South Sydney head into their second year under coach Jason Demetriou with their sights firmly fixed on shaking off the bridesmaid tag after making it to the final four in each of the past five seasons without picking up a premiership.
An ugly second-half collapse to the eventual champions Penrith in the preliminary final last year is sure to still burn for the Bunnies, but having maintained all but a couple of their first-choice squad from last year, they are well positioned to have another crack in 2023.
Before a ball has even been kicked in the new season the Rabbitohs ticked off an important goal by locking in superstar spine trio Latrell Mitchell, Cody Walker and Damien Cook on new deals.
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Predicted Round 1 team
- Latrell Mitchell
- Alex Johnston
- Campbell Graham
- Isaiah Tass
- Izaac Thompson
- Cody Walker
- Lachlan Ilias
- Tevita Tatola
- Damien Cook
- Thomas Burgess
- Keaon Koloamatangi
- Jai Arrow
- Cameron Murray
- Blake Taaffe
- Shaquai Mitchell
- Jacob Host
- Davvy Moale
Other: Siliva Havili (injured), Hame Sele (injured), Ben Lovett, Dean Hawkins, Jed Cartwright, Josiah Karapani, Leon Te Hau, Daniel Suluka-Fifita, Liam Knight (injured), Terrell Kalo Kalo, Michael Chee Kam, Peter Mamouzelos, Taane Milne (suspended), Tallis Duncan (development), Tyrone Munro (development), Jye Gray (development)/
The best NRL tries from the Rabbitohs in 2022
Squad watch
- Squad spots filled: 30/30
South Sydney's squad remains mostly unchanged from 2022, with just three players departing over the off-season and no big-name recruits.
Taane Milne will likely go straight onto the wing when he returns from suspension in round 2.
Health watch
Siliva Havili underwent surgery on his foot in February and is expected to be out for around 12 weeks, ruling him out of the early part of the season.
Hame Sele injured his calf in the Pre-season Challenge with his spot now in doubt for the season opener against the Sharks.
Liam Knight is targeting a mid-season return following a nasty tackle last season which caused significant damage to his ACL and medial ligament.
Most contentious position
There is little up for debate when it comes to the coach Demetriou's starting 13, but there is some intrigue around how he will shape his bench.
Blake Taafe is likely to replace Kodi Nikorima as a utility but the Rabbitohs have a host of forwards who could take the final three spots.
Davvy Moale, Daniel Suluka-Fifita, Michael Chee Kam and Jacob Host are pushing for Round 1 but when Hame Sele and Siliva Havili return it could cause a few headaches.
Walker and Mitchell: A match made in Rugby League heaven
Biggest strength
The spine is formidable and last year helped the Rabbitohs over the line on a number of occasions with their clever ball playing and out and out individual brilliance.
Mitchell topped the NRL in average line break assists in 2022, laying on 1.4 per game, and trailed only Nathan Cleary for average try assists per game last year, averaging one every time he took the field. Walker also ranked in the competition's top 15 in both of those categories.
Cook continues to be a dynamic threat in the No.9 jersey, last year having the second highest dummy-half run rate in the NRL, while young halfback Lachlan Ilias really found his feet towards the back end of the year and was a good foil for Walker in the halves.
The best Alex Johnston tries in 2022
Biggest question mark
They did plenty of things very well in 2022, but the Rabbitohs were also among the NRL's worst disciplined sides and had the second-highest error rate in the competition.
Across the year South Sydney averaged 11.3 errors per game, with Walker the chief offender, committing 35 errors in 27 games.
While the Rabbitohs are always going to have a reasonably high error count due to the, at times, high risk style they play, cutting down on these and increasing their time with ball in hand could make them an even more dangerous prospect in 2023.
On the penalty front they put themselves under pressure too, with only the Storm and Roosters giving away more than the Rabbitohs average of 5.9 per game.