2023 review: South Sydney Rabbitohs

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Andrew Jackson pushes our 2023 club review series to the halfway mark, with the 9th-placed Rabbitohs coming under his watchful eye.

Entering the 2022 season, there was a sense that Adam Reynolds' departure signalled the start of the end for the Rabbitohs.

That their premiership window, while not slammed shut, was in the process of being closed and that it would take a few years for the young Lachlan Ilias to develop into the kind of halfback South Sydney needed to compete against the best of the best.

Instead, Ilias showed glimpses in his rookie season - certainly enough to keep the Rabbitohs competitive - as Jason Demetriou's side fell one game short of qualifying for another grand final.

It was another case of what could have been for South Sydney but with a year of experience under his belt and key components of the squad intact, the expectation was the Rabbitohs could go one better in 2023.

Instead, a historic collapse saw Souths become the first team in the NRL era to lead the competition through the first 11 rounds and later miss the top eight.

A one-game suspension to Latrell Mitchell rubbed the Rabbitohs fullback out of the must-win clash with the Roosters, summing up a season that promised so much but failed to deliver.

Turning point

It is hard to look past Mitchell's injury midway through the season given it coincided with South Sydney's form slump.

Mitchell injured his calf in Blues training following Round 12 and while early suggestions were that NSW was being cautious in ruling him out, it proved a far more serious setback than first thought.

The 26-year-old would end up not returning until Round 22.

Before Mitchell entered Origin camp the Rabbitohs were sitting on top of the ladder with eight wins.

By the time he was healthy enough to suit up again they had slid to sixth with just three more victories to their name.

Of course, looking at that period from a broader scope, it also coincided with Mitchell's Origin teammates also being in and out of the line-up.

So in that sense the Rabbitohs were always going to be facing disruptions and Mitchell's injury just made what was already going to be a tough few months even harder.

What worked

So much was always made of South Sydney's lethal left edge but it was the right side of the field where the Rabbitohs found success, at least early in the season when they sat on top of the ladder.

Heading into Round 12, Demetriou's side had the most tries (21) scored down the right flank in the competition - constituting 46 per cent of their four-pointers overall.

That number ranked them third in the league compared to the season prior where they had scored just 35 of 120 tries on the right, which was the third-lowest percentage in the competition.

Similarly, back in 2021 they had scored just 27 per cent of their tries on the right edge (second-lowest in the league).

All of that is to say that the Rabbitohs found a way to adapt and reinvent their attack, which in turn made the job that much tougher for opposition defences who would have likely spent the summer studying how to stop their left edge.

Even by the end of the year as their season slipped away, South Sydney only needed 9.1 tackles inside the opposition 20 before scoring - ranking them fourth-best in the league.

That spoke to the efficiency of the Rabbitohs' attack when in prime attacking territory.

South Sydney was also the second-best defensive team in the competition before Mitchell's injury.

What didn't

Speaking earlier about South Sydney's effectiveness in attacking territory, one of the biggest problems at times was getting there in the first place.

The Rabbitohs averaged the second-worst completion rate in the league last year while ranking 13th for incomplete sets inside their own half.

That both made it difficult for South Sydney to apply pressure and get more opportunities inside the opposition red zone while also obviously gifting other teams shots at their own try line.

2023 week-by-week

Best players

On a whole it was another impressive season for veteran five-eighth Cody Walker, who put himself back in the State of Origin frame with a standout opening to his 2023 campaign.

Walker's success at club land translated across to the representative arena too as he took home man of the match honours, helping unleash debutant centre Bradman Best while finishing with a try assist and linebreak assist.

Back at South Sydney, the 33-year-old went on to lead the Rabbitohs in try assists for the seventh consecutive season with 24 to go alongside 37 linebreak assists.

Elsewhere, Campbell Graham hit career-high numbers in tries (16) and linebreaks (20) but also continued to establish himself as one of the league's best defensive centres.

Meanwhile, one of the club's more underrated success stories was Shaquai Mitchell, who played just three games in 2022 but emerged as a key impact forward either in a starting role or off the bench.

Mitchell averaged 74 metres per game and while injury disrupted his strong start to the season it was still promising to see his improved workrate and general commitment in defence.

Rookies

The Rabbitohs already have enough strike out wide but it looks like they have even more pace to add in the years to come after debuting Tyrone Munro this season.

The young speedster was electric in his few NRL appearances, scoring three tries to go with seven linebreaks, 11 tackle busts and 378 metres.

While very much still a raw prospect, Munro is also 18 years old so it is hardly realistic to expect him to be anywhere close to a complete product at this point anyway.

Having lost Blake Taaffe to the Bulldogs, the Rabbitohs could do with another versatile back to add into the mix.

Although given the way he would turn half opportunities into genuine try-scoring chances, there is a strong possibility Munro could be in line for a starting spot on the wing come round one next year.

Up front, 21-year-old Tallis Duncan looks like a younger clone of star teammate Cameron Murray and showed flashes of his potential in seven first-grade games for South Sydney.

Duncan certainly knows how to hit a hole with pace and power, doing so off the kick-off in South Sydney's tight loss to the Bulldogs earlier in the year as he scored his first NRL try.

The high workrate and involvement is there with Duncan, who averaged 65 metres and 17 tackles from just 29 minutes.

He also looks to have the versatility in his game to either play lock forward, second row or even prop at a pinch - giving coach Demetriou a real selection headache to ponder over the summer.

2023 player list

30 players, average age 26.33 years

Season snapshot

Coach: Jason Demetriou
Captains: Cameron Murray (21), Cody Walker (2), Thomas Burgess (1), Damien Cook (1)

Biggest home crowd: 36,263 (vs. Sydney in round 27)
Average home crowd: 18,282

Top pointscorer: Latrell Mitchell (143)
Top tryscorer: Alex Johnston (21)

Club award winners

• George Piggins Medal (NRL Player of the Year): Campbell Graham
• Jack Rayner Players' Player: Cody Walker
• Jason Clark Award: Alex Johnston
• John Sattler Rookie of the Year: Tyrone Munro
• The Burrow Appreciation Award: Campbell Graham
• Roy Asotasi Members' Choice Award: Cameron Murray

Looking ahead

This is still a team that should be pushing the top contenders - at least on paper. Although the biggest question surrounds the development of Ilias and his long-range kicking game in particular.

If that improves and Mitchell can stay on the field longer than he did in 2023, this is a squad that should be pushing not just for the top eight but realistically the top four.

1.     Latrell Mitchell
2.     Alex Johnston
3.     Jack Wighton
4.     Campbell Graham
5.     Tyrone Munro
6.     Cody Walker
7.     Lachlan Ilias
8.     Tevita Tatola
9.     Damien Cook
10.  Tom Burgess
11.  Keaon Koloamatangi
12.  Jai Arrow
13.  Cameron Murray

14.  Siliva Havili
15.  Sean Keppie
16.  Shaquai Mitchell
17.  Tallis Duncan