Souths Ready to Open up on Big Year

[Poida]

Souths Ready to Open up on Big Year

Friday, January 5, 2007 - 2:49 PM

Rugby League fans may have heard it all before but the Rabbitohs claim they mean business in 2007 and are sick of being the ?cellar dwellers? of the NRL.

The South Sydney players have returned to training following the Christmas break and veteran David Peachey has a real spring in his step saying the 2007 NRL season can?t come quick enough.

?It?s been a tough Pre -season before Christmas and it?s good to be back into it now. I?m really looking forward to it. I?m jumping out of my skin after the Christmas Break and the good news is everyone here feels like that too. All our weights are down, the skin folds are down and we all looked after ourselves in the break and that just shows how serious we are.?

33 this month, the evergreen Peachy says the club can talk about the ?new Rabbitohs? as much as they want but the players are the ones who need to prove they can be a force by standing up and being winners.

?We need to perform. We?ve put last year behind us and have come in with a new look, new facilities, new coaching staff. Everything?s new so why not kick it off with the best? We?ve been training hard week in, week out in the pre-season and if we get the best from the new owners we have to produce our best too.

As professional athletes we have to give our best every time we train and everything we have here to support us will make us better footballers and better people in general.?

The Rabbitohs biggest guns for 2007, the 4 New Zealand Internationals Roy Asotasi, David Kidwell, Nigel Vagana and David Fa?alogo, are yet to begin training with the club following their November finish to 2006 and Peachy says there?s an air of excitement about them starting training.

?We?ve seen how well they played in the Tri Nations so to get that experience back in with the mix we?ve got now they?re only going to make the side better. The young blokes have been putting in hard, but when the Internationals start up it?s only going to boost the club more.

We know we can?t just rely on them; we?ve got a lot of hard work to do. We came last last year and we can?t hide from that.

So we?ve got to go hard right from the word go and put our best foot forward and the hard work started 8 weeks ago.?

Souths fans will get the first look at the new recruits when the entire squad gathers for an All Star game of twenty 20 cricket at Alexandria?s Alan Davidson Oval.

Retiring test cricketers Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath will join a host of former cricketers and celebrities, as well as current Rabbitohs, to put on an entertaining show.

New Souths coach Jason Taylor is no slouch with the bat and Peachy is seen as one of the guns in the team and the fullback is excited by the prospect of the whole day.

?I don?t know about gun, but I?m actually looking forward to it. I haven?t played cricket for awhile so I can?t wait.

I really think the morale for the club will be great at this event. I?m hoping to bat against Warney, that would be a real thrill.?

It won?t just be great for us it?ll be a big day for the fans, all the new boys will be on board and the fans will get the perfect chance to meet them too.?
Source: NRL

[jenny]

I'll lead the way

By James Phelps

January 06, 2007 12:00
Article from: The Daily Telegraph


BURLY prop Peter Cusack has declared he wants to keep the South Sydney captaincy just days before the arrival of the Rabbitohs' big-name recruits.

Star trio Roy Asotasi, David Kidwell and Nigel Vagana will start training with the Rabbitohs from Monday, but 2006 captain Cusack said he was hoping to lead the club into its new era.

South Sydney players reassembled at Erskineville Oval yesterday after a short Christmas break, with coach Jason Taylor considering Cusack for the role along with the Kiwi Test trio.

"I want the captaincy, but it is out of my hands," said the popular Cusack, nicknamed "The Yak", as he toiled at training with fellow prop Scott Geddes.

"I am willing to do whatever is best for the team this year and the other guys would do a good job too.

"I was captain last year and we had some pretty tough times.

"But if I get the job again I will lead by example."

After their first training season of the new year, Rabbitohs players yesterday spoke of team unity and told how new athletic performance director, Errol Alcott, had already helped foster team spirit.

Halfback Joey Williams revealed the side had bonded since Alcott, the former Test cricket physiotherapist, recommended the team janitor be provided with team clothing and given a payrise.

"It showed that everyone is on the same level and very much part of the one unit," said Williams.

"We want to go forward as one team and we are going to win as a team and lose as a team. It has been missing in the past and I think Errol showed that the team goes right down to the janitor and he deserves as much respect as us.

"I think it is very representative of how this place has changed over the past year. Even the little things are being looked at."

Alcott said the gesture was part of South Sydney's rebirth under the guidance of the Russell Crowe-Peter Holmes a Court partnership.

"When I got here I was asked to look through everything and you have to look right down to the coal-face," Alcott said.

"Everyone is part of the team and embarking on the same journey. You can't leave someone back on the wharf.

"They are just little things but they help build team spirit."

Taylor yesterday said he was impressed with the attitude of his players and is confident the side will not be easybeats this year.

"I don't know how hard they worked last year," he said.

"But I know they are working hard this year and I can only compare it to other clubs I have been at.

"It's not only how hard they are working, but it's their attitude I am most impressed with.

"They are doing it with the right attitude. These guys have a mindset where they know they have to work hard to improve their place in the competition.

"There is a long way to go but I couldn't be happier with where it's all at."

Taylor said the players had come back fitter than they were before Christmas.

"The boys have improved from where they were at Christmas," he said. "I am happy with where they were at today. It's perfect."

[Future Star]

What makes Cusack think he is even going to be in the starting side? if he doesn't put in at training, we might see him dropped to the bench with Roy and Geddes the props, eh?