Chasing the famous club’s first premiership since 1971, John Sutton was the ideal candidate to help bring success back to redfern.
If anyone deserved to lift the Provan- Summons Trophy in a South Sydney jersey and break a 43-year premiership drought, it was local junior John Sutton, a decade into his 336-match NRL career.
“That was my 229th game for Souths so I’d been waiting a long time for the chance to lift that thing,” Sutton told Big League in the lead up to this year’s grand final.
“Before the game, I just remember thinking, don’t blow this opportunity.”
A year earlier, Sutton and the Bunnies did exactly that.
Chasing the club’s 21st premiership and the first since 1971, the Bunnies returned to finals footy in 2007 and fell short in preliminary finals in both 2012 and 2013.
“In 2013, we were up 14-0 against Manly in the prelim and it all went wrong from there,” Sutton recalled.
“That really hurt but I think it added to our hunger in 2014.
“Towards the end of that regular season, we went on a run and won five on the trot and on the back of that we went into the finals series with plenty of confidence.”
Souths beat Manly and the Roosters to book a spot in the decider against the Bulldogs and looked to have a premiership-worthy side on paper.
“Luke Keary and Dylan Walker were young and had played a few games the year before, then Kyle Turner, AJ (Alex Johnston) and Kirisome Auva’a all debuted that year,” Sutton said.
“Then we had Adam Reynolds who had been around for a few years and Sam (Burgess) and Greg (Inglis) leading the way for us.
“It was a really good blend of youth and experience and everyone just bought in under Madge (coach Michael Maguire).
The 2014 grand final is arguably best known for the first and last plays of the match.
Off the opening kick-off, Sam Burgess charged into fellow Englishman James Graham and reeled out of the collision with a fractured eye socket and cheekbone.
Remarkably, Burgess stayed on the field and continued to hurl himself at the blue and white wall, but Souths struggled to break through Canterbury’s stoic defence. With 30 minutes to play, the decider was in the balance at 6-6.
“We knew the Dogs would be tough but in the first half, I think we completed 18 of 19 sets,” Sutton recalled.
“George Burgess dropped it in the final set of the half, but even after that, they stuck with us.
“A few of our guys really stepped up in the second half. Api Koroisau came in when Issac Luke got suspended and I don’t think he’d played a game for about a month.
“Around the 50th minute, he stepped and hit George, who beat three or four players to score. That was a big momentum shift.”
Souths controlled the match at 14-6 but still struggled to put the Bulldogs away.
“Kirisome Auva’a scored in the 73rd minute and Adam (Reynolds) slotted the conversion from the sideline. That put us 14 in front with not too long to go and I remember thinking, we could be on here.
“Then the next set, I put a kick in and Adam scored and it was pretty much party time after that.
“It was pretty cool to get to soak up that atmosphere in the last 10 minutes, knowing we had the game locked up. It was probably the most fun I ever had playing footy.
“Then GI scored that famous try at the end. I remember jumping on top of the pile and feeling relaxed for the first time. It all hit me after that.
“I grew up in the area and have loved the club for as long as I can remember, so to get to lift the trophy, I’d never felt so happy in my life.”
