When trying to work out exactly where they went wrong in 2016, the brains trust at the Bunnies will look over an opening fortnight that saw them score 90 points and set the competition alight.
They’ll see a final month of football that saw four straight victories, including a win over the eventual NRL premiers, the Sharks, and a big season-ending victory over the Bulldogs.
Unfortunately also seen will be a 50-point loss to the Raiders, a 30-point loss to the Dogs and nine straight losses, including two losses in golden point.
The same team who pushed the red-hot Melbourne Storm into extra time also were blown off the park by a Tigers side who weren’t exactly firing on all cylinders.
On their day, the Bunnies could produce anything. Unfortunately, you never knew whether that would be positive or negative, as the red and green struggled massively to find any sort of inconsistency.
Prior to the final four matches of the season, the Bunnies had only recorded back-to-back victories on two occasions and were unable to put three wins in a row together.
For every player, such as Cody Walker, who well outplayed their expected output, there were the likes of George Burgess, who by his own lofty standards did not reach the expected heights in 2016.
Greg Inglis, at times, looked every bit the world-beater that will see him seriously discussed in future immortal talk, while at other times he was shuffled around the backline in an effort to rediscover form.
Even Sam Burgess was unable to consistency deliver week-on-week as the superstar Englishman felt the pressure his team’s poor run of results heaped on his squad.
Michael Maguire, who lead the club to the NRL premiership promised land just two seasons ago, fell under intense pressure, and at times was even forced to somewhat defend his job as the media and some fans turned on him.
In reality, it would have been borderline insanity to sack a coach of Madge’s pedigree so soon after a premiership win, however, loss after loss drove 2014’s heroics further from the minds of fans and officials alike.
Only in the final month of the competition did the Rabbitohs start playing as we all know they could. After a golden-point loss to the Storm, the Bunnies went on to beat the Warriors, Sharks, Knights and Bulldogs.
If the season had been another four weeks longer, they may have made up the point differential and played in the finals.
The club has taken steps to ensure it 2017 is far more solid than the efforts of 2016 by signing one of the most consistent number nines of the past decade in Robbie Farah.
Recent stints in reserve grade after a very public breakdown in his relationship with coach Jason Taylor may have taken some of the gloss off his recent career, but the fact remains Farah is a mainstay at the representative level.
Arguably the greatest player to ever don the black and gold at the Wests Tigers, Farah will now likely play out the remainder of his career at Redfern.
Maguire and co will hope his 247 NRL games worth of experience can help take pressure off the other leaders within the side. You sensed in 2016 that too much was being asked of Inglis and Burgess especially.
Farah’s creativity will also take pressure off Reynolds and Walker in terms of creating attacking chances. He will be playing behind a forward pack capable of beating any opposing pack on their day, and for the first time in years has the support of his coaching staff.
Despite a big turnover in players, the Bunnies can expect a settled starting 17 next season, which should see them bypass any early season combination issues that teams with similar turnover can expect.
Farah’s arrival is the club’s only major signing, although Robbie Rochow will also likely step into the top 17 also.
Given Cody Walker’s rise in 2016, he’ll likely partner Reynolds full time, although Inglis could also step back into the number six role given Walker’s performances at fullback.
Luke Keary, despite having an NRL premiership on his resume, didn’t really fire in 2016 and has since left the club. Joe Burgess will be missed after his late-season heroics, and Nathan Brown played well across the season, but there are no genuine game-breakers leaving the club.
Given the amount of talent on the books in 2017, there really are no excuses as to why the Bunnies cannot find form and consistency.
As for what needs to change between now and then to achieve said consistency, that is for one of the NRL’s best, yet perhaps the most under pressure coaches to work out.