Injured halfback Adam Reynolds' impending return won't be the easy fix required for the Rabbitohs' latest woes according to coach Michael Maguire, who was critical of almost every one of his players following a 17-10 loss to the Roosters on Friday.
A frustrated Maguire conceded his team were rudderless with Luke Keary and Cody Walker at the helm, though he was just as critical of his forwards' lacklustre performances.
"There were times there where we had control of the set and we didn't take our opportunities. We looked like we were going sideways and there was no direction," Maguire said post-game.
"Whether Adam is there or not, we have two halves there who are capable of doing [a job]. But they didn't get it done.
"It's definitely not the way we're capable of playing so we'll have to have a good look at each other. We'll need to look over all the areas where we need to pick up. From attack to our middle [defence], they just walked down the park through periods of the game.
"At the end of the day we had opportunities there to rectify [our mistakes] but we weren't smart enough to do so. Our halves will learn a fair bit out of that game."
Maguire denied however that the Rabbitohs lacked a desire to win.
The Roosters before this clash were staring down the barrel of a 0-6 record which would have been their worst start to a season in 50 years.
Yet Maguire said his side wanted the two competition points just as bad.
"We have a team in there who wants to win. But we have a team who now also needs to have a good look at themselves," Maguire said.
"We need to look at our attack and our attitude towards different things because there were times there, whether it was a discipline thing, where we just let them off the hook."
Rumour was rife in the days leading up to this clash that Reynolds may be a shock inclusion after breaking his jaw five weeks ago.
While such rumours didn't come to fruition, Maguire was hopeful Reynolds would be right for Round 7 with reigning premiers North Queensland next on the agenda.
"We'll have to see how he is throughout the week," Maguire said.
"Obviously we're playing against the premiers so we'll have to have a strong week and move forward."
It doesn't get much easier for South Sydney in the weeks following. They'll head back up to Queensland a week after they play the Cowboys, kicking off the Anzac Day long weekend against last season's bridesmaids Brisbane.
