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After reaching the preliminary finals in 2012, this year was shaping up as one of the most anticipated in the history of the South Sydney Rabbitohs – but it was a season which ultimately ended on a disappointing and sorry note.
The Bunnies’ hopes of reaching last year’s decider were not only destroyed by the Bulldogs, but also an untimely and unfortunate hamstring injury suffered by who many consider to be their most important player, Adam Reynolds, in the first half of the grand final qualifier.
Rabbitohs fans, and Reynolds himself, must have endured a sleepless off-season as both parties pondered the campaign that could have been.
Nevertheless, 2012 was still remembered for the year the Rabbitohs reclaimed their status as a powerhouse team, and for most of 2013 they continued their success which can be attributed to former Melbourne Storm assistant coach Michael Maguire.
One of his biggest plays last year was moving Greg Inglis to fullback, a position in which he did well while deputising for an injured Billy Slater during the Storm’s 2005 finals campaign.
The move paid off and we finally got to see what Inglis can do at the back of the defensive line.
He was also instrumental in luring Ben Te’o to the club from Brisbane, as well as bringing home Beau Champion and reuniting each of the four Burgess brothers.
In fact, the Burgess quartet got their chance to play in the same team in Round 25 against the Wests Tigers, a feat that had never before been achieved in Australian rugby league history.
That earnt them the headline ‘Moment of the Year’ at this year’s Dally M Awards.
Anyway, let’s look at what the Rabbitohs achieved on the field this year, and where it all went wrong in the preliminary final for the second year in a row.
The season kicked off with a 28-10 victory over the old enemy, the Sydney Roosters, whose big name signing Sonny Bill Williams returned to the NRL for the first time since committing the biggest act of treachery in NRL history in 2008.
In what could be described as a brutal match, it was the Rabbitohs who confirmed their Premiership aspirations after just one round as they reminded the Roosters what work needed to be done if they were to contend for the Premiership.
Four more victories followed before they dropped their first match of the season to the defending Premiers, the Melbourne Storm, in a well-contested match which was lost by just seven points.
In between that loss and their second bye of the season, they suffered just one defeat – a narrow two-point defeat to the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, whom the Rabbitohs had beaten by the same margin back in Round 2.
Their Premiership aspirations then started to come into question after they lost three of four matches after the third State of Origin match, during which Greg Inglis injured his knee and was faced with missing the rest of the season.
This included an upset 22-18 loss to the St George Illawarra Dragons, who were second from bottom at the time of the match.
That would have been a savage blow to the Bunnies’ hope of winning their first Premiership since 1971.
But the Bunnies would recover and thus set themselves up for a Minor Premiership showdown against the Roosters, whom the Rabbitohs had beaten back in Round 1.
It was a different Roosters side that Michael Maguire’s men met in the final round, and it was a much improved side.
The Chooks beat the Bunnies to not only claim the minor premiership, but premiership favouritism; it was also this defeat which sentenced the red-and-green to a first round finals showdown against the Melbourne Storm.
Craig Bellamy’s men had beaten the Rabbitohs twice this season but it would be third time lucky as the Bunnies put the Storm on the back foot and claimed a 20-10 victory, catapulting them into a preliminary final and leaving the Storm’s Premiership defence hanging by a thread.
But then this is where it all went wrong for the Rabbitohs, as they sought to reach their first Grand Final since 1971, having already recorded their best regular season since 1989.
After flying out of the blocks in the grand final qualifier against Manly, and seemingly having one eye on the prize, their defence fell to shreds as the recent Premiership experience of the Sea Eagles came to the fore.
That ended the Rabbitohs’ bid to win their first Premiership since 1971 – and it shows just how much work needs to be done in the off-season if they are to finally go one better in 2014.
Roy Asotasi, brought to the club in 2007 in a bid to reverse the club’s then-ailing on-field fortunes, has packed his bags and is headed for the English Super League, while Dylan Farrell is heading to the Dragons as he tries to help that club rebuild.
Only one major signing has been made for 2014 and that is Joel Reddy, who comes in from the Wests Tigers.
The loss of Asotasi will be a big blow, given what he was able to contribute on the field during his seven years at Redfern, in spite of two injury-marred seasons (2008 and 2012).
His leadership, as well as that of retiring hard-man Michael Crocker, will also be sorely missed. Thus, it’ll be interesting to see how the Rabbitohs will fare under the leadership of John Sutton, who is widely expected to be the club’s full-time captain in 2014.
After the failure of the last two years, fans will be hoping that 2014 is finally the year of the Rabbitoh.
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