2012 South Sydney Rabbitohs season

The 2012 South Sydney Rabbitohs season was the 103rd in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2012 Telstra Premiersip under rookie coach Michael Maguire and finished the regular season 3rd (out of 16), Having made the finals for the 2nd since 1989, the Rabbitohs then came to within one game of the 2012 NRL Grand final but were knocked out of contention by eventual grand finalists the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.

2012 South Sydney Rabbitohs season
NRL RankFirst Grade
2012 recordWins: 16; Draws: 0; Losses: 8
Points scoredFor: 559; Against: 438
Team information
CEOShane Richardson
CoachMichael Maguire
Captain
StadiumANZ Stadium
Top scorers
TriesAndrew Everingham (17)
GoalsAdam Reynolds (97)
PointsAdam Reynolds (208)
< 2011 2013 >

Pre-season

The Rabbitohs played three pre-season games in 2012. The Rabbitohs were initially planned to play the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks at the fourth annual Return to Redfern, then the Warrington Wolves in Coffs Harbour. However, due to a scheduling clash with Warrington's first season match, the games were rescheduled.
The changes meant the clash with Warrington would need to be in late January, and Redfern Oval played host to its first international match in the re-developed configuration. At the clash, in front of a sold-out crowd, the head coach, Michael Maguire announced the new captaincy arrangement, and presented the 2012 squad. On the field, Warrington held onto a late comeback by South Sydney to win 34 points to 28.
A fortnight later, at the conclusion of the annual 'Camp Rabbitoh' pre-season training camp in Coffs Harbour, the Rabbitohs played the 2011 Grand Finalists, the New Zealand Warriors, in which South Sydney were again beaten by 8 points.
In the final pre-season clash, the Rabbitohs took on the St. George Illawarra Dragons in the annual Charity Shield clash at ANZ Stadium. The match, in which South Sydney were defeated by 6 points, drew over 21,000 fans, and was again the only pre-season clash to be televised.

DateRoundOpponentVenueScoreAttendanceReport
28 JanuaryReturn to Redfern Warrington WolvesATP Performance Centre, Redfern28–345,000
11 FebruaryCoffs Harbour Trial New Zealand WarriorsBCU International Stad., Coffs Harbour14–225,376
18 FebruaryCharity Shield St. George Illawarra DragonsANZ Stadium, Sydney12–1821,398
Legend:   Win   13+ Win   Loss   13+ Loss   Draw

Regular season

While the Rabbitohs got off to a rocky start to 2012 under new coach Michael Maguire, losing 3 of their first 4 games. With the heir-apparent to the fullback position, Nathan Merritt, out for the first 7 rounds, and a struggling Dylan Farrell playing out of position, coach Maguire moved Greg Inglis to fullback in the 40–24 thrashing of Penrith, setting their season alight. From the next 17 games, South Sydney managed to lose only 4, and all bar one were closely fought losses, won in the dying minutes of the game.

In Round 19, South Sydney fought out one of the wins of the season, pipping the Sydney Roosters with 2 back-to-back tries within the last 3 minutes of the game, a feat which the Roosters had pulled in Round 1 over South Sydney. The team experienced a minor hiccup losing back-to-back games in Round 23/24 for only the second time all year. South Sydney bounced back however, with an inspiring victory over the Parramatta Eels in which Greg Inglis posted one of the best individual performances of all time, as measured by Sportsdata's CVR Ratings.[1] The Rabbitohs then wrapped up their first Top 4 spot since 1989 with a win over Newcastle.

DateRoundOpponentVenueScoreAttendanceReport
Mon 5 Mar1 Sydney RoostersANZ Stadium, Sydney20–2418,278
Sun 11 Mar2 Melbourne StormAAMI Park, Melbourne10–2415,872
Sun 18 Mar3 Penrith PanthersCentrebet Stadium, Penrith40–2413,876
Fri 23 Mar4 Brisbane Broncosnib Stadium, Perth12–2015,599
Sun 1 Apr5 Wests TigersAllianz Stadium, Sydney17–1625,604
Fri 6 Apr6 Canterbury-Bankstown BulldogsANZ Stadium, Sydney20–1035,221
Sun 15 Apr7 New Zealand WarriorsMt. Smart Stadium, New Zealand22–4415,378
Representative Weekend
Sat 28 Apr8 North Queensland CowboysANZ Stadium, Sydney20–1612,213
Mon 7 May9 Cronulla SharksANZ Stadium, Sydney34–2812,201
10BYE
Sun 20 May11 St. George Illawarra DragonsWIN Jubilee Oval, Sydney19–1814,894
Fri 25 May12 Canberra RaidersANZ Stadium, Sydney36–1810,054
Sat 2 Jun13 Canterbury-Bankstown BulldogsANZ Stadium, Sydney18–2319,439
14BYE
Sat 16 Jun15 Parramatta EelsANZ Stadium, Sydney24–614,212
Fri 22 Jun16 Brisbane BroncosSuncorp Stadium, Brisbane12–2633,602
Sun 1 Jul17 Penrith PanthersANZ Stadium, Sydney38–1213,096
Sun 8 Jul18 Newcastle KnightsANZ Stadium, Sydney34–1416,104
Mon 16 Jul19 Sydney RoostersAllianz Stadium, Sydney24–2219,906
Sat 21 Jul20 St. George Illawarra DragonsANZ Stadium, Sydney36–1421,071
Sun 29 Jul21 Wests TigersANZ Stadium, Sydney32–629,863
Sun 5 Aug22 Gold Coast TitansSkilled Park, Gold Coast22–1820,187
Fri 10 Aug23 Manly-Warringah Sea EaglesBluetongue Stadium, Central Coast6–2317,947
Sat 18 Aug24 Cronulla-Sutherland SharksToyota Stadium, Sydney7–2016,423
Sun 26 Aug25 Parramatta EelsANZ Stadium, Sydney36–624,121
Fri 31 Aug26 Newcastle KnightsHunter Stadium, Newcastle18–624,127
Legend:   Win   13+ Win   Loss   13+ Loss   Draw   Bye

