Squad breakdown: Rabbitohs 2024 Supercoach analysis

On paper, South Sydney have a squad that should compete for an NRL premiership in 2024.



After 11 rounds last season they sat on top of the table and were genuine title contenders as a result.



They capitulated horribly to miss the finals, which we all know well.



The roster is littered with talent, and they add Jack Wighton to their squad, so they should be among the main title threats this season.



As always, they’re again littered in Supercoach scoring potential as a result of their attacking prowess.



The trip to Vegas worries me early on a touch, with a smaller field, and whatever toll it may take on the players.



Furthermore, it means we have to lock in any Rabbitohs players a week earlier than the remaining 14 clubs which is far from ideal.



It’s a tough opening three rounds before easing a little after that.



Let’s take a look at the Rabbitohs Supercoach prospects to start the season.



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading">South Sydney Rabbitohs predicted team</h3>



1. Latrell Mitchell&nbsp; 2.&nbsp;Taane Milne 3.&nbsp;Isaiah Tass 4.&nbsp;Jacob Gagai 5.&nbsp;Alex Johnston 6.&nbsp;Cody Walker 7.&nbsp;Lachlan Ilias 8. Sean Keppie 9.&nbsp;Damien Cook 10. Tevita Tatola 11.&nbsp;Keaon Koloamatangi 12.&nbsp;Jai Arrow 13.&nbsp;Cameron Murray



14. Siliva Havili 15.&nbsp;Tallis Duncan&nbsp; 16.&nbsp;Davvy Moale&nbsp; 17.&nbsp;Tom Burgess



Unavailable:&nbsp;Jack Wighton (suspension, round 3), Daniel Suluka-Fifita (ACL, mid-season), Ben Lovett (knee, mid-season), Campbell Graham (sternum, long-term), Tyrone Munro (shoulder, round 4)



Analysis:



Raiders recruit Jack Wighton is unavailable until round 3 with Isaiah Tass to start at centre.



Campbell Graham is out long-term with a sternum injury, with Jacob Gagai or Richie Kennar likely to deputise at centre until Wighton returns.



Tyrone Munro is out until approximately round 4, opening a spot for Taane Milne on the wing.



Tallis Duncan will push for a starting back-row role this season, but Jai Arrow is expected to play the edge role to start the year.



Keaon Koloamatangi may make the move to the left edge this season, which would line up alongside Cody Walker, Jack Wighton and Alex Johnston with a sweeping Latrell Mitchell. Good luck stopping that…



Peter Mamouzelos could push Siliva Havili off the bench after re-signing recently for three years, but at this stage I don’t believe he will.



Shaq Mitchell could oust recruit Sean Keppie for a spot in the 17.



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Draw</h2>



Sea Eagles (Vegas), Broncos (A), Roosters (A), Bulldogs (H), Warriors (H)



Five five rounds rating: 5/10



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Guns</h2>



Latrell Mitchell ($789,400, FLB)



Latrell does present some appeal early on despite the tough draw.



He’s had fairly hindered pre-seasons in recent years, but enters 2024 fully fit.



One of his best mates in Jack Wighton arrives in 2024 and I believe this can help bring the best out in Latrell on a more regular basis.



It’s a stacked fullback field, but Latrell on his day is arguably the pick of the litter outside of perhaps Tommy Turbo.



He’s just 26-years-old and will only get better. He averaged 77 last season, down on averages of 85 and 82 in the season’s prior, so there’s potential value to be had.



I don’t mind him at all as a starter for the new season.



Cody Walker ($705,400, 5/8)



In a relatively tough 5/8 position Cody is a little tempting, but there are a few red flags.



The draw for the first three rounds isn’t ideal, while he’s not exactly a spring chicken at 34-years-old.



He hasn’t looked like slowing down just yet, but father time has to strike eventually.



While he’d be a decent pick up, he’s a big price when considering most are looking at starting Cleary, Hynes, Ponga and another gun fullback, so $700k is another big lump to fork out.



I’m happy to watch early on in the season and pick him up for a softer run of games as the attack starts to get more fluent later in the year.



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<s>Campbell Graham ($703,000, CTW)</s>



<s>Graham had his best Supercoach season to date in 2023, averaging 69 points.</s>



<s>This was up from averages of 63, 56 and 61 in season’s prior.</s>



<s>Most impressive with Graham is his workrate, notching a terrific base (tackles + runs) of 35 per game last season.</s>



<s>He’s extremely reliable, but he is expensive to start the season as a result.</s>



<s>I am concerned that Jack Wighton’s arrival on the left edge – which is absolutely stacked – may see the right edge get less ball this season.</s>



<s>Not for me to start.</s>



Damien Cook ($663,200, HOK)



Cooky makes a decent starting case provided Peter Mamouzelos isn’t named on the bench to start the year.



