2005 South Sydney Rabbitohs season

The 2005 South Sydney Rabbitohs season was the 96th in the club's history. Coached by Shaun McRae and captained by Bryan Fletcher and Peter Cusack, they competed in the National Rugby League's 2005 Telstra Premiership, finishing the regular season 13th out of 15 teams, failing to reach the finals.

2005 South Sydney Rabbitohs season
NRL RankFirst Grade
Team information
CEOAustralia
CoachAustralia Shaun McRae
Captain
  • Australia
StadiumAussie Stadium
Top scorers
TriesAustralia
GoalsAustralia
PointsAustralia
< 2004 2006 >

In March, Souths life member Russell Crowe made the Rabbitohs the first club team in Australia to be sponsored by a film, when he negotiated a deal to advertise his movie Cinderella Man on their jerseys.[1] The Rabbitohs' first win of the season was a 49–26 triumph over the Parramatta Eels in Round 2.

The Rabbitohs would be winless again until Round 5, when they defeated the Newcastle Knights 37–12 at Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium in Gosford, before a crowd of 16,162.

For the next eight rounds, the Rabbitohs suffered loss after loss to the NRL juggernauts (including form teams Melbourne, Brisbane and Manly with the only relief being the bye in Round 8. After a promising start, Season 2005 was shaping up much like the last few years for the Rabbitohs.

However Round 13 against the Bulldogs was to prove a turning point in the club's season. Souths held the reigning premiers to a shock 21-all draw, and thereafter, momentum suddenly seemed to be swinging back the Bunnies' way. A week later they hammered Manly 44–6, and though they went on to lose three more consecutively after that (including a second to arch-rivals St George Illawarra Dragons), they bounced back to win 5 of their last 6, beginning with a 24–14 win over Cronulla at the Sydney Football Stadium, and highlighted with a spirited 16-14 downing of the North Queensland Cowboys at Dairy Farmers Stadium in Townsville. Finally overcoming the Bulldogs in Round 21, the Rabbitohs also defeated the Sydney Roosters in Sydney 17–16 in a hard-fought and spiteful encounter. Their last match was against the Sharks at Toyota Stadium. Souths won this in convincing fashion, with young five-eighth John Sutton making a significant impression.

All in all, season 2005 was the most promising since re-admission; under coach Shaun McRae the team were beginning to look like a renewed force. Their reasonably strong finish handed the bottom place on the NRL ladder to the Newcastle Knights, therefore avoiding the horrible fate of receiving three wooden-spoons in a row. South Sydney finished the 2005 season level on 23 premiership points with 2004 premiers the Canterbury Bulldogs.

Ladder

Pos Team Pld W D L B PF PA PD Pts
1 Parramatta Eels 2416082704456+24836
2 St George Illawarra Dragons 2416082655510+14536
3 Brisbane Broncos 2415092597484+11334
4 Wests Tigers (P) 24140102676575+10132
5 North Queensland Cowboys 24140102639563+7632
6 Melbourne Storm 24130112640462+17830
7 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 24120122550564-1428
8 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 24120122554632-7828
9 Sydney Roosters 24110132488487+126
10 Penrith Panthers 24110132554554026
11 New Zealand Warriors 24100142515528-1324
12 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 2491142472670-19823
13 South Sydney Rabbitohs 2491142482700-21823
14 Canberra Raiders 2490152465606-14122
15 Newcastle Knights 2480162467667-20020

Player statistics

PlayerAppearancesTriesGoalsField GoalsTotal Points
Roy Bell 5 3 1 0 14
Beau Champion 8 0 3 0 6
Peter Cusack 24 2 0 0 8
Chris Enahoro 1 0 0 0 0
David Fa'alogo 24 3 0 0 12
Bryan Fletcher 14 4 0 0 16
Scott Geddes 18 1 0 0 4
Yileen Gordon 10 2 0 0 8
Glenn Hall 3 0 0 0 0
Ashley Harrison 21 10 0 0 40
Shannon Hegarty 22 4 0 0 16
Lee Hookey 11 3 0 0 12
Brett Kearney 3 0 0 0 0
Scott Logan 20 1 0 0 4
Shannan Mcpherson 2 0 0 0 0
Adam Macdougall 17 2 0 0 8
Luke Macdougall 16 11 0 0 44
Manase Manuokafoa 15 2 0 0 8
Shane Marteene 3 1 0 0 4
Mark Minichiello 24 5 0 0 20
Mick Moran 11 2 0 0 8
Todd Polglase 18 8 0 0 32
Shane Rigon 13 2 0 0 8
Luke Stuart 22 1 0 0 4
John Sutton 19 5 7 1 35
Peter Taylor 1 0 0 0 0
Ben Walker 9 3 24 3 63
Shane Walker 18 1 0 0 4
Brad Watts 13 5 12 0 44
Joe Williams 8 0 23 2 48
Garth Wood 7 2 0 0 8
Trent Young 8 1 0 0 4
Totals 84 70 6 482

Source:[2]

Representative honours

PlayerAll StarsANZAC TestPacific TestCity / CountryState of Origin 1State of Origin 2State of Origin 3Four Nations
Ashley Harrison 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0

References

  1. AAP (11 March 2005). "Crowe sees ad trend". The Sydney Morning Herald. Australia. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
  2. "NRL 2005 - South Sydney Rabbitohs". www.rugbyleagueproject.org.
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