2012 South Sydney Rabbitohs season

April 2011 June 2020 2012 NRL First Grade Challenge Cup 16 0 8 559 438 CEO Shane Richardson Michael Maguire Roy AsotasiSam BurgessMichael CrockerMatt KingJohn Sutton ANZ Stadium 18,904 Andrew Everingham (17) Adam Reynolds (97) Adam Reynolds (208) 2011 2013 35,221 v Canterbury, Rd 6 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 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 Report28 JanuaryReturn to RedfernWarrington 16 Warrington WolvesATP Performance Centre, Redfern28–345,00011 FebruaryCoffs Harbour TrialNew Zealand Warriors 16 New Zealand WarriorsBCU International Stad., Coffs Harbour14–225,37618 FebruaryCharity ShieldSt. George Illawarra 16 St. George Illawarra DragonsANZ Stadium, Sydney12–1821,398 Legend: #CCFFCC Win 1px solid #AAAAAA #98FB98 13+ Win 1px solid #AAAAAA #FFBBBB Loss 1px solid #AAAAAA #F08080 13+ Loss 1px solid #AAAAAA #FFFFCC Draw 1px solid #AAAAAA 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., Herald Sun, 30 August 2012, accessed 1 September 2012. The Rabbitohs then wrapped up their first Top 4 spot since 1989 with a win over Newcastle. Date Round Opponent Venue Score Attendance ReportMon 5 Mar1Sydney Roosters 16 Sydney RoostersANZ Stadium, Sydney20–2418,278Sun 11 Mar2Melbourne Storm 16 Melbourne StormAAMI Park, Melbourne10–2415,872Sun 18 Mar3Penrith Panthers 16 Penrith PanthersCentrebet Stadium, Penrith40–2413,876Fri 23 Mar4Brisbane Broncos 16 Brisbane Broncosnib Stadium, Perth12–2015,599Sun 1 Apr5Wests Tigers 16 Wests TigersAllianz Stadium, Sydney17–1625,604Fri 6 Apr6Canterbury Bulldogs 16 Canterbury-Bankstown BulldogsANZ Stadium, Sydney20–1035,221Sun 15 Apr7New Zealand Warriors 16 New Zealand WarriorsMt. Smart Stadium, New Zealand22–4415,378Representative WeekendSat 28 Apr8North Queensland Cowboys 16 North Queensland CowboysANZ Stadium, Sydney20–1612,213Mon 7 May9Cronulla Sharks 16 Cronulla SharksANZ Stadium, Sydney34–2812,20110BYESun 20 May11St. George Illawarra Dragons 16 St. George Illawarra DragonsWIN Jubilee Oval, Sydney19–1814,894Fri 25 May12Canberra Raiders 16 Canberra RaidersANZ Stadium, Sydney36–1810,054Sat 2 Jun13Canterbury Bulldogs 16 Canterbury-Bankstown BulldogsANZ Stadium, Sydney18–2319,43914BYESat 16 Jun15Parramatta Eels 16 Parramatta EelsANZ Stadium, Sydney24–614,212Fri 22 Jun16Brisbane Broncos 16 Brisbane BroncosSuncorp Stadium, Brisbane12–2633,602https://archive.today/20121230220443/http://www.rabbitohs.com.au/news-display/Rabbitohs-Defend-Hearts-Out-Against-Broncos-in-Brisbane/57779Sun 1 Jul17Penrith Panthers 16 Penrith PanthersANZ Stadium, Sydney38–1213,096https://archive.today/20121231005302/http://www.rabbitohs.com.au/news-display/Rabbitohs-defeat-Panthers/58323Sun 8 Jul18Newcastle Knights 16 Newcastle KnightsANZ Stadium, Sydney34–1416,104https://archive.today/20121230231417/http://www.rabbitohs.com.au/news-display/Rabbitohs-defeat-Knights/58786Mon 16 Jul19Sydney Roosters 16 Sydney RoostersAllianz Stadium, Sydney24–2219,906Sat 21 Jul20St. George Illawarra Dragons 16 