Opinion
The South Sydney Rabbitohs were a popular team to ride with in the 2021 grand final.
They were the team that I predicted to win the premiership in the pre-season and around the middle of the year I was second guessing my choice.
They were winning most games, however they weren’t winning many convincingly and they were getting mauled by some of the top teams.
Things luckily turned around for them, as they won ten out of their last 12 matches and secured these victories.
As each week went by, they were looking better and better, but the largest could they beat the big dog contenders?
As the finals started, they defeated the Panthers and stomped on Manly. Their final mission was to defeat Penrith again, who were still the favourites to win.
They were just one conversion away from tying the game and likely producing the second ‘extra time’ finale in seven years. That conversion attempt was their last shot at giving themselves a chance to pull off the upset.
I was so fortunate to be at that game and witness one of the best grand finals I’ve seen at such a young age.
Two of the clubs’ most important members were lost over the off-season, with master coach Wayne Bennet taking a break before taking the Dolphins coaching job, as well as Adam Reynolds joining the Brisbane Broncos.
Lachlan Ilias is one of the more talked-about prospects of our game and he will have large shoes to fill in Reynolds’ footwear for 2022.
The Rabbitohs’ squad has a lot of senior players as well as a good group of young guns. Blake Taaffe could have the most potential out of the young fullbacks in the league as during Latrell Mitchell’s late-season and finals absence, Taaffe played eight games, averaged 111 running meters.
Ultimately, South Sydney will start the year slowly – it will take some time for Jason Demetriou to get a gip on things, plus Reynolds obviously is a huge loss.
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