MALONEYS Beach’s John Boller is such a keen South Sydney supporter that he couldn’t wait to be born to go to his first Rabbitohs match.
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Well, it is sort of like that, as he explains.
“My mum was pregnant with me when she moved to Sydney from South Australia, and she had supported a red and green Australian rules team,” Boller said.
“When she was pregnant with me she went to a Souths game against St George.”
Boller was born on September 29, 1971 – 11 days after the Rabbitohs won their last grand final.
He was born with one red eye and one green eye, and hasn’t entertained the thought of following another team, not even in the leanest of years.
“I didn’t follow the competition or watch a game when they were out (during 2000 and 2001),” he said.
As a school student Boller wore Rabbitohs socks with his uniform.
He isn’t daring to dream yet.
“I’m just glad to be in the grand final,” he said.
“You can’t win it if you’re not in it. I reckon if we play to our ability we can win, but anything can happen, the Aussie rules’ grand final showed that.”
He doesn’t think it will be the end of the world if Souths lose.
“At the end of the day it is only a game of football,” he said.
“There are people worse off. There are people who can’t eat.”
Despite their good finishes in recent years, Boller didn’t think the Rabbitohs would get this far in 2014.
“This year I wasn’t that confident,” he said.
Like many, Boller believes the coaching skills of Michael Maguire have been crucial in getting the Rabbitohs to the grand final.
“They also have enthusiastic young fellas and the players have matured more,” he said.
He acknowledges those who have worked behind the scenes to get Souths in this position.
“George Piggins got us back in the competition and Russell Crowe has helped us,” he said.
Should the Rabbitohs win on Sunday, Boller said he would have “a few quiet ales.”