St. George Illawarra DragonsANZ Stadium, Sydney36–1421,071Sun 29 Jul21Wests Tigers 16 Wests TigersANZ Stadium, Sydney32–629,863https://archive.today/20121231054317/http://www.rabbitohs.com.au/news-display/Rabbitohs-defeat-Wests-Tigers/60389Sun 5 Aug22Gold Coast Titans 16 Gold Coast TitansSkilled Park, Gold Coast22–1820,187https://archive.today/20121231020437/http://www.rabbitohs.com.au/news-display/Rabbitohs-Score-Win-Over-FastFinishing-Titans--Round-22-2012/60942Fri 10 Aug23Manly Sea Eagles 16 Manly-Warringah Sea EaglesBluetongue Stadium, Central Coast6–2317,947https://archive.today/20121231064345/http://www.rabbitohs.com.au/news-display/Manly-Too-Strong-for-Rabbitohs-in-Gosford/61393Sat 18 Aug24Cronulla Sharks 16 Cronulla-Sutherland SharksToyota Stadium, Sydney7–2016,423https://archive.today/20121231002426/http://www.rabbitohs.com.au/news-display/Sharks-Too-Strong-at-Home-for-Rabbitohs--Round-24-2012/61978Sun 26 Aug25Parramatta Eels 16 Parramatta EelsANZ Stadium, Sydney36–624,121Fri 31 Aug26Newcastle Knights 16 Newcastle KnightsHunter Stadium, Newcastle18–624,127https://archive.today/20121230150846/http://www.rabbitohs.com.au/news-display/Rabbitohs-Sew-Up-Top-Four-Finish-with-Victory-Over-Knights--Round-26-2012/63020 Legend: #CCFFCC Win 1px solid #AAAAAA #98FB98 13+ Win 1px solid #AAAAAA #FFBBBB Loss 1px solid #AAAAAA #F08080 13+ Loss 1px solid #AAAAAA #FFFFCC Draw 1px solid #AAAAAA #CFECEC Bye 1px solid #AAAAAA 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. Date Round Opponent Venue Score Attendance ReportSat 8 SepQualifying FinalMelbourne Storm 16 Melbourne StormAAMI Park, Melbourne6–2419,750https://archive.today/20121230152317/http://www.rabbitohs.com.au/news-display/Rabbitohs-Will-Play-in-Week-Two-of-2012-Finals-Series-After-Going-Down-to-Storm/63598Sat 15 SepSemi-finalCanberra Raiders 16 Canberra RaidersANZ Stadium, Sydney38–1635,874https://archive.today/20121230150711/http://www.rabbitohs.com.au/news-display/Rabbitohs-in-Grand-Final-Qualifier-After-Convincing-Defeat-of-Canberra-Raiders--Semi-Final-2012/63994Sat 22 SepPreliminary FinalCanterbury Bulldogs 16 Canterbury-Bankstown BulldogsANZ Stadium, Sydney8–3270,354https://archive.today/20121231061726/http://www.rabbitohs.com.au/news-display/Preliminary-Final-Match-Highlights-Rabbitohs-v-Bulldogs/64321 Legend: #CCFFCC Win 1px solid #AAAAAA #98FB98 13+ Win 1px solid #AAAAAA #FFBBBB Loss 1px solid #AAAAAA #F08080 13+ Loss 1px solid #AAAAAA #FFFFCC Draw 1px solid #AAAAAA #CFECEC Bye 1px solid #AAAAAA Ladder Statistics 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 Gains Player Gained From Matt King Warrington Wolves 16 Warrington Wolveshttp://www.rabbitohs.com.au/News/Club-News/Rabbitohs-Sign-Matt-King-for-2012-and-2013-Shannan-McPherson-Heading-to-ESL-at-Seasons-End.html 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 28 August 2011 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20110803084702/http://www.rabbitohs.com.au/News/Club-News/Rabbitohs-Sign-Matt-King-for-2012-and-2013-Shannan-McPherson-Heading-to-ESL-at-Seasons-End.html 