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2012 South Sydney Rabbitohs season

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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
Avg. attendance18,904
High attendance35,221 v Canterbury, Rd 6
Top scorers
TriesAndrew Everingham (17)
GoalsAdam Reynolds (97)
PointsAdam Reynolds (208)
← 2011 2013 →

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.

Pre-season

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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.

Date Round Opponent Venue Score Attendance Report
28 January Return to Redfern Warrington Wolves ATP Performance Centre, Redfern 28–34 5,000 [3]
11 February Coffs Harbour Trial New Zealand Warriors BCU International Stad., Coffs Harbour 14–22 5,376 [4]
18 February Charity Shield St. George Illawarra Dragons ANZ Stadium, Sydney 12–18 21,398 [5]
Legend:   Win   13+ Win   Loss   13+ Loss   Draw

Regular season

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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.

Date Round Opponent Venue Score Attendance Report
Mon 5 Mar 1 Sydney Roosters ANZ Stadium, Sydney 20–24 18,278 [6]
Sun 11 Mar 2 Melbourne Storm AAMI Park, Melbourne 10–24 15,872 [7]
Sun 18 Mar 3 Penrith Panthers Centrebet Stadium, Penrith 40–24 13,876 [8]
Fri 23 Mar 4 Brisbane Broncos nib Stadium, Perth 12–20 15,599 [9]
Sun 1 Apr 5 Wests Tigers Allianz Stadium, Sydney 17–16 25,604 [10]
Fri 6 Apr 6 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs ANZ Stadium, Sydney 20–10 35,221 [11]
Sun 15 Apr 7 New Zealand Warriors Mt. Smart Stadium, New Zealand 22–44 15,378 [12]
Representative Weekend
Sat 28 Apr 8 North Queensland Cowboys ANZ Stadium, Sydney 20–16 12,213 [13]
Mon 7 May 9 Cronulla Sharks ANZ Stadium, Sydney 34–28 12,201 [14]
10 BYE
Sun 20 May 11 St. George Illawarra Dragons WIN Jubilee Oval, Sydney 19–18 14,894 [15]
Fri 25 May 12 Canberra Raiders ANZ Stadium, Sydney 36–18 10,054 [16]
Sat 2 Jun 13 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs ANZ Stadium, Sydney 18–23 19,439 [17]
14 BYE
Sat 16 Jun 15 Parramatta Eels ANZ Stadium, Sydney 24–6 14,212 [18]
Fri 22 Jun 16 Brisbane Broncos Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane 12–26 33,602 [19]
Sun 1 Jul 17 Penrith Panthers ANZ Stadium, Sydney 38–12 13,096 [20]
Sun 8 Jul 18 Newcastle Knights ANZ Stadium, Sydney 34–14 16,104 [21]
Mon 16 Jul 19 Sydney Roosters Allianz Stadium, Sydney 24–22 19,906 [22]
Sat 21 Jul 20 St. George Illawarra Dragons ANZ Stadium, Sydney 36–14 21,071 [23]
Sun 29 Jul 21 Wests Tigers ANZ Stadium, Sydney 32–6 29,863 [24]
Sun 5 Aug 22 Gold Coast Titans Skilled Park, Gold Coast 22–18 20,187 [25]
Fri 10 Aug 23 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Bluetongue Stadium, Central Coast 6–23 17,947 [26]
Sat 18 Aug 24 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Toyota Stadium, Sydney 7–20 16,423 [27]
Sun 26 Aug 25 Parramatta Eels ANZ Stadium, Sydney 36–6 24,121 [28]
Fri 31 Aug 26 Newcastle Knights Hunter Stadium, Newcastle 18–6 24,127 [29]
Legend:   Win   13+ Win   Loss   13+ Loss   Draw   Bye

Finals Series

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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.

