Souths captain Kohan Herbert believes his table-topping side still haven’t hit their straps this season, as the side prepares to travel to the Gold Coast for a clash with Bond.

Souths have impressed so far, winning games against Sunnybank, GPS and Wests. 

Despite a clear wave of momentum building at the club, Herbert said the playing group are still kicking themselves for losing to Norths in round three – and added there’s still more to come for his side. 

“Look, we are tracking pretty well with three wins and one loss, but to be honest, we are still a bit annoyed we lost to Norths. It wasn’t our best performance,” he said. 

“In saying that, we have a good connection as a team. I think we are playing good footy and winning games but there is another level we can go to. We have played a few 60-minute games, but no 80-minute games.”

Souths have a new head coach in Rama Chand, who took over from Souths legend Garrick Morgan on the eve of the season. 

Herbert claimed the change of leadership at the club had prompted many rival fans to write off Souths at the start of the year, which was providing extra motivation. 

“With Garrick stepping down and Rama coming in at the start of the season – as well as the club losing some players – there was a lot of chat about us as a club from the outside – we didn’t let it get to us,” the Souths captain said.  

“Every year there’s talk of who is going to win the comp and I didn’t hear anyone say our name. You can use that as a confidence boost as much as you want. 

“Personally, I use it as fuel to play each week. I’m fired up by teams writing us off. We are cooking pretty well at the moment, but we are not getting ahead of ourselves.”

Herbert added Souths’ squad had enjoyed playing under Chand – who has already managed to implement his own coaching spin at a club which was already on the rise before his appointment – having made a first finals appearance in seven years in 2024.

“He’s changed little bits and pieces but not too much – he’s an elite level coach and he knows what works,” he said.

“Rama has come straight in and connected with everyone. He really goes into depth about reviewing the teams we are playing against, as well as helping individuals on a one-on-one basis, and telling them what they can improve on to be better players.

“In saying that, Garrick is still with the club and he is at every training, everyone thinks he’s gone completely but he’s very much involved, just without the title of head coach. It’s a good balance.”

Standing in the way of a fourth Souths win in 2025, is a Bond outfit which have lost its opening three games by two points or less. Despite three decent performances from Bond, the club is remarkably still winless.

“I’m really good mates with their captain Tyler Campbell; we grew up together. He texted me during the week and told me it’s their third loss in a row and they have lost by a total of five points,” Herbert said. 

“Honestly, they are a really good side, they won the minor premiership a few years ago – they just can’t close a game out at the moment. We are expecting them to be motivated to win their first game this weekend. 

“It’s all well and good that we had a good win last weekend but the focus now is Bond, the travel down from Brisbane is never easy. We need to be ready.”