He's got married, become a father, and even had a bit of a career change.

The captain that year, what hasn't changed is his importance to Souths as an anchor at the top of the order, as he showed over the weekend as they clinched the remaining grand final spot.

Smith's 82 was the standout knock of the game, and the foundation of what turned out to be a match-winning first innings of 134.

It was one of two decisive contributions with Nathan Mann later unleashing a devastating six wicket burst to have Bective East reeling at 6-48 at stumps on Saturday.

They never recovered and were rolled for 76 mid-morning on Sunday.

The game was eventually called mid-afternoon with Souths, from 5-17, 7-107 in their second innings and ahead by 165, earning them a match-up with defending premiers City United this weekend for the silverware.

They will be chasing their first two-day triumph since the 2017/18 season when the Smith-led side shrugged off a string of 'bridesmaid' finishes - they lost five consecutive grand finals - to end Old Boys' premiership run.

One of three players still going around - the other two are Tom Groth and Conrad George - he reflected on how different his life is now.

In a good way.

For one, the bundle of joy that is daughter Eadie wasn't in it then.

Something, as he told the Leader around four months after her arrival, he'd "always wanted to be", he described fatherhood as "beautiful, scary, daunting, amazing"

"And every day she just keeps growing and learning and we get amazed by what she does," he said.

"It means your time's a bit poorer in terms of cricket and that sort of thing but it's been a beautiful thing.

"There's days where Kate comes down with Eadie and we can have some time at the cricket."

Another big, and more recent change, has been switching from teaching high school to primary school.

Up until the end of last year at Tamworth High, he said he just felt like he needed a change.

On the casual primary roster, it's been a refreshing change. Albeit one not everyone was possibly surprised by.

He recalled a comment Kate's parents, who are both ex-primary teachers, made to him.

"They said 'you teach high school what are you doing, you're mad. I think you'd be great around young kids'," he said.

As for Saturday's knock, Smith acknowledges he had "a bit of luck" along the way.

"I think I got dropped and they missed a run out," he said.

"I just managed to make that work for me and managed to stick around long enough."

His highest score in first grade for a while it followed a top-scoring 61 in their last game of the regular season.

"I had a knee injury (an internal degloving) earlier in the season and that probably set me back through the middle part of the season," he said.

Just diving for a ball in the field and falling over, Smith said it didn't really hurt a lot but then "just ballooned".

Hampering his running capacity, it was "a slow recovery" but fortunately it has come good in time for what could be one final shot at grand final glory.

"It's getting to the stage where I'm pretty sure it might be my last season," Smith said, noting that this season is also the club's 75th anniversary season.

South's captain Chris Skilton acknowledged the importance of his and Mann's efforts.

"It was fantastic to see him tick over a really good score," he said of Smith's innings.

"Without him we were in trouble."

Likewise without Mann's spell on Saturday, he said they probably wouldn't have won the game.

Knowing they had to make some inroads, he initially had three (wickets) in mind.

But then Mann got going, and three became six.

"He had the ball swinging a long way and was challenging the stumps," Skilton said.

For the Bulls, Preston Boyd nabbed 4-17 in the first innings and captain Jye Paterson 4-32 in the second innings after top-scoring with 26.