Twelve months ago the South Sydney Rabbitohs were a cautionary tale. They sat towards the bottom of the ladder deep into 2025, hauling a record injury toll north of 275 weeks of player unavailability, and staring down the very real prospect of handing Wayne Bennett the worst finish of a 38-year coaching career.

Cameron Murray ruptured an Achilles in the pre-season and effectively lost the year. Latrell Mitchell and Cody Walker managed eleven games apiece. Alex Johnston, Campbell Graham, Jack Wighton, Jamie Humphreys and Brandon Smith all spent long stretches on the sideline. Three wins from the last four rounds saved them from the wooden spoon, and that was the whole of the good news.

Now look at them. After Round 24 the Rabbitohs are 12-9, seventh on the ladder with 30 points and a differential of plus-82, coming off a 22-6 dismantling of the Bulldogs. Barring a genuine collapse across the final three rounds, Souths will play finals football.

The turnaround is remarkable, especially when you consider that the injury story never actually stopped. Mitchell has been week-to-week for months with a back complaint that cost him Origin selection and a late scratching in Round 23. Murray, restored to the captaincy and to the field, has since been sidelined again by a calf. Ashton Ward, the most trusted halfback at the club, despite his young age, will miss out on the rest of the season as well.

What that says about the group is more interesting than another year of hard-luck stories. Bennett has not solved South Sydney’s fragility, and pretending otherwise would be silly. What he has built is a side that no longer falls apart when the team sheet rotates week on week.

That is not a fairytale, and it is not a premiership case. But it is a football side that was written off in September 2025 and has dragged itself back inside the eight while being kicked in the shins every second week. In a year dominated by Roosters returning to supremacy and other clubs stuttering rebuilds, it deserves considerably more attention than it has received.