Predicted Finish: 4th
Actual Finish: 6th
I'm going to claim this as Souths proved in the finals that they're the third/fourth best team in the NRL. Another year as we have come to expect from the powerhouse in red and green.
A third straight Prelim exit though has to frustrate many.
4. Season Grading
B+
Despite the frustration of falling short of a Grand Final appearance, I can't see 2020 as anything other than a success for those in the Burrow.
Dane Gagai played his best club footy in years and added yet another danger out wide to one of the competition's most lethal sides.
Boasting one of the elite NRL rosters, much was expected heading into the season. So much so that I would say finishing sixth was probably below par. That said, their finals run was incredible and they went a week further than most in a similar situation.
They could have beaten the Panthers on the night. I know that's easy to say but the four-point loss wasn't one of those games where a team bashes the other for 70 minutes, eases up and score line finishes closer than it had any right to.
Ultimately there won't be any celebrations in Redfern given they didn't achieve the ultimate goal of a title, but given the side pretty much rolls over into next season, and the fact Latrell has a second pre-season at fullback, they're set up well for a shot next year.
Hardly anyone predicted that Souths would make the Top 8, let alone the Top 4 or a Preliminary Final.
Most scribes, experts and fans had the Rabbitohs finishing between 8th and 13th position given the turnover of Rabbitohs greats…
GI, Sutton, Sam and George.
Let us face it they weren’t replaced by anyone of note.
What did emerge was quite a few youngsters stepping up and doing a fine job.
These youngsters will be even better in 2021.
Hey Reggie!
Who predicted that Penrith would move from 11th position, to defeated once & minor premiers? Iโd say that would be nobody at all!
Southโs had done the same last season, as they did for the 2 years before that. So although their forwards looked weaker on paper in 2020, it wasnโt such a big call for them to achieve the same things yet again.
So with the Panthers losing more talent , will they drop down? Probably, as itโs hard to achieve even a minor premiership, with less experienced players. However, now that they know that they can achieve this & are good enough. Panthers youngsters like one of the best backs to come along in years , Charlie Staines. The young prop forward other clubs wanted to pay overs for , Spencer Leniu. Young star prop of the future, Lindsay Smith. Plus all the other youngsters , that now have some experience, such as Jerome Luai. Could also help them to stay near the top of the table.
Whoโs predicting them to stay where they were in 2020? No one …
Is it possible?