Starting the season as one of the favourites, for reasons that baffled me, the Christmas coloured team started off white hot, before collapsing in a heap. Turns out Sam Burgess wasn’t the only reason the won the comp in 2014.
I’d call the Rabbitohs the disappointment of the season, but I didn’t expect them to do well anyway.
To sum up 2016 for the Rabbitohs, Greg Inglis looked even more lazy and broken than he normally does, Luke Keary sucked, the Burgess brothers continued their downward spiral since the end of the 2014 season, and half of their players looked like they didn’t want to be there.
However, the back end of the year was quite good, igniting hope that 2017 could be different.
Can they continue the momentum they had at the end of last year, or was it a flash in the pan when there were no stakes?
Strengths
Sam Burgess was nowhere near as good last year as he was in 2014, but that doesn’t mean he was bad. Still was a powerful ball runner who makes a ton of tackles, Burgess might not be the best player in the game anymore, but being a premier forward is nothing to sniff at.
I do like their halves pairing. Adam Reynolds and Cody Walker are both great players and should play well together given that they are opposites in their play style. Reynolds has one of the best kicking games out there, while Walker is a livewire who can spark an attack.
As long as Walker kicks on and Reynolds stays uninjured, they will provide their side with a lot.
Damien Cook is a wonderful player, so it’s a shame he will most likely be stuck behind Robbie Farah – but hey, when Cook is on the field, he will ignite the Rabbitohs’ attack. He is faster than some fullbacks, and has shown he will take advantage of any lazy ruck defenders.
Weaknesses
Greg Inglis is a weakness to this squad. When he tries he might be great, but now that he’s won a premiership at Souths, he doesn’t try game-in and game-out anymore, only lighting it up every seven games, or when he is in Origin. And when he isn’t trying he just limps around the field slowly.
Additionally, while Sam Burgess is amazing, his brothers need to shape up or ship out. They are both on huge contracts and the only thing they provide is about four errors a game each. Neither have come close to their 2014 form, and if they continue to plod about this year it can’t be good.
Also, this team’s depth is terrible and full of players who love to get injured or suspended. What happens when Reynolds gets injured? Who slots in for Aaron Gray’s injury? If Sam Burgess is suspended or injured, who can take his place? What about when they have players playing State of Origin?
This is a team with an alright top 13 but below that it’s just trash.
The worst thing about this side is this that there’s an asterisk next to almost every positive point. Robbie Rochow is a great buy, but due to crappy forward depth he will be playing out of position and is constantly injured. Their halves pairing is fantastic, but can Walker kick on and how long will Reynolds be injured for? Cook is a wonderful player, but how much game time will he get behind Farah?
Summary
Putting it bluntly, this isn’t a good side. None of the backs excite, none of the forwards outside of Sam Burgess are really that exciting, with everyone else being past it, out of form or young and untested.
The halves pairing is good and to be fair if Farah can stop being a ball hog and Inglis starts trying consistently, they have a great spine.
However, there are too many ifs and problems with this side. This is a side that has felt the sting of the ‘premiership tax’ significantly and are struggling for depth.
If everything goes perfectly and no one is every injured, the Bunnies will make the eight, but that isn’t happening.
They will start the year off strong, but a key injury or two will see them collapse in a heap and never recover.
They will finish 14th but they could end up as high as seventh and as low as 15th.