3 August 2011 , Rabbitohs Official Site, 29 June 2011, accessed 28 August 2011. Justin Hunt Redcliffe Dolphins 16 Redcliffe Dolphinshttp://www.rabbitohs.com.au/News/Club-News/Rabbitohs-Sign-Ryan-Carr-and-Justin-Hunt-for-2012.html Rabbitohs Sign Ryan Carr and Justin Hunt for 2012 - The OFFICIAL website of the South Sydney Rabbitohs 17 May 2013 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20120406215450/http://www.rabbitohs.com.au/News/Club-News/Rabbitohs-Sign-Ryan-Carr-and-Justin-Hunt-for-2012.html 6 April 2012 , Rabbitohs Official Site, 29 July 2011, accessed 28 August 2011. Ryan Carr Redcliffe Dolphins 16 Redcliffe Dolphins Andrew Everingham Western Suburbs Magpies 16 Western Suburbs Magpies Michael Maguire (Coach) Wigan Warriors 16 Wigan Warriorshttp://www.rabbitohs.com.au/News/Club-News/Michael-Maguire-Signs-as-Head-Coach-for-the-Next-Three-Seasons.html Michael Maguire Signs as Head Coach for the Next Three Seasons - The OFFICIAL website of the South Sydney Rabbitohs 28 August 2011 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20110906025443/http://www.rabbitohs.com.au/News/Club-News/Michael-Maguire-Signs-as-Head-Coach-for-the-Next-Three-Seasons.html 6 September 2011 , Rabbitohs Official Site, 16 April 2011, accessed 28 August 2011. Losses Player Lost To Chris Sandow Parramatta Eels 16 Parramatta Eels, The Daily Telegraph, 4 May 2011, accessed 28 August 2011. Shannan McPherson Salford City Reds 16 Salford City Reds Luke Stuart Retired Rhys Wesser Retiredhttp://www.rabbitohs.com.au/News/Club-News/Rhys-Wesser-to-Retire-at-Seasons-End.html Rhys Wesser to Retire at Season's End - The OFFICIAL website of the South Sydney Rabbitohs 28 August 2011 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20120406215708/http://www.rabbitohs.com.au/News/Club-News/Rhys-Wesser-to-Retire-at-Seasons-End.html 6 April 2012 , Rabbitohs Official Site, 1 August 2011, accessed 28 August 2011. John Lang (Coach) Retired Ben Ross Cronulla Sharks 16 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Beau Falloon Gold Coast Titans 16 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 #B50000 white green white Rabbitohs Squad, Rugby League Project 21 May 2012 PR Neccrom Areaiiti PR Roy Asotasi(c) PR George Burgess PR Luke Burgess LK SR PR Sam Burgess(c) HB HK Ryan Carr LK SR PR Jason Clark CE WG Shaune Corrigan LK SR PR Michael Crocker(c) WG Andrew Everingham CE WG Dylan Farrell PR Scott Geddes FE HB FB Justin Hunt CE Greg Inglis WG Curtis Johnston Blake Judd CE Matt King(c) LK SR Ben Lowe HK Issac Luke(gk) HK Brendan McKinnon WG SR Chris McQueen FB WG Nathan Merritt HK SR Nathan Peats SR PR Eddy Pettybourne HB Adam Reynolds(gk) FB WG James Roberts FE LK John Sutton(c) WG CE Fetuli Talanoa SR PR Dave Taylor SR Dave Tyrrell Michael Maguire Kurt Wrigley Wayne Collins Troy Thompson (gk) Goal kicker 8px Injured 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 40em 2012 Category:2012 NRL season by club Category:2012 in sport in Sydney