South Sydney coach Anthony Seibold believes his charges have nothing to prove when they meet defending premiers Melbourne in a top-of-the-table clash on Friday.
The Rabbitohs have won ten of their past 11 games to surge to second on the ladder – their highest point this late in the season since their breakthrough title in 2014.
But Seibold’s side haven’t met a top-eight team in almost two months, with their eight-game winning streak snapped by the Wests Tigers and then barely beating bottom-placed Parramatta last week.
And despite the Rabbitohs winning just four of 24 matches all-time against the Storm, Seibold insisted his team had already demonstrated their premiership credentials earlier this year.
“We’ve shown earlier in the season that we’ve put our best performances against the better teams, particularly since round three,” Seibold said on Thursday.
“We’re really excited about the challenge.
“It’s about trying to improve our game. We’ve spoken all year about the changes we’ve made to how we play this year. It’s about trying to build on that.”
The Rabbitohs have lost five straight against the current ladder leaders, including a record 64-6 humiliation at AAMI Park late last year.
However Seibold hit back at suggestions their history against the Storm would have any bearing on their upcoming battle.
He was quick to point out how his team was on track to match their total of 18 wins over the past two seasons.
“We’ve shown a lot of improvement this year. We’ve won ten from our last 11 games. We’ve won 14 from our last 17 games,” he said.
“And the club in the last two years only won 18 games, so we’ve significantly improved.
“Whether that’s enough to get the job done tomorrow, who knows. But whatever happens tomorrow is not going to have any impact on what ends up happening at the end of the year.
“It’s a different team, a different game plan, a different staff, I don’t think any prior results is going to have any impact on what we do tomorrow night.”