2016 finish: 12th
Predicted 2017 finish: 14th
Transfers
Gains: Tyrell Fuimaono, Robbie Rochow, Connor Tracey, Robbie Farah, Luke Kelly, Anthony Cherrington, Robert Jennings, Brett Greinke
Losses: Joe Burgess, Luke Keary, Paul Carter, Kirisome Auva’a, Cameron McInnes, Nathan Brown, Michael Oldfield
Full-strength team
1. Greg Inglis
2. Alex Johnson
3. Bryson Goodwin
4. Hymel Hunt
5. Aaron Gray
6. Cody Walker
7. Adam Reynolds
8. Tom Burgess
9. Robbie Farah
10. Robbie Rochow
11. Angus Crichton
12. John Sutton
13. Sam Burgess
14. Damien Cook
15. George Burgess
16. Zane Musgrove
17. Jack Gosiewski
SSTID_1970
Roar Rookie
Ah my favourite "bald Eagle", a rare sighting indeed. Almost as rare as seeing Manly doing a victory lap at the end of a game these days. Gotta love Baz's contribution to your clubs' proud history! You would have to be a BOZO to give him the job... oh wait HE DID! LOL
Silvertail47
Roar Rookie
Pffft you got Manly mates !!! Next you'll be telln us you enjoy Ancient English literature ,,, white wine and a member of WWF ,,, (that's the wild life mob ) you on some sort of crusade to save the worlds SILVER back gorillas ,,
SSTID_1970
Roar Rookie
Now we just need Lichaa and Beale and the set of NSW Cup players will be complete. LOL
SSTID_1970
Roar Rookie
Cheers.
SSTID_1970
Roar Rookie
Cheers Johny Bulldog, With so many stories and posts going on at this site I can see how posts a couple of days late can get missed. That said, LOVE giving it to the Manly boys (even though I have some close mates that follow them). They are like a flock of angry seagulls fighting over a chip sometimes and I have seen epic battles on another site between Sea Eagles and Eels fans which is more entertaining than some games of footy! LOL
Big Daddy
Guest
I think inglis is more dangerous at centre.that's where he made his name. Doesn't get involved enough from full back. Alex Johnson is a better bet long term.
JOHNY BULLDOG
Roar Rookie
Keithy's a Manly boy mate.
JOHNY BULLDOG
Roar Rookie
Welcome aboard mate.
billyg
Roar Rookie
i just thank the stars that hes not at the eels anymore
kk
Roar Pro
Tick, SG. Remember when Craig Bellamy gave him a one way ticket out of town.
billyg
Roar Rookie
your depth is fine mate - you have Luke Kelly, that's all you need. :-)
Keith Sheldon
Roar Guru
"but they could end up as high as seventh and as low as 15th." - that is a quote from this article. They do have a decent side and they could certainly make the 8 if everything goes well for them. But when I was planning this preview series out I had to look at all of the teams, look at their pros and cons and rank them. Some sides have to miss the 8, and there is a logjam from 7th -14th in my opinion. I didn't want the Rabbitohs to be as low as they were, but when I compared everyone they were the third weakest team in my opinion. But you touched on the problem already when you made excuses for last year. So many players got injured last year and so many got injured the year before that as well. I couldn't put them any higher because any side with the injury issues they have and no depth is far too much of a risk for my liking. And it isn't like their team is a superstar team either, they just have no depth in their squad at all. You can bring up the final 5 rounds of last year, and I can bring up the 10 rounds before that. Showing form when nothing is on the line is meaningless. And Greg Inglis never gets involved regularly enough. He always steps up for rep games and the all stars but he hasn't been consistent since 2014. I think it is very possible they will escape the bottom 3. However I would be more than happy to bet that they won't make the 8.
SSTID_1970
Roar Rookie
I've just joined the ROAR and have come over from another site where he was just as much of an embarrassment with his rants, abuse and one sided opinions. Don't judge all Souths fans by this guy, trust me the apple fell far from the tree in his case!
SSTID_1970
Roar Rookie
"I just can’t see a team that lost 9 in a row turning it around so quickly." Yet they won their next 4 straight including a win over the eventual premiers the Sharks. Their 4 straight wins followed a narrow golden point loss to minor premiers and grand finalists the Storm and the Rabbitohs finished the 2016 regular season as one of the form teams in the competition. Unfortunately Souths were not helped in 2016 by long term injuries to Musgrove, Hunt, Goodwin, Sutton, Reynolds and George Burgess. This forced Souths to reshuffle their side which affected their rhythm and consistency. It seems you are very quick to be critical of the Rabbitohs so I am wondering if there is some agenda in play here? Which team do you support (I am new to the site), you sound like a Sea Eagles or Roosters supporter (although if you are based in Brisbane it is probably the Broncos)? I would be interested to know which teams flag you fly so that when then Rabbitohs smack them in 2017 I can say I told you so.
