SYDNEY - Australian rugby league stories don't come much more inspiring than South Sydney's, who are heading into their first grand final in 43 years against the Canterbury Bulldogs on Sunday.
Nathanael Barnes (left) of the South Sydney Rabbitohs out runs Keith Senior of the Leeds Rhinos during an Australia Day Challenge match on January 26, 2008 in Jacksonville, Florida
The fabled Rabbitohs, born out of the working-class streets of inner Sydney in 1908, have often been called the 'Pride of the League' and for just cause.
They have won the most premierships and should they go on and down the Bulldogs this weekend it will be their 21st title, but their first since 1971.
There has been plenty of heartbreak, a fightback from near extinction and occasional rays of hope, but predominantly it's been an unremitting struggle in the intervening period for the men who wear the red and green.
The foundation club fell upon hard times, financial problems beset the Rabbitohs and they were a celebrated victim of the Super League war, an acrimonious split of the News Corporation-backed breakaway league from the established Australian Rugby League competition in 1997.
When the warring parties sued for peace and compromised on the formation of the current day National Rugby League for the 2000 season, South Sydney failed to meet the NRL's team selection criteria and were excluded.
High profile court battles, mass street rallies and campaigns by politicians, celebrities and club supporters led to an appeal to the Federal Court in 2001 where amid wild celebrations the Rabbitohs were readmitted into the competition in 2002.
Souths struggled upon their return, finishing in the bottom three teams for five consecutive seasons before their fortunes took a turn for a better.
Oscar-winning Hollywood actor Russell Crowe, a long-time supporter, was part of a consortium that bought a major share into the club in 2006 and South Sydney began to become competitive.
Crowe has helped secure millions of sponsorship dollars and generated mass interest in the game both at home and abroad.
In 2009 Crowe persuaded young English international forward Sam Burgess to join Souths, which was to have far-reaching ramifications for the club's upturn.
Burgess came to the NRL with a huge reputation, a strapping 195cm (6ft 4in), 110kg (17 stone) wrecking ball who earned the respect of the Australian players while playing for England in the previous year's Four Nations series.
Crowe even went to the expense of sending his own film crew to Britain to track Burgess throughout England's Four Nations campaign, filming him at home, training and during games.
Two years later Crowe coaxed Greg Inglis, one of the Australian game's superstars, to become part of the revival and Burgess was joined by his three hulking brothers -- George, Tom and Luke -- for the 2013 season.
"We're totally grateful for everything the club's given us," Sam Burgess said.
"I'd love to be part of the team that won the premiership while Russell was still in ownership of the club.
"Not only for Russell, there's hundreds of people I can name. For the team, the whole squad of 30, it'd be a great achievement."
Another key missing piece in the puzzle was the appointment of coach Michael Maguire, who had coached Wigan for two seasons after learning his trade as an assistant under coach Craig Bellamy at Melbourne Storm.
In his first year at the helm in 2012, Maguire took the Rabbitohs to the finals. They finished the regular season in second place the following year and now they are just 80 minutes away for a long overdue championship.
Now with Sam Burgess and Inglis leading the way, South Sydney are favourites to land the title against Canterbury, whom they last faced in a grand final in 1967, winning 12-10, to herald four premierships in five seasons.
"I think it will be one of the biggest games I've come into," Inglis said this week.
"Leading into this week and playing this grand final means a lot to me and to the community."