 League Unlimited
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Oct 25, 2009 6:08pm
South Sydney Rabbitohs – 10th place Reasons:
Chris Sandow: The aptly named ‘Aboriginal Allan Langer’ suffered from consistency problems in defence which lead to his team’s fluctuation in form. When he was at his best the Rabbitohs were devastating.
Favouritism and expectations: In an odd phenomenon, South Sydney struggled to win games when expectation and betting odds appeared to be behind them. Several times the Rabbitohs had easy fixtures but just could not reproduce the form to win. Their loss to a weakened Canberra by 34-18 before Origin in Round 12 was a great example of this when they went in as clear favourites.
Ball control: The Rabbitohs ranked a miserly 12th in completions ahead of just the Cowboys, Sharks, Panthers and Roosters. This clearly stunted their attack as they were also ranked 13th in metres gained.
Late run: The Rabbitohs were guilty of leaving their run a little too late with their wins over the Sea Eagles, Dragons, Sharks, Panthers and Broncos all coming after Round 18. They were always playing catch up. Gains:
David Taylor (Utility forward) Brisbane Broncos
Ben Ross (Prop) Cronulla Sharks
Sam Burgess (Prop) Bradford Bulls
John Lang (Head coach) Promoted Losses
Craig Wing (Five-eighth/Hooker) Japanese Rugby
Eddie Paea (Halfback) Cronulla Sharks NSW Cup
Michael Greenfield (Prop) St George Illawarra Dragons
Jason Taylor (Head coach) Terminated Best Win of the Year: Their 41-6 demolition of the St George Illawarra Dragons in Round 25 was absolutely salivating. Not just because of the result, but also that it was at such a serious time of the year for the Dragons. It was a massive shock after their 40-10 loss to the Panthers a week earlier. Their 44-12 thumping of the Brisbane Broncos in Brisbane on a memorable Friday night will stay in the mind of club supporters for years and their 36-22 win at Fortress Brookvale over the defending premiers also gave their team massive bragging rights. Worst Loss of the Year: Their 54-20 thrashing at the hands of the Wests Tigers in Round 17 was horribly embarrassing as was their 40-10 thumping in Penrith which ended their season. Statistics
Nathan Merritt had an outstanding season once again, scoring 19 tries in 23 appearances for the club and gaining 2345 metres in doing so.
Jamie Simpson proved to be a revelation on the wing for the Rabbitohs after switching late in the season from a utility role, scoring 9 tries.
The Rabbitohs had the lowest amount of kick returns metres of all the teams in 2009 with just 2053 metres returned from kicks.
The 44-12 thrashing of the Brisbane Broncos gave the Rabbitohs their first win in Brisbane in over half a decade. 2009 Headline
“Roy Asotasi out for season” – Sportal Odds to win in 2010
$16.50 (odds courtesy of Betfair) Where will they finish next year?
New forwards, backs that seem to be gelling, Chris Sandow gaining confidence; we’ll see you in the finals South Sydney. A 7th place finish is on the menu for the Bunnies.
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