SSTID_1970
Roar Rookie
Keith, you have seriously underestimated the Rabbitohs if you think that 14th is the best they can achieve. Looking at how Souths finished the season last year in their last 5 games their spine was just about the best in the competition: Inglis, Walker, Reynolds, Cook. Now that Farah has come on board his experience and kicking game should greatly improve Souths chances. The key for mine is how they manage Cook and Farah in sharing the dummy half role. For mine Farah can play lock (loose forward) with a roving commission and can share the dummy half role with Cook, playing in tandem off each other. For mine Cook needs to see 50 plus mins at least to have the impact he is capable of. Judging from the last years pre-season and the last 5 rounds of 2016 the understanding and combination between Cook and Walker borders on telepathic! They just know where each other is going and turn up for them. This understanding is also growing between Reynolds and Walker and Inglis has the experience and footballing acumen to take advantage of any opportunity these 3 create. Your assessment of Inglis is as disappointing as it is inaccurate as for so much of the season Inglis was playing injured. He is still one of the best in the game when he gets involved and I thing he showed signs of what he will deliver in the season to come in the Indigenous All Stars vs NRL "No Stars" exhibition match, where he steam rolled players like Tepai Moeroa (who at 190 cm and 111 kg is no easy target to run over the top of). Inglis ran riot in that game looking more like an 18 year old playing in the under 15's and beyond his efforts with the ball also rag dolled players in defence. Btw, Inglis also steam rolled James Graham in round 26 last year which is something very few in the game can do. Souths also have more forwards that are capable of making an impact other than just Sam Burgess by the way. Tom and George were both hampered by injury last year (George in particular) and Zane Musgrove missed most of the year through injury and finished the year strongly. Add to that Robbie Rochow and Anthony Cherrington and Souths have some size up front to roll through the middle and dominate most forward packs. The weakness at present though is a lack of depth and outside backs that though "consistent" do not set the game on fire! Hymel Hunt will have a big year this year (as he missed most of last year through injury and looked dangerous and the back end of the season). Braidon Burns and Robert Jennings should also add some speed and excitement to Souths back line when given the opportunity (Goodwin and Neilsen should be behind BOTH IMO). I'm also expecting big things this year from Angus Crichton, Tyrell Fuimaono and Brett Greinke. All in all, Souths are a top 8 team for mine as long as they don't have a season cruelled by injury. Happy to take a bet that they won't finish in the bottom 3 if you are interested?
Keith Sheldon
Roar Guru
It is 'injured or suspended'. And I can name a fair chunk of souths players that love to be injured and suspended in your team. GI, Gray, Reynolds, the three Burgess bros, Hunt, Rochow, Sutton, Musgrove and Walker. That is 11 off of the top of my head.
Gold Coast bunny
Guest
The reason they started to fire at the back end last year was they got rid of Kearny, Avau, Carter and Grevsmul. These four were negative influences on the club. In addition McIness was dropped and George burgess started to get over his groin issues. We do have untried backs but that was also true to an extent in 2014. Over the past two years we have missed mobile back rowers who can cover the Burges lack of lateral movement. Crichton, musgrove, cherrington and Rochow will fill that role so I see better times for the Bunnies. 6-8th for me.
Wascally Wabbit
Guest
No, the neck injury was not serious, but it doesn't have to be to shake someone's confidence. Since Alex McKinnon's unfortunate injury, any player who loses feeling around the neck/shoulder area will probably be worried about their health and play tentatively until their confidence returns.
ChristopherGrant
Guest
You have a solid team, and will only lose 1 player to origin. ( I'm not including Farah, NSW must have a better option)) No reason why you can't make the 8. BTW, I am a Roosters fan.
ChristopherGrant
Guest
Cattle on hand??? When Gurrea is your starting 5/8 ..... hahahahaha