Date Round Opponent Venue Score Attendance Report
Sat 8 Sep Qualifying Final Melbourne Storm AAMI Park, Melbourne 6–24 19,750 [30]
Sat 15 Sep Semi-final Canberra Raiders ANZ Stadium, Sydney 38–16 35,874 [31]
Sat 22 Sep Preliminary Final Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs ANZ Stadium, Sydney 8–32 70,354 [32]
Legend:   Win   13+ Win   Loss   13+ Loss   Draw   Bye

Ladder

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Pos Team Pld W D L B PF PA PD Pts
1 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 24 18 0 6 2 568 369 +199 40
2 Melbourne Storm (P) 24 17 0 7 2 579 361 +218 38
3 South Sydney Rabbitohs 24 16 0 8 2 559 438 +121 36
4 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 24 16 0 8 2 497 403 +94 36
5 North Queensland Cowboys 24 15 0 9 2 597 445 +152 34
6 Canberra Raiders 24 13 0 11 2 545 536 +9 30
7 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 24 12 1 11 2 445 441 +4 29
8 Brisbane Broncos 24 12 0 12 2 481 447 +34 28
9 St. George Illawarra Dragons 24 11 0 13 2 405 438 -33 26
10 Wests Tigers 24 11 0 13 2 506 551 -45 26
11 Gold Coast Titans 24 10 0 14 2 449 477 -28 24
12 Newcastle Knights 24 10 0 14 2 448 488 -40 24
13 Sydney Roosters 24 8 1 15 2 462 626 -164 21
14 New Zealand Warriors 24 8 0 16 2 497 609 -112 20
15 Penrith Panthers 24 8 0 16 2 409 575 -166 20
16 Parramatta Eels 24 6 0 18 2 431 674 -243 16

Statistics

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Player Games Tries Goals Field Goals Total Points
Neccrom Areaiiti 1 0 0 0 0
Roy Asotasi 9 2 0 0 8
George Burgess 3 0 0 0 0
Luke Burgess 15 0 0 0 0
Sam Burgess 19 4 0 0 16
Ryan Carr 0 0 0 0 0
Jason Clark 22 1 0 0 4
Shaune Corrigan 8 0 0 0 0
Michael Crocker 23 2 0 0 8
Andrew Everingham 22 15 0 0 60
Dylan Farrell 23 7 0 0 28
Scott Geddes 12 0 0 0 0
Justin Hunt 9 5 0 0 20
Greg Inglis 19 11 0 1 45
Matt King 19 3 0 0 12
Ben Lowe 16 1 0 0 4
Issac Luke 19 4 3 0 22
Chris McQueen 20 5 0 0 20
Nathan Merritt 17 14 0 0 56
Nathan Peats 15 5 0 0 20
Eddy Pettybourne 20 0 0 0 0
Adam Reynolds 24 2 87 2 184
Josh Starling 3 0 0 0 0
John Sutton 24 4 0 0 16
Fetuli Talanoa 2 0 0 0 0
David Taylor 23 9 0 0 36
David Tyrrell 19 0 0 0 0

Transfers

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Gains

Player Gained 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

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

Current squad

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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

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Player Appearances Tries Goals Field Goals Total Points

Representative honours

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

References

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  1. ^ [1], Herald Sun, 30 August 2012, accessed 1 September 2012.
  2. ^ a b "Rabbitohs Sign Matt King for 2012 and 2013, Shannan McPherson Heading to ESL at Season's End - The OFFICIAL website of the South Sydney Rabbitohs". Archived from the original on 3 August 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2011., Rabbitohs Official Site, 29 June 2011, accessed 28 August 2011.
  3. ^ a b "Rabbitohs Sign Ryan Carr and Justin Hunt for 2012 - The OFFICIAL website of the South Sydney Rabbitohs". Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 17 May 2013., Rabbitohs Official Site, 29 July 2011, accessed 28 August 2011.
  4. ^ "Michael Maguire Signs as Head Coach for the Next Three Seasons - The OFFICIAL website of the South Sydney Rabbitohs". Archived from the original on 6 September 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2011., Rabbitohs Official Site, 16 April 2011, accessed 28 August 2011.
  5. ^ [2], The Daily Telegraph, 4 May 2011, accessed 28 August 2011.
  6. ^ "Rhys Wesser to Retire at Season's End - The OFFICIAL website of the South Sydney Rabbitohs". Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 28 August 2011., Rabbitohs Official Site, 1 August 2011, accessed 28 August 2011.