2009 South Sydney Rabbitohs season

2009 South Sydney Rabbitohs season
2009 South Sydney Rabbitohs season
NRL Rank	10th (out of 16)
Play-off result	N/A
2009 record	Wins: 11; draws: 1; losses: 12
Points scored	For: 566; against: 549
Team information
CEO	Shane Richardson
Coach	Jason Taylor
Captain	Roy Asotasi;
Stadium	ANZ Stadium
Top scorers
Tries	Nathan Merritt (19)
Goals	Chris Sandow (60)
Points	Chris Sandow (133)

The 2009 South Sydney Rabbitohs season in Australian rugby league was the 100th in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2009 Telstra Premiership, and despite being in 1st position at some points during the year and scoring over 500 points in a season for the first time,^[1] they finished 10th out of 16 teams and so failed to reach the play-offs.

In Round 25, South Sydney defeated the minor premiers St. George Illawarra Dragons 41 to 6. This is the only loss greater than 20 points the Dragons have suffered since Wayne Bennett's inception as coach.

John Sutton was awarded the George Piggins Medal for Souths player of the year.^[2]

On the ensuing 'Mad Monday', coach Jason Taylor and forward David Fa'alogo were involved in a drunken altercation and both sacked from the club. This prompted the club's co-owner Russell Crowe to write an 800-word letter of apology to a Sydney newspaper.^[3]

Pre season

The Rabbitohs played three pre-season games in 2009.

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Score	Attendance	Report
8 February	Return to Redfern	Wests Tigers	ATP Performance Centre, Redfern	26–30	5,000	^[4]
14 February	Coffs Harbour Trial	Penrith Panthers	BCU International Stad., Coffs Harbour	38–4		^[5]
28 February	Charity Shield	St. George Illawarra Dragons	ANZ Stadium, Sydney	18–6	25,871	^[6]
Legend: Win Loss Draw

Regular season

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Score	Attendance	Report
15 March	1	Sydney Roosters	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney	52–12	24,486	^[7]
20 March	2	Parramatta Eels	ANZ Stadium, Sydney	8–14	20,871	[1]^{[permanent dead link]}
29 March	3	Newcastle Knights	Bluetongue Stadium, Central Coast	22–12	15,277	^[8]
5 April	4	New Zealand Warriors	Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland	22–16	19,386	^[9]
13 April	5	Canterbury Bulldogs	ANZ Stadium, Sydney	12–14	22,775	^[10]
18 April	6	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	ANZ Stadium, Sydney	8–24	14,225	^[11]
24 April	7	Cronulla Sharks	ANZ Stadium, Sydney	32–26	11,208	^[12]
2 May	8	Gold Coast Titans	Skilled Park, Gold Coast	14–22		^[13]
	9	BYE
17 May	10	Wests Tigers	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney	23–22	29,970	[2]
22 May	11	Parramatta Eels	ANZ Stadium, Sydney	16–16	10,670	[3]
1 June	12	Canberra Raiders	ANZ Stadium, Sydney	18–34	9,805	[4]^{[permanent dead link]}
6 June	13	North Queensland Cowboys	Dairy Farmers Stadium, Townsville	12–46		[5]
13 June	14	Melbourne Storm	nib Stadium, Perth	22–28	15,198	[6]
	15	BYE
29 June	16	Newcastle Knights	Ausgrid Stadium, Newcastle	20–25	14,204	[7]
4 July	17	Wests Tigers	ANZ Stadium, Sydney	20–54	14,856	[8]
10 July	18	Penrith Panthers	ANZ Stadium, Sydney	36–12	9,017	[9]
17 July	19	Brisbane Broncos	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane	44–12	50,109	[10]
27 July	20	Sydney Roosters	ANZ Stadium, Sydney	40–20	11,031	[11]
2 August	21	Canterbury Bulldogs	ANZ Stadium, Sydney	18–26	24,217	[12]
8 August	22	Manly Sea Eagles	Brookvale Oval, Manly	36–22	15,702	[13]
14 August	23	Gold Coast Titans	ANZ Stadium, Sydney	14–22	11,977	[14]
22 August	24	Penrith Panthers	Penrith Stadium, Penrith	10–40	14,214	[15]
29 August	25	St. George Illawarra Dragons	ANZ Stadium, Sydney	41–6	19,218	[16]
5 September	26	Cronulla Sharks	Toyota Stadium, Cronulla	26–24	14,879	[17]

