2009 South Sydney Rabbitohs season

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.

2009 South Sydney Rabbitohs season
NRL Rank10th (out of 16)
Play-off resultN/A
2009 recordWins: 11; draws: 1; losses: 12
Points scoredFor: 566; against: 549
Team information
CEOShane Richardson
CoachJason Taylor
Captain
StadiumANZ Stadium
Top scorers
TriesNathan Merritt (19)
GoalsChris Sandow (60)
PointsChris Sandow (133)
← 2008 2010 →

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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National Australia Bank

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

DeLonghi

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

V8 Supercars Australia

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

Virgin Blue

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

2009 squad

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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

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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. ^ 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.