They wouldn't have acknowledged it a month ago when Semi Radradra ran amok against them before running off to Fiji, but South Sydney probably owe a debt of gratitude to Parramatta.
While the Sydney Roosters have dropped off a cliff, and Manly have gone backwards, none of that trio of fallen heavyweights' performances has been as perplexing this season as that of the Rabbitohs. All the while, it's been the Eels, bumbling along from one scandal to the next, who have soaked up most of the headlines and air time.
![Moving forward: South Sydney coach Michael Maguire speaks to his players.](/web/20161028003342im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/n/w/u/o/n/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gqbp6h.png/1469169086483.jpg)
The ultimate distraction hasn't papered over Souths' problems, though. The return of Sam Burgess from rugby was meant to herald another tilt at a premiership. Instead, thanks to an unhealthy cocktail of injuries, off-field issues, innuendo and, most recently, some impotent defence, Michael Maguire's men haven't won for two months. In the meantime, they've sacked two players, Kirisome Auva'a and Paul Carter.
The reasons attributed to Souths' fall from grace are many and varied, from the Russell Crowe-Luke Keary fiasco to Maguire's coaching style.
The club's chief executive Blake Solly, the former English Super League general manager drafted into Redfern in May, looks at Souths' predicament in a different way.
"I think in any sport where there is a salary cap, it is really difficult to be successful year in, year out," Solly said on Friday. "You look at anywhere, whether it's the NRL, whether it's the NFL, whether it's the AFL – there's some exceptions – mostly it's really difficult to have four or five or 10 years at the top.
"Souths have had a great four-year period and this year hasn't been as good as we wanted it to be on the field but I think the work that Shane [Richardson, the general manager of football] and Michael are doing will ensure that we'll recover really quickly."
Even so, Souths members, starved of success for years but now holders of the highest of expectations, have questions and plenty of them. Did the club spend too much money getting Burgess back from England? Is there really trouble between Maguire and players?
Richardson refutes the latter and, in an indication that Maguire, contracted until the end of 2017, is in no danger of losing his job, endorses the coach's approach fully.
"Near the end of last year and the start of this year, people started to question Michael Maguire," Richardson said in a video released to members on Friday.
"I don't want Michael Maguire to be one bit different to what he was when we won the grand final. A hard-nosed, tough disciplinarian who wants to get the best out of his players. Any player who doesn't want to participate in that is simply not going to be here.
"I don't want Michael Maguire to change at all. I love what Michael Maguire does. He's won us a first premiership for 43 years and it was only 16 months ago. What we don't want is Michael Maguire to lose what he's good at, and that is the discipline, strong will and want to win games for the club."
The sackings of Auva'a and Carter last week – one for a second breach of the NRL's policy on illicit and hazardous substances, the other for failing to turn up to training after a bender – also point to a new administration with very little tolerance for ill discipline or a transgression of standards.
"There has been a big improvement in process and part of it is cultural," Solly said.
"It's never easy or much fun seeing two players leave your club in the circumstances that Kirisome and Paul have but, for us, it was an essential part of building and maintaining standards for everyone at the club, be they on-field or off-field staff."
Richardson has conducted a review of football operations since his return from the NRL four months ago and changes appear afoot. While Maguire is safe, members of the coaching staff reportedly may not be. However gloomy the outlook about Souths is, though, Richardson has certainly seen it far worse.
"We had a magnificent game to start the season where we thrashed our traditional rivals [Sydney Roosters] and in that game we lost two of our key players to long-term injuries, [John] Sutton with a pec tear and [Adam] Reynolds with a jaw," he said.
"It only takes a certain lack of momentum or an injury run or otherwise ... Where would North Queensland be without [Johnathan] Thurston? Where would a whole range of teams be without their key players? They're not excuses, they're facts.
"We've had a few other things ... sometimes you can shoot yourself in the foot along the way, and we've had to get things tighter and create stability in the club this year and we've done that. But I don't think we're that far away from being that top-four club that we aspire to be."
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