Southern Districts coach Todd Louden believes his new look Rebels side will be the most dangerous team in the competition come the back end of the season. 

After losing a number of key players to injury in 2020, Souths’ recruited well over the summer and have shown glimpses of their best in the opening rounds this season against some of the competition’s best sides. 

The Rebels are currently seventh with two wins from their six starts so far this year, but have fallen just short against Easts, Eastwood, Norths and Gordon. 

“We’ve got a lot of new faces and we’ve had quite a few injuries, particularly in the backline and have struggled a bit for cohesion as a result of that,” Louden said. 

“I said before the season, that cohesion was going to be our biggest challenge. We’ve also had the toughest draw of any of the sides. 

“After playing those top sides, we know we’re in the mix because we only lost those games by a few points and we think we’ve got a lot more game development in us than the other teams do.”

Besides a 10 point away loss to Norths, the Rebels other three defeats have been by three points or less. 

“It’s pleasing because we know we’ve got a lot more growth in us than any other club but it’s frustrating because we know how close we were in those games,” Louden said. 

“A penalty kick here, a made tackle there, we probably win those games and suddenly we are sitting towards the top of the ladder. 

“The players are confident though and they know that we’re heading in the right direction.”

The powerful Rebels forward pack, led by recruits Phil Potgeiter (second year at Souths), Angus Allen and Josh Bokser is reminiscent of past successful Souths’ teams.

While the addition of nippy halfback Tyzac Jordan, almost a clone of former No.9 Dewit Roos, will have Rebels fans feeling nostalgic. 

“That’s been a very deliberate move. We’ve seen that forward dominance drop off over the last few years and we wanted that to be part of our DNA, like it was in those successful Souths’ teams. 

“Tyzac has been something special. He’s come in and already it feels like he’s been here forever. On the back of a big dominant forward pack, he’s been able to express himself in attack and he’s an aggressive little bugger.”

The Rebels host Manly of Surf Club Day at Forshaw on Saturday in the first of a run of winnable matches. 

“These next few weeks are important and we do have a slightly easier draw through the middle part of the season but we do have to play Uni twice in that period and they are on fire at the moment,” Louden said. 

“I think the competition will start to even out over the next few weeks as everyone plays one another and gets a better idea of what each team has to offer. 

“Like most years, it’s going to go down to the wire and we think if we get into the top six, then we’ll be the most dangerous team in the finals.”