South Sydney Rabbitohs 2017 season review

Interesting articles from NRL.com The first from late 2016 when they assessed the difficulty of each team draw based on 2016 finish and 2017 betting http://www.nrl.com/how-tough-is-your-teams-draw/tabid/10874/newsid/102715/default.aspx The second based on how it all paned out http://www.nrl.com/how-the-draw-shaped-your-teams-season/tabid/10874/newsid/112469/default.aspx Despite making the finals in 2015 Souths in 2016 had the 3rd toughest draw and 2017 the toughest. I understand when you are down the bottom of the table you are likely to get the tougher draw as you get to play higher teams more often. mind you with the Warriors getting the 9th most difficult draw a draw like that for Souths next year and you never know?

Need to purchase a couple of cattle prods to get the Burger Twins going- have a half who is injury riddled and no 5/8-maybe Inglis will play 5/8 and leave Johnson at FB- Will improve but not enough to make the 8

Yes, they both played S.G.Ball together and AJ blitzed him easily. Johnston is like Merritt, they just run fast enough to beat their opponent. In Perth Johnston had to stop, turn around and chase and gave his opposite winger 14m head start, he reeled him in easily and made a try-scoring tackle on about the 30m line. Now that is sheer pace. Adam Reynolds was playing injured since the Good Friday game, Rd 7 As a halfback, it is also difficult to perform when your forwards are continually rucking it out from your own goal line.

I have to agree Greg. Thought we had a good one in Reynolds but he has been very disappointing since the 2014 win. So the question remains is Reynolds an average half Made to look brilliant due to the absolute dominance of the forwards in 13/14 or a good half dragged down by a forward pack no longer able to dominate. I have not said a great half as that remains the tag for Thurston, Cronk, Johns etc who, whilst dominating with good forwards, also could turn a game when the forwards were not in control. I don’t have the answer. Smarter people than I have been struggling with this. Hopefully with a new defensive coach, a new attitude from the Burgi twins and the emergence of some good young forwards with an improvement in the forwards he may just get back to a reasonable half. SOO material no longer - that has passed him by with Cleary the next in line. As for Johnston and Ado-Carr would be a great foot race no doubt. Both were in the same Souths juniors club but not sure if the same team or if the were ever put to the test. Be good to watch though.

A promising half who is eligible for NSW who actually improves as his career progresses , it's like waiting for a Tassie Tiger to show up. Reynolds is one of a very large list after Andrew Johns retirement who have just faded away. I think the notion of players being under rated is .......... an over rated concept yet I reckon Alex Johnston is in that category. I would be happy with him on the wing for the Eagles. I reckon it's close between him and Addo- Carr for the fastest player.

Fingers crossed for both of us Chris.P

Again great memories GCB. Used too pop over to Leichhardt to watch Balmain and of course to Belmore. I still remember when Peter Kelly was sent off in what i believe was 11 seconds against your bunnies in the mid 1980's....an Anzac day if my mind remembers correctly. As for Robbo I can tell you that the last time we met he's doing well as an accountant. Yep, loved the forwards packs back then. I remember Warren Ryan telling the Dogs to score just two points and then defend for the last 79 minutes as the other teams now had to score three points to win. It wasn't pretty but effective. With your bunnies I think you had a pack which played hurt in 2017 They're absolute beasts when fit. You'll have a good 2018 GCB.....almost as good as the Dogs..

The difference between a win and a loss, a premiership and runners up tag was that intercept. A fine line indeed. My Dad was a tigers supporter but we both used to go to Belmore to watch our sides and other sides play the Berries/Dogs. I remember one game which I think was against Souths where our forwards tried to smash Geoff Robinson. Could hear the impact from the stand. When the dust settled Robbo got up to play the ball while they brought the stretcher out for the souths forward. Always hated/loved him as a player. Loved the battles between the packs in the 80,s as well but sadly after 89 we went downhill. Really took us 20 plus years to get back there for all to brief a time. Hopefully we can both be back there soon.

