Will Souths Go Back To Back In 2015 ?

[muzby]

 

[Green River Eel]

The loss of Burgess will be huge, i think any team would miss his direction, heart, leadership and game on the park, the more i think about it the more i dont think they will be able to back it up, not to mention that they will be a marked club next year, every game will be huge for them, throw in the world club challenge, im tipping theres going to be some very tired players come round 20 next year for souths.

Surely they cant back it up.

 

[Bronco18]

Maybe... it'll be tough. Losing Burgess and Teo too means they'll probably have to change their playing style a bit, they won't be able to bash teams into submission which they did so effectively this year. Sutton and Stewart in the backrow means they will be able to play a more expansive game and gives their forwards a bit more variety.

There's still a lot of improvement in Tom Burgess as well as Keary. George Burgess seems to get better and better...

Don't discount the fact the Souths still got right to the top this year while playing without Luke and Keary for large chunks of the year.

 

[BranVan3000]

I think Moylan will become that for the Panthers. Junior Peach and Junior Cartwright could well develop along those lines as well.

If they can stay injury free, they will be a very dangerous team.

Personally, I think the Cowboys will win it next year. They have been building towards it for a few years now and this continual frustration of losing in the prelims should give them the drive they need.

The cowboys squad next year is weaker than it is this year

 

[BranVan3000]

Souths may be losing Sam. But Roosters are losing SBW and Minichello. Sea Eagles losing Glenn Stewart and Jason King. The Storm losing Hoffman. Dogs losing Ennis

All the big teams have some fundamental changes going into next year except for Panthers maybe

 

[txta2]

Cowboys window has gone.
Looking forward to having Souths rammed down our throats by Packer and Co.

 

[eozsmiles]

Plenty of people mentioning a possible lack of motivation being a drawback for Souths as well as the fact other teams will shift up a gear when they meet the premiers.

Imagine how good the game would be if every team tried their best every week.

 

[eozsmiles]

Souths may be losing Sam. But Roosters are losing SBW and Minichello. Sea Eagles losing Glenn Stewart and Jason King. The Storm losing Hoffman. Dogs losing Ennis

All the big teams have some fundamental changes going into next year except for Panthers maybe

Panthers will be better for this year's experience but will have a stiffer draw next year. That's not trolling, it's a likelihood of TV programming. They are a top 4 team from the west and on an upward spiral - they deserve the big clashes next year and the big crowds, good TV slots, and general media coverage they bring.

 

[sretsoor]

Every year the Nrl slightly changes the rules. Coincidently it's the premiers who often finds thier game plan has to change, I guess when coaches have input, they seek their own agenda and thus why its near impossible in the modern game to go b2b. I wish theyd leave the damn rules alone tbo.

 

[Dave_]

Yes

 

[souths_pride]

Souths pride- most of the reasons you state are applicable to every defending premier. Why shouldn't they be hungry for all the reasons you stated? The fact is for all those reasons, the drive to win that first premiership and prove themselves and capture that immortal moment is the strongest motivation in rugby league. For Souths all that is magnified with the history. In other circumstances I think they'd be as good a chance as any recent premier, next year I think they lose their edge and probably don't want it in those crucial moments like Easts this year. I tip 3rd and out in the prelim.

Panthers have a match winner in Soward. The team was a rabble in that prelim and they didn't have the variety of options to get through it. With a halfback, Api, Moylan, Soward, Peachey, Cartwright,Seg next year they have have winners.

If Green can solve the early season form and the away form issues Cows always have they have a much better chance and clearly have the talent to do it.

I agree with you. The idea about a lack of desire is a media beat up in my opinion. If the defending premiers don't make the grand final alot of people automatically assume that theyre not as hungry as the previous year.

Drive and determination is important but it can only get you so far. You need to have structures in place with regards to players, coaching strategy etc. in order to be successful. Souths have that! Remember this is a team that has gotten to at least within one game of the grand final for the last 3 years. Hunger aside, why wouldn't they be able to do it again?

As for Penrith, I agree with you. I think they can go along way. Whether they're ready to take the next step up is another matter. Very rarely do you go from being outside the top eight to premiers in such a short space of time. Its not impossible but when your up against teams with big game experience, beating them is the ultimate test.

