South Sydney Rabbitohs 2021 NRL season preview: Complete roster puts premiership on radar
There are no more holes in South Sydney’s roster and no more excuses after three straight preliminary final losses.
NRL
Don't miss out on the headlines from NRL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
South Sydney has added what many believe to be the final piece of their NRL premiership puzzle, and after three straight preliminary final exits, 2021 is the year it should all come together.
Rugby league expert Nick Campton runs the rule over a South Sydney team desperate to clear the final hurdle after three near misses.
South Sydney Rabbitohs
2020 ladder position:
Ins: Jai Arrow (Titans), Jacob Host (Dragons), Taane Milne (Warriors)
Outs: Tom Amone (released), Kurt Dillon (released), Jack Johns (Knights), Ethan Lowe (retired), James Roberts (Tigers), Bayley Sironen (Warriors)
Players in the 2020 Rich 100: 7 — 26. Latrell Mitchell ($800,000), 28. Damien Cook ($800,000), 32. Adam Reynolds ($760,000), 44. Cody Walker ($700,000), 45. Cameron Murray ($700,000), 64. Dane Gagai ($650,000), 77. James Roberts ($550,000)
Coach status: This is supposed to be Wayne Bennett’s last season with the Rabbitohs before he hands over the reigns to top assistant Jason Demetriou for 2022. But after two straight trips to the preliminary final, plus an Origin series win that seemed impossible, would anyone at Redfern really complain if Bennett saddled up for one last contract?
Plenty of other clubs would jump at the chance to sign the six-time premiership winner and South Sydney’s premiership window is wide open. Demetriou is undoubtedly a first grade coach of the future and could be lost to the club if Bennett decides to stay on but asking Bennett to move on has never worked out well for anybody – just ask the Broncos.
What is their game plan, and how do they need to tweak: The Rabbitohs are in something of a strange spot. Three preliminary finals in a row is a fine achievement, but three preliminary final losses in a row is dangerously close to a hoodoo.
South Sydney look totally different to the side that went down to the Roosters in 2018 and have even changed a lot since their loss to the Raiders in 2019, but it’s time for them to get over the hump.
There are no more holes in the Rabbitohs’ roster, no more excuses for anything less than a premiership.
So long as injuries are kind, there is no reason South Sydney should not be in serious title contention from the jump next season.
How did they go in free agency: South Sydney made their biggest signing for 2021 before 2020 even kicked off with Queensland Origin forward Jai Arrow agreeing to join the club from the Titans.
The Rabbitohs weren’t skinny in the middle this season with Tom Burgess and Junior Tatola both improving and the club has a real find in Keaon Koloamatangi and a superstar in Cameron Murray. But Arrow, who gives great yardage and has a wonderful offload and a strong defensive game, is a marquee purchase and rounds out South Sydney’s pack nicely.
With Damien Cook at hooker, a good day by the Rabbitohs forward can make their attack almost unstoppable and with Arrow in red and green there should be few packs they can’t take down.
Jacob Host will compete for a spot at second row, while Taane Milne fills out the backline depth.
Will development contract upgraded kids make an impact: Jaxson Paulo made his NRL debut in Round 10 last year and ended up playing 13 matches, including all three finals games. With Latrell Mitchell and Braidon Burns back after long-term injuries, earning a start in 2021 will be an accomplishment all on its own, but Paulo proved he’s an NRL calibre player in 2020 and is right in the frame to snag a spot on the right wing.
Brock Gardner has played little football in recent years due to injury but the former Knights junior has a strong pedigree – the torrid backrower represented New South Wales under-16s and has put on eight kilograms of muscle in the last year.
What players can they reinvent: Everything seems to happen to Latrell Mitchell, and it happens louder than it does to anybody else.
The Rabbitohs fullback is a magnet for publicity, sometimes of his own doing but oftentimes it’s out of his control.
His first season with South Sydney, and his first full year at fullback, was full of highs and lows and criticism and brilliance and everything else a player could fit into 12 months, but when the dust settled the truth was simple – Mitchell started poorly, but improved as the year went on and he gained a better feel for his new position.
Even in the tough times, Mitchell’s passing was a real strength of his play at fullback and for him, and Souths, to hit the next level they need to see more of the running game that made him so dangerous as a centre.
It started to come through in Mitchell’s play before a leg injury ended his year prematurely and it could be the final attacking touch for an already formidable South Sydney backline.
He doesn’t need reinvention, but if he can add this final piece there could be no stopping the Rabbitohs.
Who takes the next step: Jaydn Su’A was a highly touted junior at the Broncos but was eventually superseded in the pecking order by David Fifita and lost his way before following Bennett to South Sydney.
After some tough times in 2019, Su’A improved out of sight in 2020 and by the end of the year he was the exact type of hard-nosed, brutally powerful backrower he’d always been predicted to be.
A Queensland Origin jersey was a just reward for the back-rower and now there’s nothing stopping him from becoming one of the game’s better edge forwards. Keep a particular eye on his defence – Su’A is utterly without fear, and throws his body into collisions with no thought of self-preservation.
The best 17 for 2021:
1 Latrell Mitchell
2 Alex Johnston
3 Campbell Graham
4 Dane Gagai
5 Corey Allan
6 Cody Walker
7 Adam Reynolds
8 Jai Arrow
9 Damien Cook
10 Tom Burgess
11 Jaydn Su’A
12 Jacob Host
13 Cameron Murray
14 Liam Knight
15 Keaon Kolomatangi
16 Junior Tatola
17 Jed Cartwright
2021 squad: Corey Allan, Jai Arrow, Tom Burgess, Braidon Burns, Jed Cartwright, Damien Cook, Joshua Cook, Troy Dargan, Dane Gagai, Campbell Graham, Jacob Host, Dean Hawkins, Alex Johnston, Liam Knight, Keaon Kolomatangi, Patrick Mago, Steven Marsters, Taane Milne, Latrell Mitchell, Cameron Murray, Mark Nicholls, Adam Reynolds, Hame Sele, Jaydn Su’A, Tevita Tatola, Cody Walker
Fox Sports Lab’s Aaron Wallace says: If Souths can continue their attack from the back end of the season into the new year they may simply blast their way to a 22nd premiership.
From round 15 onwards the Rabbitohs averaged almost 35 points per game, even factoring in their almost inexplicable 26-16 loss to the Bulldogs.
Latrell Mitchell played only two of those games, and he had the second most try assists for the Rabbitohs all season — watch out!
Finish the last five years: 12th, 12th, 3rd, 3rd, 6th
Odds are: TAB premiership odds – $6.50, top-four finish $1.85, top-8 finish $1.18, most losses – $67
‘Blowhard’: Cornes backlash turns prickly
Kane Cornes has been roasted by a high profile colleague over comments that have left NRL commentators in disbelief.
Parramatta legend: ‘24 Panthers don’t have a hope against ‘83 Eels
Penrith have claimed their place in the rugby league record books, but Parramatta great Ray Price has rejected suggestions they’ve gone past his Eels, claiming they had “every position and we every tactic covered”. WHO IS BETTER? VOTE NOW.