South Sydney Rabbitohs 2025 NRL season preview
2024 recap
For a side who should have been in finals contention, it’s hard to believe how bad the Rabbitohs were in 2024.
They won just one of their first 10 games, sacked their head coach, and eventually finished second-bottom.
A run of five straight wins in mid-season gave them an outside chance of the top eight, but they followed up with just one win from their final nine games to end a miserable year on a low.
2024 position: 16th
Key signings
Euan Aitken (Dolphins), Lewis Dodd (St Helens), Lachlan Hubner (Dolphins), Jamie Humphreys (Manly Sea Eagles), Josh Schuster (Manly Sea Eagles), Jayden Sullivan (Wests Tigers)
Key departures
Thomas Burgess (Huddersfield Giants), Damien Cook (St George Illawarra Dragons), Jacob Gagai (Huddersfield Giants), Dean Hawkins (Parramatta Eels), Lachlan Ilias (St George Illawarra Dragons), Taane Milne (Huddersfield Giants), Leon Te Hau (Brisbane Tigers), Izaac Thompson (Canberra Raiders)
Players to watch
Lewis Dodd is the latest name to try and replace club legend Adam Reynolds in the number seven jersey. Since Reynolds’ departure at the end of 2021, the Bunnies have gone through multiple halves with little success. Englishman Dodd arrives off the back of an underwhelming year in Super League, and his first year in the NRL is going to be sink or swim.
Josh Schuster is another of the new boys with some pressure on him. The 23 year-old looked set to be a Manly stalwart when he signed a big-money contract with them in 2023, but things turned sour very quickly and he was frozen out less than a year later. A cut-price contract in 2025 with the Bunnies will either see him get back to the form that earned him that big contract with the Sea Eagles, or he’ll fade away like so many other promising young talents.
Young gun
Haizyn Mellars is one to watch in 2025. At 193cm tall and weighing 100kg, the 20 year-old winger certainly has the physical attributes to be an NRL player, and if he gets a first grade debut this year, he’ll hope to show he has the talent as well.
Our prediction – 8th
I’m expecting the Wayne Bennett effect to be on show for the Bunnies in 2025. Talent-wise, there are stronger squads out there, and I can’t see them challenging for a Premiership this year, but a top eight finish is more than achievable, and will give them a platform to build on in 2026.