The Cowboys have been the same for the last few years and I'm not so sure why given some of the players they've got. Like I've said before, some of their performance defy belief, yet on their day they can smash anyone. As a Souths fan, I can vouch for that! Their biggest problem is that the spine of their team, Thurston aside, are very inconsistent players. However, in saying that they've got some real talent in players like Taumalolo, Gavin Cooper is a good player, Kane Linnett is decent, James Tamou is an Australian front rower, as is Matt Scott and everyone has big wraps on Michael Morgan. So its not as if they've got a lack of talent.

 

[Juanjo]

Souths will come close but I highly doubt they can muster up the mental strength to deal with a heavy schedule. Have to keep in mind they have WCC which may now consist of a few competitive games and be on the other side of the world (is it in england this year? was here last year) plus charity shield against the Drags which is a bit more competitive than a trial match. It will feel like round 10 when they are only 3 weeks into the season. Surely with that amount of games no club could win a comp.

 

[BranVan3000]

Souths will come close but I highly doubt they can muster up the mental strength to deal with a heavy schedule. Have to keep in mind they have WCC which may now consist of a few competitive games and be on the other side of the world (is it in england this year? was here last year) plus charity shield against the Drags which is a bit more competitive than a trial match. It will feel like round 10 when they are only 3 weeks into the season. Surely with that amount of games no club could win a comp.

Souths will have the same amount of trials as everyone else. And the day Souths have any significant number of players in SOO I'll be very surprised. So I'll wait and see before declaring the season too long. I don't think it was too long for Roosters this year, they timed their run perfectly. They just came up against the best team in the competition at full strength

 

[BranVan3000]

Panthers will be better for this year's experience but will have a stiffer draw next year. That's not trolling, it's a likelihood of TV programming. They are a top 4 team from the west and on an upward spiral - they deserve the big clashes next year and the big crowds, good TV slots, and general media coverage they bring.

That won't bother them, they have some cool heads in that team. I would imagine then beating the majority of teams and with Api, Peachey and a few other young guns stepping in to a prominent role we may see even more out of their attack

 

[DC_fan]

It all depends on how they handle the week-to-week pressure of being the premiers.

 

[God-King Dean]

No. Their window was 12-14.

I said at the start of the year I think Souths will win. I didn't see any other major threat other than Roosters, & we all know how hard it is to go back-to-back.

For the same reason, I'm tipping either NZ/NQLD/Penrith. Maybe Broncos, depending on what effect Bennett has. Roosters still have a good side, despite SBW leaving.

 

[Panther_Daz]

I think it was clear that Penrith lacked a big game winner in the match against Canterbury. Is Wallace going to present that when he returns? I'm not sure. But they almost had nothing against the Dogs' defence.

.

Peachey and Cartwright coming back will help our attack massively.

Idris moving to the backrow next year will allow Waqa Blake to partner Whare in the centres.

 

[rabbitohs95]

I'm leaning towards Panthers and Cowboys, both teams will be burning with desire and with healthy rosters have some of the best teams in the comp. Time is running out for Thurston to win a premiership, and Soward and Wallace are not getting any younger, i think both are turning 30 next year.

Souths and Roosters will both have good years, most likely top 4 again, but i just think the desire of other teams might get the best of them. Both teams have done their job and are losing players that are massive to their team on and off the field and it might be tricky to replace them. Both still have great rosters though and will be dominant in the future.

Manly and the Storm are slowly fading dominance but will still be up there during the season, i'm not sure where they'll end up come finals time. The key players are only getting older and although there is some great young talent in their teams, so much still relies on the likes of Smith, Slater, Cronk, Lyon, Stewart, Matai etc. Key injuries did play a part in both teams seasons so i won't write them off just yet.

Everyone else is making up the numbers in my opinion.

 

[Ronnie Dobbs]

Pretty damn hard to go back to back these days, i think just about every GF winner naturally drops its intensity the year after and has a bit of a come down.
No doubt souths will be up there again when it matters but it will take some huge commitment and effort to back it up, i doubt they can do it but stranger things have happened.
The loss of Burgess will be a huge gap to fill but having Stewart coming in will go a long way to keeping a great pack, its going to be very interesting to see how souths backs it up next year.

Cheers

No.