Statistics

Player	Tries	Goals	Field Goals	Total Points
Nathan Merritt	19	0	1	77
Fetuli Talanoa	13	0	0	52
Colin Best	4	0	0	16
Rhys Wesser	1	0	0	4
Eddy Pettybourne	7	0	0	28
Chris Sandow	3	60	1	133
Issac Luke	4	15	0	46
Craig Wing	6	1	0	26
Luke Capewell	6	0	0	24
Beau Champion	11	0	0	44
David Kidwell	1	0	0	4
David Fa'alogo	4	0	0	16
Roy Asotasi	1	0	0	4
Luke Stuart	1	0	0	4
Michael Crocker	2	0	0	8
Jamie Simpson	9	0	0	36
John Sutton	5	0	0	20
David Tyrrell	1	0	0	4
Chris McQueen	2	0	0	8
Junior Vaivai	1	0	0	4
Ben Lowe	1	0	0	4
Scott Geddes	1	0	0	4

Ladder

2009 NRL season v t e
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	St. George Illawarra Dragons	24	17	0	7	2	548	329	+219	38
2	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	24	18	0	6	2	575	428	+147	38¹
3	Gold Coast Titans	24	16	0	8	2	514	467	+47	36
4	Melbourne Storm	24	14	1	9	2	505	348	+157	33
5	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	24	14	0	10	2	549	459	+90	32
6	Brisbane Broncos	24	14	0	10	2	511	566	−55	32
7	Newcastle Knights	24	13	0	11	2	508	491	+17	30
8	Parramatta Eels	24	12	1	11	2	476	473	+3	29
9	Wests Tigers	24	12	0	12	2	558	483	+75	28
10	South Sydney Rabbitohs	24	11	1	12	2	566	549	+17	27
11	Penrith Panthers	24	11	1	12	2	515	589	−74	27
12	North Queensland Cowboys	24	11	0	13	2	558	474	+84	26
13	Canberra Raiders	24	9	0	15	2	489	520	−31	22
14	New Zealand Warriors	24	7	2	15	2	377	565	−188	20
15	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	24	5	0	19	2	359	568	−209	14
16	Sydney Roosters	24	5	0	19	2	382	681	−299	14

¹ The Bulldogs were deducted 2 competition points after an interchange breach in Round 2.

Kit and Sponsors

National Australia Bank

The National Australia Bank was the Rabbitohs major home sponsor for the 2009 Telstra Premiership.

DeLonghi

DeLonghi was the major away sponsor for the Rabbitohs in the 2009 Telstra Premiership.

V8 Supercars Australia

V8 Supercars was the Rabbitohs major sleeve sponsor for the 2009 Telstra Premiership.

Virgin Blue

Virgin Blue was the Rabbitohs major training sponsor for the 2009 Telstra Premiership.

2009 squad

No.		Position	Player Roy Asotasi – PR (c) Colin Best – CE Luke Capewell – FE Beau Champion – CE Kane Cleal – PR Shaune Corrigan – CE Michael Crocker – SR Garrett Crossman – PR David Fa'alogo – SR Beau Falloon – HK Scott Geddes – PR Michael Greenfield – PR David Kidwell – SR Ben Lowe – LK

No.		Position	Player Jaiman Lowe – PR Issac Luke – HK Shannan McPherson – SR Chris McQueen – WG Nathan Merritt – WG Eddy Pettybourne – SR Chris Sandow – HB Jamie Simpson – CE Luke Stuart – SR John Sutton – LK Fetuli Talanoa – WG David Tyrrell – SR Taioalo Vaivai – CE Rhys Wesser – FB Craig Wing – HB

Source: [18]

Player statistics

Player	Appearances	Tries	Goals	Field Goals	Total Points

–	–	–	–	–	–

Representative honours

Player	All Stars	Anzac Test	Pacific Test	City / Country	State of Origin 1	State of Origin 2	State of Origin 3	Four Nations

