Rabbitohs 37 Wests Tigers 12

WHEN Jason Taylor took charge of South Sydney last season, he told his players he expected the turnaround of the perennial basketcase of a club to take between two and three seasons. Yesterday, after taking the club to the brink of its first finals appearance in 17 years, he may have to recalculate.

In beating - no, belting - Wests Tigers 37-12 at Leichhardt Oval yesterday, the Rabbitohs have moved into seventh place on the NRL table, and barring a sizeable mishap, will taste their first springtime football since 1989.

Should they beat arch rivals Sydney Roosters next Saturday night, they could move as high as fourth. But they have bigger things to fry than chooks.

Yesterday, the Rabbitohs were partying like it was 1989, when they won the minor premiership but failed to reach the grand final. Remarkably, following a performance Taylor described as "amazing", they now say they can go all the way.

Chief executive Shane Richardson, who led Penrith to a premiership in 2003, yesterday claimed to have seen similarities between the rise of these Rabbitohs and the plight of the Panthers four years ago.

"It is [similar]," Richardson said. "The only difference is Penrith spent all year in front. The things you need is lack of injuries and momentum into the finals, and we're going all right with that. If you make the finals, anyone can win the comp."

After a 17-year period in which the only noteworthy moments have been simply being allowed back in to the competition and a Hollywood actor and a businessman signing a cheque, it's fair to say there's been little to cheer about for Souths, which might explain the chest-beating.

Centre Nigel Vagana joined in, saying this group of players could become the first Souths side to win the premiership since 1971. "Any team who makes the finals can give it a real show," Vagana said. "Once you get there, it's a whole new ball game. You saw Brisbane come home strong last year.

"The boys are confident in their ability. They're starting to believe in themselves.

"The hardest thing about the semis is making it. If we finish seventh or eighth, we've had some decent games against Manly and Melbourne, so we've got to be confident.

"We've got no pressure on ourselves. We've over-achieved this year. If we don't make the eight, it'll still be a successful year.

"Look at Penrith in 2003, and even the Tigers when they won it [in 2005]. They were outsiders, they were enjoying their footy. They were riding a rollercoaster and it took them all the way."

Souths have certainly performed under pressure. Yesterday's six-tries-to-two dismantling came at a heaving Leichhardt Oval, where one more of the white ants which used to infest the refurbished stand at the southern end would have burst the banks.

Remarkably, the 20,232 crowd was taken out of the equation within just 29 minutes. By that time, Souths had raced to an 18-0 lead through tries to John Sutton, Jeremy Smith and Yileen Gordon. By the 52nd minute, when co-captain Roy Asotasi scored to give the Rabbitohs a 30-6 lead, the first Tigers fans started to leave the ground.

"I think we owe our fans an apology for that," Tigers coach Tim Sheens said. "Not good enough. It was very disappointing for everyone to see, 20 minutes before full-time, people leaving. On behalf of the team, I apologise to people for that. We're embarrassed by it."

The Rabbitohs' victory was all the more gutsy considering they had lost fullback Nathan Merritt, their most potent attacking weapon, in the second minute of the match. That said, the Tigers' loss of Robbie Farah to a botched pain-killing injection after 15 minutes was more catastrophic.

Ominously, Vagana said the Rabbitohs were only now starting to understand how Taylor wanted them to play.

"Coming into the semis, everyone's got to understand that we've got to be pushing in the same direction," Vagana said. "The whole squad is learning how to play together. 'JT' gave us a timeframe of two to three years. Now we're in contention for the top eight a week out. It shows how much the boys are learning."

The last word should go to Taylor himself: "We found some try-scoring, and that made a big difference. We hoped it would [come together] before it was too late, but it's coming together nicely."