South Sydney’s current team is starting to look a lot like North Sydney in the 1990s.
No, they’re not going to be kicked out of the competition (again) in a few years time. They have the appearance of a team that went oh so close on several occasions but the cyclical nature of the NRL is catching up with them.
The Bunnies are going backwards after five straight trips to at least the Preliminary Final while other teams like the rejuvenated Broncos have rebooted and raced past them in the NRL pecking order like Reece Walsh did to many of their would-be tacklers last week.
Norths made it one game shy of the Grand Final four times over a seven-year stretch in what turned out to be their final decade in the premiership. Once the nucleus of that side in Jason Taylor, Greg Florimo, Billy Moore, David Fairleigh and Gary Larson started to edge towards the end of their career, the Bears’ decline was dramatic.
It’s only two rounds into the 2024 season but already the Rabbitohs have lost both games, dropped the halfback that they based their future prospects around (after brushing some guy named Adam Reynolds) and the knives are already out – externally not from within the club – for coach Jason Demetriou from the media and disgruntled former players like Josh Mansour.
Not what you want heading into a showdown with your bitter rivals of the past 116 years, the Roosters, at Allianz Stadium on Friday night.
Key forward Jai Arrow is out for a lengthy stretch after having to undergo shoulder surgery, which puts a massive burden on captain Cameron Murray to carry the pack on the shoulders of the lightweight lock.
They also won’t see Campbell Graham until late in the season – he made 21 line breaks in as many matches down the right edge last year to transform their seemingly lopsided attack, notching 16 tries along the way.
Latrell Mitchell looks fit but after a superb first half in Las Vegas, he has had little impact since and was totally outplayed by Walsh at Suncorp Stadium last Thursday.
Latrell Mitchell. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Cody Walker is always cranky but he’s looked surlier than ever in the opening fortnight after not being able to conjure up a single line break in the first two rounds as Manly and Brisbane rushed up to shut down any hint of a left-side raid.
The 34-year-old is hopeful of playing beyond his current contract which runs until the end of 2025 but although he started his NRL career late at 26, age eventually catches up with all but the very best players.
Souths have stuck by hooker Damien Cook and prop Tom Burgess as senior pros in their side but their effectiveness is also not what it once was.
The wildcard for them is the addition of Jack Wighton, one of the NRL’s elite operators when in form.
He’s been hampered by being in a middling Raiders side the past couple of years which has struggled to reproduce the magic of the 2019 run to the Grand Final or even the following season when they finished one match shy of the premiership decider.
One of the problems that Demetriou needs to solve is to get value for money out of Wighton by putting him in a position where he gets the ball in his hands often, instead of being left of centre at left centre.
Wighton is very similar in style to Mitchell and Walker. Great secondary playmakers but without a steady hand on the helm, the SS South Sydney could be headed for stormy waters.
Dean Hawkins will be given that task and the No.7 jersey that comes with it after Lachlan Ilias has been dumped to NSW Cup duties following a couple of lacklustre performances.
It is overstated that champion NRL teams need a representative level halfback. Sure, it’s important but it’s not the be-all and end-all if you have other elite attacking weapons at your disposal.
Brisbane won the 2006 title with a journeyman in Shane Perry at halfback, whose role was to hold his place in the defensive line and in attack, spiral the ball wide to Darren Lockyer, Justin Hodges and Karmichael Hunt.
Canterbury won the premiership a couple of years beforehand with crafty clubman Brent Sherwin pulling the strings and Manly the 2008 decider with Matt Orford, who never played Origin let alone Test footy, steering them around.
Chad Townsend at Cronulla in 2016 is another recent example of how a side can go all the way even if their chief playmaker is not necessarily one of the best in the business.
The fact that Demetriou has jettisoned Ilias after just two rounds for a 25-year-old Plan B option suggests the coach knows he has little time to waste after last year’s ninth-placed finish which ended amid turmoil over assistant coaches Sam Burgess and John Morris fuming about preferential treatment to the team’s star players, namely Walker and Mitchell.
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
It wasn’t a great look for the Bunnies on Monday with players joking that they have brought in a swear jar after Mitchell’s expletive-laden radio interview after Thursday’s loss in Brisbane.
The embarrassing and unprofessional display of petulance from Mitchell did nothing to discourage his critics from their view that he is too entitled.
Even though he escaped sanctions from the NRL over the bizarre interview, Mitchell should have been pulled into line by Souths but now the perception remains that there’s one rule for him and another for the average player.
If the Hawkins to halfback ploy doesn’t fly, the next option would have to be mixing and matching Walker and Wighton in the halves to see if that can get the red and green machine’s pistons pumping.
Walker has played exactly one match as the designated halfback in his 193-game career while Wighton filled every other position in the backline over his 242 matches with Canberra.
Souths stood by Demetriou after they failed to make the finals last season by extending the offer of a contract extension until the end of 2026.
For now, he has time on his side to morph this talented roster into title contenders.
But they have now won just four of their past 15 encounters – whether that’s the start of a terminal slide or an unhappy coincidence bridging the off-season remains to be seen but the early signs aren’t good for a team with a high ceiling but plenty of flaws.