References

^ Walter, Brad (28 November 2009). "Crowe declares the new-look Rabbitohs as best squad in decades". League HQ (smh.com.au). Retrieved 1 December 2009.
^ 4th Annual Report Archived 20 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine of the South Sydney Rabbitohs
^ "No room for any sympathy by Russell Crowe/". The Daily Telegraph.
^ "Tigers 30 – Rabbitohs 26 at Redfern Oval". 8 February 2009. Archived from the original on 12 February 2009. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
^ "Rabbitohs Romp Over Panthers in Coffs Harbour". rabbitohs.com.au. 14 February 2009. Archived from the original on 23 February 2009. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
^ "Rabbitohs Win Back-to-Back Charity Shields". rabbitohs.com.au. 28 February 2009. Archived from the original on 25 May 2009. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
^ "Rabbitohs 52 defeat Roosters 12". rabbitohs.com.au. 15 March 2009. Archived from the original on 7 January 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
^ "Rabbitohs 22 defeat Knights 12". rabbitohs.com.au. 29 March 2009. Archived from the original on 10 April 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
^ "Rabbitohs 22 defeat Warriors 16". rabbitohs.com.au. 5 April 2009. Archived from the original on 7 January 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
^ "Bulldogs 14 defeat Rabbitohs 12". rabbitohs.com.au. 13 April 2009. Archived from the original on 6 January 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
^ "Sea Eagles 24 defeat Rabbitohs 8". rabbitohs.com.au. 18 April 2009. Archived from the original on 12 February 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
^ "Rabbitohs 32 defeat Sharks 26". rabbitohs.com.au. 24 April 2009. Archived from the original on 10 April 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
^ "Titans 22 defeat Rabbitoghs 14". rabbitohs.com.au. 2 May 2009. Archived from the original on 7 January 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2018.

[1] Walter, Brad (28 November 2009). "Crowe declares the new-look Rabbitohs as best squad in decades". League HQ (smh.com.au). Retrieved 1 December 2009.

[2] 4th Annual Report Archived 20 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine of the South Sydney Rabbitohs

[3] "No room for any sympathy by Russell Crowe/". The Daily Telegraph.

[4] "Tigers 30 – Rabbitohs 26 at Redfern Oval". 8 February 2009. Archived from the original on 12 February 2009. Retrieved 19 January 2018.

[5] "Rabbitohs Romp Over Panthers in Coffs Harbour". rabbitohs.com.au. 14 February 2009. Archived from the original on 23 February 2009. Retrieved 19 January 2018.

[6] "Rabbitohs Win Back-to-Back Charity Shields". rabbitohs.com.au. 28 February 2009. Archived from the original on 25 May 2009. Retrieved 19 January 2018.

[7] "Rabbitohs 52 defeat Roosters 12". rabbitohs.com.au. 15 March 2009. Archived from the original on 7 January 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2018.

[8] "Rabbitohs 22 defeat Knights 12". rabbitohs.com.au. 29 March 2009. Archived from the original on 10 April 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2018.

[9] "Rabbitohs 22 defeat Warriors 16". rabbitohs.com.au. 5 April 2009. Archived from the original on 7 January 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2018.

[10] "Bulldogs 14 defeat Rabbitohs 12". rabbitohs.com.au. 13 April 2009. Archived from the original on 6 January 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2018.

[11] "Sea Eagles 24 defeat Rabbitohs 8". rabbitohs.com.au. 18 April 2009. Archived from the original on 12 February 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2018.

[12] "Rabbitohs 32 defeat Sharks 26". rabbitohs.com.au. 24 April 2009. Archived from the original on 10 April 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2018.

[13] "Titans 22 defeat Rabbitoghs 14". rabbitohs.com.au. 2 May 2009. Archived from the original on 7 January 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2018.

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v t e South Sydney Rabbitohs
Est. 1908 at Redfern Town Hall, Sydney, New South Wales
The club	History Honours Players Coaches Records George Piggins Medal
Home grounds	Current Stadium Australia Past Sydney Sports Ground Redfern Oval Sydney Football Stadium
Culture	Charity Shield South Side Story Book of Feuds Ron Coote Cup Good Friday Return to Redfern South Sydney Leagues Club George Piggins Medal Souths Cares
Important figures	Arthur Hennessy Benny Wearing George Treweek Jack Rayner Clive Churchill John Sattler Bob McCarthy George Piggins Russell Crowe John Sutton Greg Inglis Sam Burgess
League	Current NRL Past NSWRL ARL
Titles	Premierships (21) 1908 1909 1914 1918 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1931 1932 1950 1951 1953 1954 1955 1967 1968 1970 1971 2014 Minor Premierships (21) 1908 1909 1914 1918 1925 1926 1927 1929 1932 1949 1950 1951 1953 1968 1969 1970 1989 World Club Challenge (1) 2015
Seasons (113)	1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Other competitions	Current NRL Nines New South Wales Cup NSWRL Women's Premiership Jersey Flegg Cup SG Ball Cup Harold Matthews Cup Tarsha Gale Cup Past City Cup Amco Cup NRL Under-20s
Affiliations	South Sydney District Junior Rugby Football League Past North Sydney Bears Newtown Jets
Related articles	The Burrow Reggie the Rabbit
South Sydney were excluded from the National Rugby League for the 2000 and 2001 seasons