finals benchmark this season, it means the Cowboys would have to win 10 of their final 16 games starting with Souths on Saturday night.
Souths, on the other hand, need just three wins to equal their output for the entire 2017, where they finished 12th on the ladder, well out of touch with the eight and ended with a points differential of -100.
That figure is +72 through 10 rounds of this season, which is a testament to the improvements in both defence and attack since Siebold has taken the reins from Michael Maguire.
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