There is rarely an ideal time to play Melbourne Storm, let alone in an Anzac Day blockbuster on their own turf after they’ve been embarrassed in their previous game.
That’s a daunting assignment for any team, let alone one which has never beaten the Victorian juggernaut in 25 years of trying.
And unfortunately for South Sydney, that’s the exact scenario they are facing on Friday night.
Remarkably, since the Storm’s inception in 1998, the Rabbitohs have travelled 19 times to Melbourne, and returned empty-handed on every occasion.
They lost seven games straight at Olympic Park, Melbourne’s original home ground, between 1999 and 2008. The streak of misery has continued at AAMI Park, where the Storm have posted 12 consecutive wins against the Rabbitohs.
If Souths fans are clinging to hope that the return of master coach Wayne Bennett can help exorcise these demons, it should be noted that his record against Craig Bellamy – his former understudy – isn’t much better.
Bennett’s teams have won only 10 of 42 games against Bellamy’s Storm, and are winless in their past 13 attempts.
Souths utility Euan Aitken admitted Melbourne’s shock 42-22 loss to the Dolphins last week was probably the last thing the Rabbitohs needed.
Melbourne have a remarkable record at home against South Sydney.Credit: Getty
“Yeah, you could probably say so,” Aitken said.
“I’m sure Craig Bellamy won’t be happy with their performance against the Dolphins.
“They don’t usually tend to lose two games back-to-back, so it’s a big challenge for us, and we’ve got a lot to improve on from the last couple of weeks.
“But if we can get our errors down, we’ll at least be in the game.”
Aitken, who has played two games for Souths after joining them at the end of last season from the Dolphins, was far from concerned about the ghosts of history.
“I think most teams don’t go well down in Melbourne, so it doesn’t bother us,” Aitken said.
“We’re not looking too far ahead in that sense.
“All we’re worried about is getting our backyard right, because at the moment there have probably been two weeks where we haven’t played our best footy and against Melbourne, you need to be at your best. That’s the challenge this week.”
Outside-back Campbell Graham, who is 0-5 in Melbourne, echoed Aitken’s sentiments.
“First of all, they’re always a good team,” he said of the Storm.
“Obviously they’re always up there [on the points table].
“I think they love playing down there.
“Yeah, it has been a challenge for us, but as a player, as a group, we’re not going to look into that too much.
“I suppose we focus more on us.
“We were disappointed with how we played on Friday and I think that’s probably the thing that’s going to [motivate] us up the most, is to go out there and show that we’re a better team than what we produced on Friday.
“So that’s where our heads are at and hopefully the result takes care of itself.”
Meanwhile, Graham believes he could do a job for NSW on the wing, with incumbents Brian To’o and Zac Lomax both sidelined because of injury.
Better known as a centre, he has been filling in on the flank, the position he played early in his career. He also played two Tests for Australia on the wing at the 2022 World Cup, scoring five tries.
“I think I could – I’d love to,” Graham replied, when asked if he could handle the wing role at Origin level.
“But in saying that, I’m just focused on getting back out and playing consistent footy here first.
“It’s been a pretty rocky start for me to start this year.
“So I don’t want to be thinking too much about a Blues jersey right now.
“I want to be thinking about how I can bank some consistent gains for South. But of course, if the opportunity ever came, I would grab it with both hands.”
NRL is Live and Free on Channel 9 & 9Now
