South Sydney's faithful are daring to dream and they will have history on their side if the Rabbitohs can notch their ninth straight NRL win when they clash with Canterbury on Saturday.
Despite having the bye, the Rabbitohs last weekend jumped into top spot on the ladder when Melbourne gave St George Illawarra's for-and-against an almighty battering.
After eight straight victories, Souths have been installed as $4.50 competition co-favourites by the bookmakers.
Should they extend that streak against the Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium it will be just the eighth time in the foundation club's history that they will have achieved nine wins in a row.
It will also form an important omen with the history books showing that during the seven seasons the Rabbitohs have won nine or more on the trot they have been crowned premiers on six occasions.
The exemption being in 1989 when they strung together 12 victories but fell to eventual premiers Canberra in the preliminary final.
Should they deliver the club their second premiership in five years, Anthony Seibold will become just the seventh coach - behind Trent Robinson, Phil Gould, Ricky Stuart, Michael Hagan, Leo Nosworthy and Ian Walsh - to lift the trophy in his rookie year.
The ultra-conservative Seibold is cautious to look any further than this weekend, however, something special appears to be brewing in Redfern.
"The bigger picture is in eight weeks, there's a new competition starting," Seibold said.
"We just need to give our best performance on the training paddock and all that stuff takes care of itself, my experience as an assistant has told me.
"We've got to keep challenging the group to be consistent."
Seibold said the Rabbitohs' Origin contingent of Dane Gagai, Angus Crichton and Damien Cook would back up against the Bulldogs.
"Our intention is to play the guys, they've pulled up really well," Seibold said.
"They had yesterday off and they came in this morning, I spoke to all three of them and they're all really keen to play and we're keen for them to play."
Bulldogs prop David Klemmer will be available to back up from Origin III after escaping with a fine for a trip on Ben Hunt.
STATS THAT MATTER
* Souths have won eight of the past 12 matches between these two sides including the 2014 grand final.
* Canterbury have lost five of their past six games, including a heartbreaking defeat last week against the Raiders.
Source: Fox Sports Stats