Finals Series

After finishing the season proper in third place, the Rabbitohs travelled to Melbourne to take on the second placed Storm. Souths put in an uncharacteristically poor performance, with Melbourne rolling Souths 24–6, with the only Rabbitohs try going to forward Eddy Pettybourne, for his first try of the year.
Despite the loss, South Sydney proceeded through to an Elimination final against the Canberra Raiders at ANZ Stadium. Against a home crowd, Souths turned in a dominant performance, piling on 38 points; tries going to Adam Reynolds, Sam Burgess, Dylan Farrell, and a double to Andrew Everingham. Additionally, a rare penalty try was awarded to Greg Inglis, after Canberra's Blake Ferguson tackled Inglis without the ball as he was about to receive an offload from forward Luke Burgess. During the game, halfback and Rookie of the Year Adam Reynolds kicked 7/8 goals to become only the second South Sydney player to score more than 200 points in a season.
Souths then moved on to a Grand Final Qualifier against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, played in front of a bumper crowd of more than 70,000. The Rabbitohs scored their only try through Issac Luke, however after halfback Adam Reynolds left the field with a hamstring injury, the momentum of the game swung and the Bulldogs surged ahead to end the Rabbitohs season.

DateRoundOpponentVenueScoreAttendanceReport
Sat 8 SepQualifying Final Melbourne StormAAMI Park, Melbourne6–2419,750
Sat 15 SepSemi-final Canberra RaidersANZ Stadium, Sydney38–1635,874
Sat 22 SepPreliminary Final Canterbury-Bankstown BulldogsANZ Stadium, Sydney8–3270,354
Legend:   Win   13+ Win   Loss   13+ Loss   Draw   Bye

Ladder
Pos Team Pld W D L B PF PA PD Pts
1 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 2418062568369+19940
2 Melbourne Storm (P) 2417072579361+21838
3 South Sydney Rabbitohs 2416082559438+12136
4 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 2416082497403+9436
5 North Queensland Cowboys 2415092597445+15234
6 Canberra Raiders 24130112545536+930
7 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 24121112445441+429
8 Brisbane Broncos 24120122481447+3428
9 St. George Illawarra Dragons 24110132405438-3326
10 Wests Tigers 24110132506551-4526
11 Gold Coast Titans 24100142449477-2824
12 Newcastle Knights 24100142448488-4024
13 Sydney Roosters 2481152462626-16421
14 New Zealand Warriors 2480162497609-11220
15 Penrith Panthers 2480162409575-16620
16 Parramatta Eels 2460182431674-24316

Statistics
PlayerGamesTriesGoalsField GoalsTotal Points
Neccrom Areaiiti10000
Roy Asotasi92008
George Burgess30000
Luke Burgess150000
Sam Burgess1940016
Ryan Carr00000
Jason Clark221004
Shaune Corrigan80000
Michael Crocker232008
Andrew Everingham22150060
Dylan Farrell2370028
Scott Geddes120000
Justin Hunt950020
Greg Inglis19110145
Matt King1930012
Ben Lowe161004
Issac Luke1943022
Chris McQueen2050020
Nathan Merritt17140056
Nathan Peats1550020
Eddy Pettybourne200000
Adam Reynolds242872184
Josh Starling30000
John Sutton2440016
Fetuli Talanoa20000
David Taylor2390036
David Tyrrell190000

Transfers

Gains

PlayerGained From
Matt King Warrington Wolves[2]
Justin Hunt Redcliffe Dolphins[3]
Ryan Carr Redcliffe Dolphins[3]
Andrew Everingham Western Suburbs Magpies
Michael Maguire (Coach) Wigan Warriors[4]

Losses

PlayerLost To
Chris Sandow Parramatta Eels[5]
Shannan McPherson Salford City Reds[2]
Luke StuartRetired
Rhys WesserRetired[6]
John Lang (Coach)Retired
Ben Ross Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
Beau Falloon Gold Coast Titans

Current squad

The following list comprises players who are in the Rabbitohs full-time first-grade squad for the 2012 season in the NRL Telstra Premiership.

South Sydney Rabbitohs
First team squad Coaching staff

Head coach

Assistant coaches

Legend:
  • (c) Captain(s)
  • (vc) Vice captain(s)
  • (gk) Goal kicker
  • Injured

Updated: 21 May 2012
Source(s): Rabbitohs Squad, Rugby League Project

Player statistics
PlayerAppearancesTriesGoalsField GoalsTotal Points
––––––

Representative honours
PlayerAll StarsAnzac TestPacific TestCity / CountryState of Origin 1State of Origin 2State of Origin 3Four Nations
gollark: ↓ America, when Lyricly makes Macron
gollark: ?
gollark: (I finally made my GPU-accelerated fan noise generator™ work)
gollark: ↓ firecubez, not making macron
gollark: ↓ firecubez, when making macron

References
  1. , Herald Sun, 30 August 2012, accessed 1 September 2012.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 3 August 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link), Rabbitohs Official Site, 29 June 2011, accessed 28 August 2011.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 17 May 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link), Rabbitohs Official Site, 29 July 2011, accessed 28 August 2011.
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 6 September 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link), Rabbitohs Official Site, 16 April 2011, accessed 28 August 2011.
  5. , The Daily Telegraph, 4 May 2011, accessed 28 August 2011.
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 28 August 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link), Rabbitohs Official Site, 1 August 2011, accessed 28 August 2011.
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