TWO types of teams never win premierships. One is the team who never does what the coach wants, the other is the team who only does what the coach wants.

Souths Sydney fall into that later category. Michael Maguire’s discipline and structure have taken the Rabbits from a middle of the table team to a consistent top four performer.

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But going from a top four team to Premiers will take an adjustment in style which has as much to do with Coach Maguire, as it does his players.

Souths’ strength, their discipline and structure, is also their weakness.

The strength of Maguire’s structure is evident in the week to week consistency over the past two seasons.

News_Image_File: Defected Souths players during the 2013 Preliminary Final between the Rabbitohs and the Sea Eagles.

Just as the weakness of it has been exposed in the previous two finals series.

Let me adjust these comments. The structure itself isn’t the actual weakness, the weakness is the inability or the unwillingness of the team to break away from the game plan and do something different when it’s required.

In the 2012 grand final qualifier, Souths were bundled out by the Dogs. History says a hamstring tear to halfback Adam Reynolds just before half-time cost the Bunnies, with victory in reach.

The hamstring excuse masked the fact that Souths’ second half was very poor considering a grand final appearance was just 40 good minutes of football away.

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Last year there were no excuses in the corresponding fixture. Souths started the match brilliantly and led 14-0 at one point, 14-6 at half-time.

But midway through the second half found themselves behind, and with Manly handling anything Souths came up with, it was time for someone to come up with something special, a little different, the unorthodox.

But they couldn’t.

News_Rich_Media: Michael Crocker is positive Souths' premiership window is still open, ahead of tomorrow night's season opener against one of his former clubs, the Roosters.

The disciplined structure which they had rehearsed to perfection suddenly became a ball and chain, a shackle they couldn’t break from.

Souths coach Michael Maguire didn’t miss it or ignore it, hence the urgency to move John Sutton to lock to accommodate Luke Keary, a young player who brings energy and unpredictability.

Keary’s torn pec has shelved those plans for the time being but the desperate need for change is evident in Maguire resisting the temptation to shift Sutton back to five-eighth and instead handing the six jersey to the young dynamo, Dylan Walker.

Michael Maguire knows, for Souths to go to the next level they must be different in 2014, not just a better version of their usual selves.

Souths need to have more in their game than one style, which brings week to week consistency.

In 2013 there was an over reliance on Greg Inglis and Isaac Luke to produce something when needed.

Maguire needs to encourage others to use their eyes and use initiative when they recognise opportunity, not just be content to be honest foot soldiers.

News_Rich_Media: He started as a skinny winger at Melbourne and now he's a colossus as South Sydney's fullback. Greg Inglis is about to start his 10th NRL season and he could well hold the key to Souths winning their first premiership in over 40 years.

This will be difficult for Maguire, he is as disciplined as the regimen he runs and disciplined men are often stubborn by nature.

Allowing players greater freedom will cost him a game or two, but it will make them a much better football team come September.

I’m excited by the move of Dylan Walker to five-eighth, he plays with the type of freedom Souths need. He doesn’t have the skill and subtlety of John Sutton but his speed and power will give the Bunnies a new dimension in the halves.

It’s important for Maguire not to bog Walker down with tactics and game plans, Sutton at 13 can help Adam Reynolds with that.

Dylan Walker need just turn up on game day with his boots and a clear head, and an attitude to rip and tear.

I’m tipping the Bunnies to win tonight, just as I’m tipping them to learn from the previous two seasons and grab their first title since 1971.