MARK ‘SPUDD’ CARROLL: South Sydney will bounce back from horror 2025 season to play in 2026 NRL finals

I saw the penthouse but also visited the basement during my rugby league career.

And while winning a premiership is obviously the pinnacle and stays with you for a lifetime, I can tell you the devastation of running last also lingers longs.

No one wants the wooden spoon but some of the game’s best players have picked up the dreaded utensil.

When I moved from Penrith to Souths, I was given a quick reality check.

While the Panthers were building a side that would eventually win the 1991 title, the Rabbitohs were struggling big time.

We won just two games in 1990 under the legendary George Piggins, finishing last of the 16 teams.

It included a 13-game losing streak that stretched from late May to late August.

The next few years weren’t much better.

We finished 14th three seasons in a row.

In four years, Souths won a grand total of 22 games.

You didn’t want to be around me at that time.

I was not pleasant company. I hated losing with a passion and told myself never to accept it.

While some players saw defeat as inevitable and went through the motions, I was determined to learn from the experience.

I set myself the goal of being among the top three players each and every week.

I managed to achieve that most games, paving the way for me to debut for Australia in 1990 from a wooden spoon side.

Bob Fulton liked the fighter in me and that was one of the reasons he brought me over to Manly from the Bunnies.

By 1996 I was a premiership winner.

Three decades later, two of the game’s biggest names are in real danger of collecting their first wooden spoon.

Des Hasler’s Gold Coast Titans and Wayne Bennett’s Rabbitohs are locked in a race to the bottom, sitting 16th and 17th on the table respectively with just five rounds of the season to go.

I touched on Des last week and backed him to eventually turn things around if the Gold Coast hierarchy holds its nerve and doesn’t punt him.

His coaching ability is not in doubt. It’s up to the players to take a look in the mirror and aim up on a consistent basis.

Des and Wayne are two coaches I would have loved to have played under.

Bennett’s job at Souths is safe no matter what but I hope the master coach can pull free of last spot over the closing weeks.

After more than 900-plus games, he doesn’t deserve to have a wooden spoon on his CV given the horror injury toll he’s confronted this year.

I don’t think I have seen anything like it. Benny must have run over every black cat in Redfern.

Missing from Friday night’s team to meet Brisbane were front-liners Cody Walker, Latrell Mitchell, Campbell Graham, Cameron Murray, Tevita Tatola, Jack Wighton, Brandon Smith, Jamie Humphreys and Keaon Koloamatangi.

There was at least another half dozen players unavailable on top of that lot.

It’s no wonder the Broncos put the cleaners through them.

But I will make a bold statement right here, right now.

No matter where they finish this year, I think the Rabbitohs will not only reach the top eight next season but threaten for the premiership.

Having a season from hell is not enjoyable by any stretch, but the flipside is it can build resilience and fortitude, especially among the younger players.

You head into the following season with renewed hunger, desperate not to repeat the mistakes of the previous 12 months.

And in Bennett, the Bunnies have the perfect man to stage an immediate revival.

He won’t panic after one bad season, knowing there is about $6m worth of playing talent filtering back in 2026.

Remember, he orchestrated four wins from the first five games before players started heading to the ER by the truckload.

In Wayne we trust.

AND DON’T GET ME STARTED

I have bitten my tongue for a few weeks now but can no longer hold back.

After reading certain players are yet to decide which country they want to represent in end-of-year Tests, I’m now hearing whispers some prospective Kangaroos are having second thoughts about going to England for the revived Ashes series.

Apparently, they are concerned about burnout after a long season and don’t want to push their bodies any further.

WTAF?

I realise some need post-season surgery and that’s fair enough.

But I don’t want to hear players pulling out because they’re fatigued and basically can’t be bothered.

I played 12 Tests for Australia and cherished every single one of them.

To pull on that green and gold jersey was the ultimate.

I would have had to have been on my deathbed not to play – and even then I probably would have leapt out of the window to run on.

Unless you’ve got a good reason not to go – and I’m talking injury or an important family matter – then you have to be on that plane to Heathrow.

I guarantee you all tiredness will dissipate once you pull on those Australian colours.

The NRL has gone to great lengths to put the Ashes series back on the map after a 22-year absence.

They now need buy-in from the game’s best players to ensure it is a success.

It would be disrespectful to do otherwise.