From Fox Sports:
Quote:Here's a lovely article JustGee transcribed from the Sunday Telegraph for us! Thank you, Gee!
Bunnies bank on Winging it
By David Beniuk
February 25, 2008
FROM the makers of South Sydney's blockbuster 2007 season comes the highly anticipated sequel.
The Rabbitohs' 2008 premiership odyssey has a new leading man, Craig Wing, but only time will tell whether the scriptwriters can deliver the foundation club a dream 21st premiership in rugby league's centenary year.
In their first full season under the ownership of Russell Crowe and Peter Holmes a Court, Souths exceeded expectations, making the finals for the first time in 18 years.
They wore Armani suits and starred in a fly-on-the-wall documentary, South Side Story, in which coach Jason Taylor's blue tongue was revealed as one of the motivating forces behind the team's revival.
Taylor has led a charmed life as a coach, taking the reins at Parramatta in mid-2006 and guiding a troubled club to the finals before jumping on board the Crowe and Holmes a Court juggernaut.
This year, though, the critics and box office have big expectations.
"I really don't subscribe to the theory that now that means that there's going to be a heap more pressure on, it just means that people are expecting us to do well, which is great," Taylor says.
"If we work hard, we train hard and play with the intensity that we need to, and work together, then we'll be the best team we can be and wherever that gets us, that will be good enough I think."
If Souths had a problem in 2007, it was their attack. The Rabbitohs averaged just 17 points per game.
But, just when you thought it was safe to score three converted tries against them, the Bunnies have spent the off-season sharpening their teeth.
"Last year there was no secret about the fact that we really worked hard defensively, so this year we've gone the other way a bit in that we want to get more going when we've got the ball in our hand and create more options and be harder to defend against," Taylor says.
"Teams who played us last year knew that it was going to be a tough game but they probably knew they didn't have to score a heap of points to beat us.
"The thing last year was (attack) was just something that we didn't work that much on in the pre-season and it's hard to get a lot going once the season starts because week-in week-out it's tough. And the thing was that we were all new to each other.
"We could have easily done much better with our attack last year if we worked on it for three months before the season started.
"It's not an area where we're going: what are we going to do, how are we going to fix it? It was just that it needed more time."
Wing's return to play in the halves after eight years at Sydney Roosters, during which he won a premiership and played State of Origin and Test football, should boost the Rabbitohs' attack, too.
"He's going to play a massive part in it because one of the things in that area last year was the experience in the halves," says Taylor.
"That experience, his understanding of what it takes to win those sort of games is going to make a massive difference in that area."
Quote:For more about Jamie, click here!
A comeback kid inspired
Miawling Lam
The Sunday Telegraph
March 9, 2008
Game plan: Rabbitoh and former cancer sufferer Jamie Simpson visits Ricky Williams in hospital
HE has a sidestep that Mark Gasnier would be proud of, but Ricky Williams' proudest achievement has been overcoming adversity.
The strapping 15-year-old rugby league player suffers from acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a common type of childhood cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow.
The chilling diagnosis last year meant the prodigy's rise through the ranks was cut short.
Instead of running onto the field with his mates, he spent weeks on end at Sydney Children's Hospital Randwick.
The South Sydney Juniors player was not only kept on the sidelines for all of last season but was also left bed-ridden during an intensive six-month chemotherapy program.
Williams, who plays on the wing or in the centres, says he is excited about entering remission and counting down the days until his return to the game.
"I can't wait to get back onto the field," he said.
"As soon as you get the first tackle, you sort of get an adrenaline rush and it feels pretty good."
Williams' brave journey has been long but he has found inspiration in fellow league player Jamie Simpson, a 20-year-old Rabbitohs rookie who himself has beaten cancer twice.
Simpson met the young hopeful last week at the hospital and will now look to mentor Williams as he attempts to rekindle his promising league career.
Jamie's already a winner

(a girl for the gender conscious)(and always proud to be his fan)














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