Manly co-owner Max Delmege claims the cashed-up, Armani-suited South Sydney are more deserving of the "silvertails" tag than his own club.

"They've got Armani suits - we can't afford that," Delmege told The Sun-Herald. "I remember with Reuben F Scarf we used to get two suits for the price of one and a free tie and a free shirt.

"We should be known as the Manly Warringah Battlers."

Asked if Souths were more deserving of the silvertails mantle, Delmege said: "Definitely … I'm very happy for them to have that label."

Rabbitohs counterpart Peter Holmes a Court fired back in a good old-fashioned war of words before tomorrow night's blockbuster clash at Telstra Stadium.

"What tag has he given us - silvertails?" Holmes a Court said.

"The people of South Sydney have as high aspirations for themselves and their kids as the people from the gentrified suburbs of the north, and we're all about presenting rugby league players in the best possible light.

"Manly can try to shake off a decades-old tag of silvertails but trying to pass it off to South Sydney won't help them.

"The tag has negative connotations and suggests that you haven't done the hard yards … that does not apply to South Sydney. You can call any club a silvertail but there's only one club it will ever truly apply to."

Even before Delmege's inflammatory comments, the Telstra Stadium clash was shaping as Souths' most important match since their readmission into the NRL in 2002.

The Rabbitohs can take a giant step towards making their first finals appearance since 1989 in what is Holmes a Court's and co-owner Russell Crowe's first full season at the helm.

"We go into Monday Night Football against a Manly team which is a number of years ahead of us in their business plan - but we go into Monday believing we are going to win this match," Holmes a Court said. "Manly know we're not the Souths of old. We're a different club and a different team on the field and it's important to realise that.

"In the past, they might have had the expectation that playing Souths was going to be easy. I think they know it's not easy any more. It's not embarrassing to lose to Souths now.

"We've been a competitive team every week this year. As for the suits, Armani are a sponsor who have got an estimated $500,000 in value. Maybe Max doesn't understand that."

In a further dig at their opponents before tomorrow's blockbuster, Delmege said his Rabbitohs counterparts Crowe and Holmes a Court should let the players "be the ones on the front and back pages".

"I prefer to stay in the background and let the likes of the CEO, coach Des Hasler and the players take the raps for the fabulous job they're doing at the moment," he said.

Delmege even suggested Souths' high-profile owners should take a leaf out of the book of the coach of their mortal enemy, the resurgent Sydney Roosters.

"He seems to take things very low key, he's relaxed," he said of Brad Fittler. "His approach to the game, which is very relaxed, has certainly rubbed off on the players."

Manly CEO Grant Mayer, however, was less eager to shed the silvertails tag, saying the club wore it as a badge of honour.

"Through the lean years, after 2001-02, it was difficult to wear that moniker with pride and joy," Mayer said. "But you can see with the groundswell of support we've got that people are remembering the great silvertails years.

"We are proud of that - we are and will always be the silvertails. There will always be imitators but there is only one true silvertail. You just compare it - we've got Manly beach, and they have Redfern."

Herald journalist and former "fibro" Roy Masters christened the Sea Eagles the "silvertails" while coaching Western Suburbs in the late '70s. The tag was a jibe at the northern beaches suburbs affluence and the financial strength of the club, which poached Les Boyd, Ray Brown and John Dorahy from the Magpies at the height of a bitter rivalry.

However, the roles appear to have been reversed. Oscar-winning actor Crowe has organised fashion shoots, elocution lessons and theatrical agents for his players in an effort to boost their earning potential. They have become regulars on the red carpet at social events all over town.

South Sydney legend Mario Fenech was aghast when informed of the comments from Delmege.

"Fancy him talking, he's a multi [millionaire]," Fenech said. "Our pedigree is we're a club for the punters. I've talked to Russell Crowe about this. We are blue collar, mate, and we'll always be blue collar. Russell and Peter are very impressive people, but this club will never be like Manly or the Roosters.

"Rugby league was built for the punters and that's what the Bunnies are. Manly have the affluence, that's just a fact. They can have it."

Asked to solve the debate, Masters said: "Manly are forever the silvertails. However, under a Penrith-born coach with a hard-hat approach to their football, their image is under siege from the new-look glamour Rabbitohs."

While Manly still remain near the top of the table, the Bunnies are shedding their battler image. The club has recruited big-name stars in the off-season and the players and star in the documentary South Side Story alongside their charismatic owners.

While Crowe's hands-on involvement with the club has brought a touch of Hollywood to Redfern, the bottom line is the Rabbitohs have finally become finals contenders after years of on- and off-field hardship.

Multi-millionaire developer Delmege - born and bred in Maroubra and once a Souths fan - said he won't be watching the documentary. "I'd probably prefer to put on a video clip of our previous games, watch the mighty Sea Eagles."