Wayne Bennett has defended South Sydney's $25 million training facilities as Latrell Mitchell's calf tear once again fuels speculation that Heffron Park's turf could be responsible for the Rabbitohs' alarmingly high casualty ward.
Mittchell has joined teammates Campbell Graham and Talanoa Penitani on the sidelines with soft-tissue injuries after David Fifita missed more than a month with a hamstring problem, while Adam Elliott and Brandon Smith have also battled calf issues this season.
After moving bases from Redfern to Matraville in 2023, Souths conducted a review of the surface following similar injury scales last season, but found nothing sinister with the facilities.
Bennett bristled on Wednesday when asked if their training pitch might be contributing to the squad's woes.
"No, no ... You say a lot of soft-tissue injuries. I've got guys with broken thumbs, I've got guys with broken forearms, so they're not soft-tissue injuries," the supercoach said ahead of Thursday night's clash with Parramatta at Commbank Stadium.
"No, it's nothing to do with (that). You can look for all the myths that you want, but the bottom line is it's just a part of what we do. We train, a lot of time running, a lot of time playing, and we have these moments where we get the injuries and we're not the only club with them."
Despite the glut of talent on the sidelines, the Rabbitohs thrashed defending premiers Brisbane last start before enjoying a bye to remain in seventh spot.
Bennett challenged his battered but upbeat troops to hit the go button in the run to the finals.
"We just need a bit more luck with the injuries, if we can get that," he said.
"But we're in there so it's the time of the year where we've really got to start to make a statement halfway through the season and Origin's just about over.
"So I think we can be in there at the end of the season, but we just need a bit of luck and we want to play the football that we played last week on a more consistent basis."
Bennett also rejected the notion Mitchell was "devastated", insisting the superstar centre was getting on with business, while revealing fellow strike player Jack Wighton would return from a broken arm next week.
The 14th-placed Eels also have a stack of stars out injured, including Jake Tago, Jonah Pezet, Junior Paulo and J'Maine Hopgood as they fight desperately to stay in the finals hunt.
"They're battling their way there. They're playing pretty good," Bennett said before offering a signature one-liner when asked how do the Rabbitohs stop Parramatta game-breaker Mitch Moses in his milestone 250th NRL game.
"Tackle him. That always works."