Oh yeah GCB...I know that it was 1967 (and I was only 7 years old with my Berries jumper that my mum made for me) but I still remember Bob McCarthy's intercept try. The things we remember. :)

What wonderful memories GCB!!! The 1980's are very near and dear to me mate.....my brother in law was a Parra supporter and if we (Dogs) won he'd have to drive me to Bulldogs league, remain , and drive me home, BUT if Parra won well, I suffered...Ha...Good times...four years here , four years there!!! They were great days Bunny. Would love to see both Rabbitohs and Dogs in the top eight....I'm blue and white from the 1960's but I didn't really mind Souths getting up in 2014.......well...I did....you know what I mean!!! Ha! We indeed have priceless memories (..and I'm sure that your brother in law hasn't forgiven you...all with great humour)!! It's a thing often forgotten in sport and rivalries.

Here’s hoping Chris. With Hasler gone and some Bulldog legends coming home hopefully it will reinvigorate the culture and you get back to the Dogs of old. Still have fond memories of going to th3 leagues club in 1980 to pick up bulldogs streamers and gear to decorate our business in Bankstown. Would be great to have both clubs back in the 8. I am missing the banter between my brother in law and I when both sides were doing well. It’s now just depressing. I am sure he is hoping to return the favour for 2014 when I offered to buy the grand final tickets for us both where we turned up in the Souths supporters section with him dressed in full Bulldogs gear. Priceless. He hasn’t forgiven me yet.

Hey Glenn. I get what you are trying to say but consider this. In the first two rounds the cowboys won in Golden point against Canberra and Brisbane. Thurston picked up 1 dally M a 3 dally M points respectively On this basis I would think he was quite influential in the games and results. Assume he is injured in th first few minutes of game 1 and there is a big chance they win neither game and miss the finals altogether. Also potentially they may also lose one or two others. What I said above was that I had higher hopes than 12th. I didn’t expect to win it, get top four or top 8 but an improvement on last year. That’s not an excuse it’s a fact that with Inglis we likely would have been a bit better. Are you seriously trying to say the loss of a player of Inglis caliber would not have a bearing on that sides ability to compete and potentially win a couple more games. The difference between the Cows and Bunnies Home and away season was 4 wins. Not a huge gap and whilst Scott was out for season also Thurston was available for several games which Inglis was not.

I haven't really looked at the stats of the Rabbitoh's but, as a Bulldogs supporter, it looks as though the trajectory of both teams has been rather similar from 2014 to 2017. They both ended this year a mere one position away from each other on the table with only two points separating them, and the Dogs ended up with a for and against of only 5 points the better for the season. Quite a difference from 2014 when they faced each other in the GF. Now both Madge and Hasler are gone. Lets hope for a better 2018 for our teams.....more so the Dogs ;)

Like most teams in the NRL , Souths are in desperate need of a couple of consistent playmakers ( halves). I have never been a great fan of Reynolds as he has never really shown anything but a handy kicking game at times and being regularly injury prone. Cody Walker has shown glimpses as a running 6 , but they really need a couple of playmakers / game managers. They have plenty of talent across the park with the signing of Gagai and the expected return of GI, along with Sam Burgess leading the pack and a group of great young forwards coming through like Crichton, Murray & Gosiewski. If they can sort out a good 6 & 7 , they could be very competitive in 2018.

Is it a poor excuse or a poor roster when you say that a team's success relies on one person. Therefor shut that person down and you'll win. Even the Cows still performed without JT and also Scott.

I had higher hopes at the start of the season than 12th but Inglis injury put paid to that in round one. Souths backs struggled to bring the ball back from kicks and as such Reynolds was rarely in a position for an attacking kick as he was in 2014. Reynolds does not seem to be the same player since Graham attacked his legs in the infamous games in 2015. We do have some good younger players coming through. One I have been watching is Tyrone Taukamo and whilst junior success does not guarantee nrl success I have big hopes for him. A centre/winger and if he progresses to first grade with Inglis, Gaigi, Johnson, Jennings, Hunt, we might have the makings of a decent back line. A lot depends on Seibold and if the Parramatta defensive coach who has come on board can sort out the defensive aspect because we were poor in this area. Make the 8 next year. Big ask. It is possible but sides in the bottom half have also strengthened their rosters as well. I have my fingers crossed and if things go our way with injuries, the current young crop of players contine their development, the draw is a reasonable one and the burgi twins lose a little weight and become more mobile a climb up the ladder is likely. A return to the finals more likely in 2019.