# 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, they finished 10th out of 16 teams and so failed to reach the play-offs.
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.
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.

## Pre season

The Rabbitohs played three pre-season games in 2009.
| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Attendance |
| 8 February | Return to Redfern | Wests Tigers | ATP Performance Centre, Redfern | 26–30 | 5,000 |
| 14 February | Coffs Harbour Trial | Penrith Panthers | BCU International Stad., Coffs Harbour | 38–4 | |
| 28 February | Charity Shield | St. George Illawarra Dragons | ANZ Stadium, Sydney | 18–6 | 25,871 |
| Legend: Win Loss Draw |||||||

## Regular season

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Attendance |
| 15 March | 1 | Sydney Roosters | Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney | 52–12 | 24,486 |
| 20 March | 2 | Parramatta Eels | ANZ Stadium, Sydney | 8–14 | 20,871 |
| 29 March | 3 | Newcastle Knights | Bluetongue Stadium, Central Coast | 22–12 | 15,277 |
| 5 April | 4 | New Zealand Warriors | Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland | 22–16 | 19,386 |
| 13 April | 5 | Canterbury Bulldogs | ANZ Stadium, Sydney | 12–14 | 22,775 |
| 18 April | 6 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | ANZ Stadium, Sydney | 8–24 | 14,225 |
| 24 April | 7 | Cronulla Sharks | ANZ Stadium, Sydney | 32–26 | 11,208 |
| 2 May | 8 | Gold Coast Titans | Skilled Park, Gold Coast | 14–22 | |
| | 9 | BYE | | | |
| 17 May | 10 | Wests Tigers | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney | 23–22 | 29,970 |
| 22 May | 11 | Parramatta Eels | ANZ Stadium, Sydney | 16–16 | 10,670 |
| 1 June | 12 | Canberra Raiders | ANZ Stadium, Sydney | 18–34 | 9,805 |
| 6 June | 13 | North Queensland Cowboys | Dairy Farmers Stadium, Townsville | 12–46 | |
| 13 June | 14 | Melbourne Storm | nib Stadium, Perth | 22–28 | 15,198 |
| | 15 | BYE | | | |
| 29 June | 16 | Newcastle Knights | Ausgrid Stadium, Newcastle | 20–25 | 14,204 |
| 4 July | 17 | Wests Tigers | ANZ Stadium, Sydney | 20–54 | 14,856 |
| 10 July | 18 | Penrith Panthers | ANZ Stadium, Sydney | 36–12 | 9,017 |
| 17 July | 19 | Brisbane Broncos | Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane | 44–12 | 50,109 |
| 27 July | 20 | Sydney Roosters | ANZ Stadium, Sydney | 40–20 | 11,031 |
| 2 August | 21 | Canterbury Bulldogs | ANZ Stadium, Sydney | 18–26 | 24,217 |
| 8 August | 22 | Manly Sea Eagles | Brookvale Oval, Manly | 36–22 | 15,702 |
| 14 August | 23 | Gold Coast Titans | ANZ Stadium, Sydney | 14–22 | 11,977 |
| 22 August | 24 | Penrith Panthers | Penrith Stadium, Penrith | 10–40 | 14,214 |
| 29 August | 25 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | ANZ Stadium, Sydney | 41–6 | 19,218 |
| 5 September | 26 | Cronulla Sharks | Toyota Stadium, Cronulla | 26–24 | 14,879 |

## Statistics

| 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

2009 NRL seasonvte :
| 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 | 38$^1$ |
| 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
### National Australia Bank

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

### DeLonghi

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

### V8 Supercars Australia

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

### Virgin Blue

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

## 2009 squad

| 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:

## Player statistics

| Player | Appearances | Tries | Goals | Field Goals | Total Points |

## Representative honours

| Player | All Stars | Anzac Test | Pacific Test | City / Country | State of Origin 1 | State of Origin 2 | State of Origin 3 | Four Nations |