Sutton eyes return to finals for Souths

As South Sydney’s NRL games record holder John Sutton has seen the best and worst of life at the Rabbitohs, but in 2017 he is targeting one thing, a return to finals football.

Sutton endured tough early years at the club, playing in wooden spoon sides in two out of his first three seasons, as the club struggled upon their readmission to the competition.

He was then part of the exhilarating resurgence which carried them to preliminary finals in 2012 and 2013 and culminated in them winning the 2014 premiership, the club’s first in 43 years.

That momentum couldn’t be maintained and they dropped to seventh the following year before a miserable 2016 saw them win just nine games and crash to 12th on the ladder, missing the finals for the first time since 2011.

“(It was) very disappointing, you want to be there in October,” Sutton said.

“We’ve had a couple of disappointing years, so we’re going to be working hard to get back there.”

The 32-year-old forward is just as excited about the prospect of starting his 14th season as he was his first, back in 2004.

“We’ve got a lot of young blokes in the squad, they keep me young,” Sutton said.

“I enjoy coming in every day, and training with the boys and getting to play on the weekends so, I’m really looking forward to it.”

The recruitment off 33-year-old former Tigers rake Robbie Farah means Sutton is not the oldest player in the Rabbitohs squad and Sutton feels Farah’s experience, ability to drive his fellow forwards around the field and his kicking game will be assets for Souths.

He was excited by the potential of the combination of Farah and Damien Cook, who each played a half at hooker in the recent Charity Shield game.

“I thought it was awesome, Cooky has got that explosive speed,” Sutton said.

“When he came on he set up that really good try for Burnsy (Braidon Burns), so seeing what Madge (Souths’ coach Michael Maguire) is going to do there is exciting.”

The 2017 season also brings further change for Sutton, who is expected to continue to play in the forwards but says a shift to his old role of five-eighth would be welcome if he was asked to play there.

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