Fa'alogo and Kangaroos David Peachey and Shannon Hegarty. Off-field the club had secured Jason Taylor (former Parramatta coach who became assistant coach at Souths), Mark Hughes (former Head of Recruitment at the Bulldogs), Errol Alcott (formerly Australian cricket team's head physiotherapist), Anthony Mundine (appointed as Indigenous Liaison Officer) and former NZ cricket captain Martin Crowe (as a board member). Markedly improved results were shown on the field, with South Sydney winning their first three games of the 2007 season (marking their best start to a season since 1972) and being competitive in every game. On the back of one of the best defences in the competition, the Rabbitohs finished strongly, making the semi-finals for the first time since 1989. They finished the season in 7th position with 12 wins. Souths' season ended in the first week of the finals, losing 30–6 to the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles (who they had beaten in a regular season match only a few weeks before, prompting hope among the Rabbitohs faithful that a repeat victory and a serious finals campaign was possible) at Brookvale Oval. 2008 season The South Sydney Rabbitohs celebrated their centenary year during the 2008 National Rugby League season. The club fielded teams in the National Rugby League Telstra Premiership and the Toyota Cup National Youth Competition. The Rabbitohs also began an affiliation with the New South Wales Premier League competition (the North Sydney Bears) and the Super League (Leeds Rhinos, the reigning Super League champions). On 26 January 2008, the Rabbitohs played the Leeds Rhinos at the Hodges Stadium at University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida, the first time first-grade professional rugby league teams from Australia and England played each other in the United States. A crowd of about 12,000 attended with Russell Crowe, Greg Norman, and the stars of television show American Chopper among the audience. Leeds Rhinos won the game 26-24 (after having been behind 26–0 at half-time South Sydney staged an unlikely comeback that fell agonisingly short). 2009 season In the 2009 season, Souths finished 10th on the table missing the finals. On 17 September 2009 it was announced that Taylor had been sacked as coach by the club due to an altercation with second-rower David Fa'alogo during end-of-season celebrations. A visibly upset Taylor appeared on the NRL Footy Show later that evening and on a number of sport programs on Sydney radio in the following days