'Break you or make you': Rabbitohs galvanised by attacks on team culture

South Sydney players have vowed to use attacks on the team’s culture to galvanise them for Friday night’s must-win clash with Sydney Roosters and a tilt at the NRL premiership.

The Rabbitohs have been under siege over allegations of a split in the ranks as they prepare for their final match of the regular season, but players insist they are united and focused on beating their arch-rivals to secure a finals berth.

“Whenever you play against the Roosters it's always a massive occasion,” star five-eighth Cody Walker said.

“This is do-or-die, it’s like the semis come a week early, and the destiny is in our own hands, which you always want. Our main objective and our main focus is to get the two points, and if we do that we are in the finals.

I feel like it's a backs against the wall type of mentality that we are going to use and we’ve got to get out of it together.

Souths captain Cameron Murray added: “In times like these, it can either break you or make you, so we are definitely using all of the outside noise as motivation to get closer and prove everyone wrong”.

Murray, Walker and hooker Damien Cook insist the Rabbitohs can still win the premiership, despite a 4-8 winning record since Round 11, when the club sat on top of the NRL ladder.

The trio are key members of Souths’ leadership group, along with Latrell Mitchell, and they spoke during last week’s bye to dispel allegations that coach Jason Demetriou allowed the superstar fullback and Walker too much say at the club.

“I spoke to JD, and I just asked a question if that was the case, and I said that if it ever got to that point, I'd want you to tell me, and then I spoke to the senior players in Cookie, Camo, and Latrell was there,” Walker said.

“I said if you ever feel like that's the case, I'd like to know about it, because I wouldn't like to be at a club like that. I don't think anyone would.

“As a leader of the footy team, I offer my opinion but at the end of the day the buck stops with JD and whatever JD says goes. That's the same with the leadership group.

“Cameron is the captain, we offer our opinion or our thoughts around any situation, but when the decision’s made we all back that decision. I'm certainly no different.”

With the passing of 2014 premiership winning team-mate Kyle Turner on the eve of their Round 25 match against Newcastle followed by a week of off-field drama and personal attacks on Mitchell and Walker, Cook said it had been a “rollercoaster”.

“It was a circus for a couple of days, but sometimes these situations can bring groups closer together and I think we have got a pretty tight knit group here,” Cook said.

“We had a good meeting the other day with the staff, and to be honest it didn’t really affect us too much at all. We are ready to get on with it and we understand how good we can play, we have just got to get back to that.”

The Rabbitohs will have to play without Mitchell, who is suspended for the Round 27 match against the Roosters at Accor Stadium, but Murray said his absence provided added motivation to win so he could play in the finals.

“The results don’t show it but I don’t think we are too far off playing our best footy. I’ve never stopped believing and no-one here has either,” Murray said.

“People are going to have opinions but the opinions that matter are the people here at the club, so as long as everyone is believing that we are not that far off and we are still capable of playing our best footy that is all that matters.

“I’m really looking forward to getting a good result on Friday.”