South Sydney fans anticipating a huge improvement and maybe even a shock win on the road against Brisbane in the first game for the Rabbitohs since their coach, Michael Maguire, furiously sprayed them in a post-match scene caught on video are hoping for too much.
They might come out having a red-hot go in the game against the Broncos at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night, but they are highly unlikely to go the distance.
If they did somehow win, it would have more to do with Brisbane dropping a few levels rather than Souths rising to near where the Broncos generally come from. Either that or some awful bad luck for the home side.
The Rabbitohs have been on a downward spiral since early in the following season after they won the premiership in 2014.
They won their first three matches in 2015, including a 36-6 thrashing of the Broncos in Brisbane in their season opener, and people were falling over themselves to tip them to win back-to-back titles. Some were even suggesting they could go through the season unbeaten.
None of that happened, of course.
Souths lost four of their next five and although they came up with a mid-season rally to ensure a place in the finals they folded badly towards the end, losing their last three regular-season games by a combined total of 109 points to 30 and then exiting in the first week of the playoffs.
They finished seventh on the table that year, with 13 wins and 11 losses. Last season, even with Sam Burgess back after a year in rugby union, they finished 12th, with 10 wins and 14 losses. After 13 rounds of this season they are 13th, with four wins and eight losses.
And that is probably about as good as it is going to get, somewhere midway between the top eight and the wooden spoon.
Souths fans are perhaps the most fanatical in the NRL and there will be those among them who believe they can lift from here and make the finals, but I suspect there are also those who already accept the Rabbitohs simply aren't good enough to make that happen.
Compare their team now to the one that won that 2014 grand final.
Centre Dylan Walker and five-eighth Luke Keary are among those that are gone from the premiership-winning outfit, both playing great football at Manly and Sydney Roosters respectively.
Also notable among those gone are second-rowers Ben Te'o and Chris McQueen, winger Lote Tuqiri, who was a veteran then but still a player providing big-game know-how, and hookers Issac Luke and Api Koroisau. Luke missed the grand final through suspension and Koroisau deputised for him.
Plus, of course, superstar fullback Greg Inglis is out for this season with a ruptured ACL.
Most of the players from 2014 who are no longer there have not been adequately replaced and some of those who are still there are not playing at even close to the level they were then.
These things happen. Things run in cycles. Some teams go up and some go down. Only a very select few clubs - particularly in those sports governed by a salary cap - manage to stay there or thereabouts near the top for lengthy periods of time.
Think the Melbourne Storm in the NRL, or the New England Patriots in the NFL.
Souths re-signed Maguire as coach last October, through to the end of the 2019 season, so they obviously believe he is the man to take them forward, but to make it actually happen they need a major overhaul of their playing roster for next season and beyond.
In the meantime, they've got to work hard at training, compete hard in games and hopefully be competitive for the rest of this season.
Maguire's spray came after a 22-16 loss to Parramatta. The score flattered Souths, who were dominated in that game and trailed 18-0 at one stage. They ran in a couple of late tries to narrow the deficit.
The coach described the display as "unacceptable" and added that "we need to have a good, hard look at ourselves".
The Rabbitohs have had plenty of time to think about it, with the bye last weekend. Just how hard they've looked at themselves we'll find out on Friday night, at least in terms of intensity and commitment.
But they're not getting Brisbane at a good time. Broncos coach Wayne Bennett, reacting to two straight losses, has shaken things up himself by dropping halfback Ben Hunt. Expect them to come out ready to rumble.