Where it's all gone wrong for Souths and how they fix it for finals

except last year when the Dragons flogged them

I don’t think South’s have the roster to go any further in 2019, and probably not 2020. Cook and Murray are carrying the team.

Waynes last two coaching efforts in the finals resulted in defeats by 30 points in both games. It's starting to look like the end of an era for a couple of clubs and the Bunnies could be one of them. Walker, Murray and the Cookie monster are a fair trio to build the future around although Walker might have peaked.

The problem boys is that there IS no replacement for Adam Reynolds. Connor Tracey showed plenty of promise but was kept in Canterbury Cup and NSW ISP for too long waiting for a chance to play consistent footy in first grade. He eventually gave up and has now signed with the Sharks for 2020. Other than that Dean Hawkins is still a long way off and has not looked half as promising as Connor Tracey. Keep in mind Adam Reynolds suffered a small stress fracture in his spine following knees in the back and he probably shouldn't be playing at all. IMO if Reynolds is significantly less than 100% fit he should be rested and Connor Tracey should be promoted in his place. Added to that John Sutton looked VERY tired last week and from the looks of it retirement can't come quickly enough.

And I forgot to mention Adam Reynolds playing with a dodgy back following a small stress fracture in his spine after being on the wrong end of knees in the back! It certainly explains his lack of form and confidence and inconsistency with his kicking game and conversions

Have to agree. Reynolds has been playing on one leg for some time and its starting to show. Wouldn't be surprised to see him retire early ala GI. The Burgess era is coming to an end...Sam is starting to show his age, George is leaving and Tom is becoming too injury prone. We are likely to be playing the rest of the year without all 3 so there goes our go forward. We will limp into the finals and go out first week imo. This weeks game is probably their last chance...if they get pumped by the donkeys its all over.

IMO and our biggest problem is, that we don't have the bench players that other clubs have! We haven't recruited well e.g. against the Dogs and before, we put that Dean Britt on and all he did is drop the ball and did nothing same with Tevita Tavola and the rest didnt do much as well. We have a very big problem with the bench and this is because, over the years, we have relied on the usual, GI, Burgess bros, Reno, Walker, we need a complete roster change and a rebuild of the squad because and if we don't, we are obsolete like we are today, simple :shocked: :shocked: :shocked: !

It's a combination of factors but at the end of the day it's the luck of the draw. A major factor in premiership success is having a full strength side and a team's best players available. Depth is also very important and the Raiders and the Roosters have been able to survive the loss of personnel without completely dropping the ball like Souths. I wouldn't write Souths off just yet with AJ not far off a return and Souths now with their backs to the wall. A top 4 finish still looks shaky at this point but if Souths get their defence right and their completions up then they are still a threat and shouldn't be taken lightly.

Of course they aren't. Souths are missing their starting FB, Sam Burgess is in and out of the side like teabag being jiggled in a cup, they are playing a backrower at centre because Braidon Burns has hamstrings as soft as fairy floss and they are missing one big forward because Georgie Porgie stuck in his thumb to pull out a plumb and came out with a Falafel. Added to that Damien Cook is out of petrol and Cody Walker is still in therapy after Origin. And to top it all off they are depending on a slothful coach who is as animated as a shop window mannequin, who left school before Harold Holt disappeared, and who still gets St George and the English test side confused!

I think that Souths problem is that they’ve been racked with injuries and suspensions this half of the season. I’m not convinced Cook isn’t playing busted since Origin. S Burgess has been toiling with recovery, G Burgess suspended, Reynolds isn’t fit, Cody Walker has seemingly been down on confidence since Origin. Considering that these guys are pretty much all of their key players without even factoring Inglis whose big name replacement Roberts has failed to fire..all in all it’s not surprising that they are struggling for results. Just a bad run for them that has killed their season rather than a long term catastrophe requiring massive change.

Wayne Bennett has a simple coaching strategy based on a strong forward pack... His attacking platform relies on the forwards...and where are his forwards , those big yardage makers, either injured or suspended along with a couple of other handy players who are pretty handy at scoring trys ....Like Braidon Burns & Alex Johnston

have a look at them on paper, they arent in the league of the the other top teams

history suggests that many of his teams limp into the finals

If only I had a dollar for everytime someone said "Wayne Bennett has a habit of getting his sides raring to go at finals time".

This all started when they signed ole herbert, failed to address an ageing, injury prone squad, they also have a serious problem with discipline especially from those who by now should be leaders of the club. To an extent injuries have got in the way however unlike Sharks, Manly to name but two these injuries shouldn’t be an excuse. The rabbits are still celebrating the GF that took over 40 years and simply forgotten to look past this week, lean years ahead

GI, can you do an Alfie Langer and comeback for the finals?