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
I remember last year hearing a lot of opinions claiming the Broncos weren't really contenders and I always thought they were in with a real shot. Trouble is any strong club which has a great run with injuries needs to grab the chance to win the whole thing because it might be the best shot they get for a long time. The Bunnies and Raiders are two recent examples. There were many reasons bought up why the Pennies weren't going to win a few years back and Manly could be in with a show in a few months time. Manly don't look fun to play against at the moment and the kings of that have been the Pennies for a long time now. It's possibly the best sign you can have.
eagleJack
Roar Guru
Mind boggling WB
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
That's all good, and obviously a high quality skillset. What's he doing for the other 60 minutes in a game?
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
Someone is showing their age. Personally i like the in and outside centre set up.
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
Glad I'm not the only one. Forward passes are a blight on the game and need to be dealt with, and finished without tech. Enough of this float forward crap, or line ball. If the guy you are passing to is in line with you it's likely forward, unless you are at high speed eg Staines in his debut threw the textbook 'momentum forward pass', no other example rivals it. Kills the game to see a try of a forward pass.
Slammin_Sam
Roar Rookie
Correction: bitter rivals with the roosters for 114 years, not 116....
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
Which I suspect will be Manly, making you happy. :stoked: They are looking very, very good. And the best of the bottom 9 from last year
Robbo
Roar Rookie
It's only week 2. Walker and Mitchell are borh great players and could step up next week and every other week. Don't mind the idea of Walker at 7 and Wighton at 6. But hey I'm a Dragons supporter and I hope they fail to our advantage
Panthers
Roar Rookie
Back to centre for Mitchell solves a whole lot of issues for them. He doesn’t have to do as much , or cover as much ground. With Graham there , would give them 2 big , pretty fast centres. Munro when back , to the wing gives them more strike power out wide. Only fullback & halfback really need looking at then.
Nat
Roar Guru
I think the idea that Shaq makes the starting 13 says plenty of where the others are at.
Eyecancu
Roar Rookie
Storm team and more importantly culture and coach are the difference
Eyecancu
Roar Rookie
He’s a lazy player M8. Good but not great and turns up when he wants to. Souths can’t afford a player lime that in the team. They need to sit him down to watch Billy videos all day long if they want to keep him at FB. He’s a waste there IMO as your better players need to touch the ball more often (Ponga).
Worlds Biggest
Roar Pro
EJ, the Campbell Graham situation was farcical. He carried this injury most of last year. How on Gods earth did he not have surgery straight after the season beggars belief. The Club is in a right mess at the moment.
Eyecancu
Roar Rookie
Flags champ I believe quick over 10-30m for burst. I thinks with a good mentor and brain rebuild (quick one) and license to go feral on the pitch he could do alright. I did it myself in high school but opposite direction 7 > 12 and the team reaped benefits and my game flourished. What I’m saying is give it a burl for 2-3 games early in the season to see if it works. Cook 7, Walker 6 (on game by game thin ice), Wighton IC, Show Pony OC (and on thin ice) and throw Illias in at 12 and see if it works. Might be mad but it’s gotta be better than now
Tez
Roar Rookie
No, they need fit forwards willing to work and the way it looks to me is that no one is willing to work hard enough with Mitchell and Walker both dragging their chains.
Tez
Roar Rookie
Yeah Souths have 2 problems .... Mitchell and Walker but I reckon they have been let run too far now to pull it all back into where it needs to be.
Nathan Absalom
Roar Guru
A few things to unpack. First, the forwards don't pass the ball to each other enough. Yes, I know they've dropped a lot of ball but they've made themselves easy targets and they're not big enough to run one out all the time. Dummy runners can help forwards too, it's not against the rules. Walker has clearly not recovered, but he needs to take it as a sign that he needs to choose his moments more or be an organiser. Can't knock him, he's been criminally underpaid for years, but he ain't getting younger and the team can no longer revolve around him the way it once did, be the mentor. Damien Cook is no longer an 80 minute player, particularly defence, and the more he plays over 50 minutes the quicker he will no longer be a first grader. Again, no knock, great servant and player but less time, more quality and more mentoring. While the NRL side has tanked, the reserves won the comp. It ain't the 90's Bears yet, it's a question of bringing the youth into the team and copping that they'll make mistakes. At the end of the year, we could have quite a different looking side with a mix of youth and experience going on a late season run, or we could have the same blokes muddle along in 10th-14th for too long and miss the necessary rebuild.
Nathan Absalom
Roar Guru
The only significant improvement from last year is Mitchell's play in specialised full back roles. Held up a couple of tries, stripped a ball to save a try (and was unluckily pinged when someone else entered the tackled), put in a monster tackle on a 4 in one break to save a try, would have saved a try for his positional play but for a bad bounce etc. And that's just two games in. Can't fault him this year.
Nathan Absalom
Roar Guru
I disagree. Their kicking game is much worse than that....
Cam
Roar Rookie
Ilias probably should be afforded as many games as he likes, if Souths forwards keep dishing up the same old rubbish. Last week, only one Rabbitoh forward ran for over 100m and the pack missed a combined 25 tackles. Carrigan (222m) and Haas (186m) strolled straight through the Souths middle forwards. If I am Souths, I'm keeping Ilias and getting rid of Demetriou for either Sam Burgess or Wayne Bennett. And to be fair with the Ilias/Reynolds comparison, I wouldn't put Moale, Host, Tatola, Havilli, Shaquai Mitchell and Sean Keppie in the same league as the 2014 forwards of the Sam and George Burgess, Ben Teo, John Sutton and Chris McQueen. Maybe they turn it around, but my guess is they get worse before they get better and the coach probably gets sacked before the season ends.