I suspect he won’t, with Siliva Havili as cover at hooker if required, but Mamouzelos did just re-sign for three years so he may not be far off a spot.



As it stands, Cook is one of the few reliable 80 minute hookers in the NRL which is significant for his Supercoach prospects.



He has high attacking upside in a gun team, and priced on a 65 point average he makes appeal.



His 47 base last year was solid, while his attacking output was decent also.



He had three tries and nine try-assists, I wouldn’t be surprised to see either of these stats head north in 2024.



There’s probably better value elsewhere, but I don’t mind the pick.



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Cam Murray ($639,300, 2RF)



Like every year, I must preface my Cam Murray analysis by saying there’s some serious fan boy bias coming up.



He scored only four tries last year, along with five try-assists, I’m very confident both of these increase this season.



He came agonisingly close to having a tonne more last season but fell just short.



He’s too good not to increase those numbers.



He averaged just 63 points which is his lowest in a long-time, averaging between 68-71 in the four season’s prior.



His base of 50 was great in a strong 68 minutes per game.



I’m interested in starting with him, however the make-up of the bench will impact my decision.



If it’s named as I’ve listed above there’s possibly some concern around minutes, if Mamouzelos sneaks onto the bench it’d help.



That being said, he averaged his most minutes in the past five years in 2023 and it resulted in his lowest average, so it may not be a major impact.



Back in 2019 he averaged 69 points in just 59 minutes.



Circling back to the top, there’s lots of bias in that…



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Mid-rangers</h2>



Alex Johnston ($596,900, CTW)



Johnston is probably worthy of gun status, but that category is pretty stacked already at the Bunnies.



AJ averaged just 58 last year despite scoring a stack of tries.



It was significantly down on averages of 68 and 73 in the two season’s prior.



It makes him tempting at the price, but the big factor will be the impact of Jack Wighton inside him.



Having spent years at five-eighth he’ll be an outstanding ball playing centre, but Jack is also known primarily for his running game.



Will he be looking for the deft tip-on to his winger or will he be pinning the ears to the try-line?



If it’s the former it could see AJ goes huge this season on such a stacked left edge, if it’s the latter it may be an issue.



This will be a key watch during the trial period for me before I make up my mind, but I’m leaning towards avoiding.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">🚨 Jack Wighton signs on until at least the end of the 2027 season ❤️💚 We look forward to welcoming you to the Souths family in 2024 🐰 Details: <a href="https://t.co/dBCx8i3L2M">https://t.co/dBCx8i3L2M</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoRabbitohs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GoRabbitohs</a> <a href="https://t.co/TCU7xsXVTS">pic.twitter.com/TCU7xsXVTS</a>&mdash; South Sydney Rabbitohs 🐰 (@SSFCRABBITOHS) <a href="https://twitter.com/SSFCRABBITOHS/status/1651121431261106181?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 26, 2023</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Jack Wighton ($529,900, CTW)



I won’t go into much detail on Jack as playing at centre at club level makes him a relative unknown in Supercoach terms, especially at a new team.



He’s also unavailable for the trip to Vegas.



His output at Origin level when playing centre has been great though.



He lands an outstanding role as left centre for South Sydney outside Cody and Latrell, so there’s serious potential.



However, it’s a definite pre-season watch and wait for me as I suspect he’ll be an avoid.



Tevita Tatola ($435,600, FRF)



I’ve seen a fair bit of pre-season hype around Tatola in Supercoach circles but I’m not overly enthused.



He averaged 44 minutes per game last season, slightly down perhaps on regular minutes due to a few in-game injuries including playing just 1 minute in round 1.



South Sydney were also short on middles at stages last season which led to greater minutes.



If the four middle forward bench is named as per above I’ll have no interest, if Mamouzelos gets a bench spot then he’ll be slightly more appealing, but not for me.



Is he really going to increase much on his 44 minutes per game? Probably not.



He has no real attacking upside, and if Tallis Duncan kills it we may see Jai Arrow move to the middle. Pass.



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Cheapies</h2>



Tallis Duncan ($321,600)



Duncan is a little above genuine cheapie price but he’s worth noting down here.



For now I’ve got him on the bench in my predicted team to start the season, but if he impresses during trials there’s a chance he nabs a starting edge spot which would push Arrow into the middle.



Duncan looks a talent and a real Supercoach prospect to boot.



In seven games last season he averaged 35 points in 29 minutes.



In that time he had 26 points in base.



If he starts in the season opener he’ll be in just about every Supercoach team, but I don’t think you can pick him off the bench.

Squad breakdown: Rabbitohs 2024 Supercoach analysis

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