Greg Inglis is a fullback - never move him - yeah?

Pin-pointing how to feel about South Sydney Rabbitohs' 2016 NRL season is perhaps the most complex task of any team's debrief. There were stages during the year when the Rabbitohs looked powerful and slick, however these moments were fleeting and were largely restricted to the last few weeks of the season with the rest of their season headlined by a worrying lack of starch through the middle of the field.

As with most of the teams who struggled for relevance this season, injuries and suspension played their part with the Rabbitohs simply unable to roll out a full-strength team up until those last few weeks. It's no coincidence that the Rabbitohs slump came with Greg Inglis being used in a variety of different positions and the inconsistency shown by coach Michael Maguire with regards to Inglis definitely hampered the Rabbitohs. This was exciting for a period - I wrote about all the options available to Maguire - but Inglis is best used as a fullback sniffing for opportunities through the middle on the back of the Burgess brothers and any quick play-the-balls.

Sympathy here comes as Maguire was probably just trying to fill holes in his line up and that's a mark of Inglis' ability as a footballer. I simply can't ignore the fact that the Rabbitohs played their best footy with Inglis at fullback, Cody Walker and Adam Reynolds in the halves and Damien Cook at hooker. Forget any other combination that the Bunnies used this season; having a lethal ball-runner and borderline creative genius in Walker playing alongside the control of Reynolds with Inglis chiming in when he saw fit, was lethal.

The way the Rabbitohs forwards were often dominated this season is a huge cause for concern, even if they turned the corner late in the season. Sam Burgess had a fantastic season in the No.13 jersey and was among the Rabbitohs' top players each and every game, however he couldn't lead the Rabbitohs to victories despite rolling through 30+ tackles, 150-odd metres and a couple offloads each game. No forward has the ability to lead his team to glory, you need the guys around that star player contributing as well and once Tom and George Burgess started to chip in and catch the footy, things looked alright.

One issue for the Rabbitohs will be the size of their forwards and the lack of agility through the middle. Nathan Brown is crucial to this and the reason why he enjoyed a breakout season through the middle for the Bunnies was because he was a rugged forward, tough as nails and all of that but he was quick-footed. The NRL requires speed, footwork and power which Brown has by the bucket-load but he could be off to Parramatta next season and the speed of the NRL doesn't gel well with the Burgess twins especially.

Like the Roosters, the Rabbitohs had to absorb a dip after winning a Premiership - such is life with the salary cap. This meant that we saw the Rabbitohs give game time to fresh faces who may not quite be established NRL players now and is part of the reason why they struggled, but there'll be benefit in this over the next few seasons. Angus Crichton, Jack Gosiewski and Zane Musgrove all enjoyed decent stints of NRL footy in the forwards, while Hymel Hunt, Siosifa Talakai and even the likes of Aaron Gray who was given consistent footy this season in the backline will all benefit from a season of hardship.

There are a few signings on the way to Redfern next season that will offer Rabbitohs fans some encouragement, this is the 2016 debrief though. I'm definitely optimistic about where the Rabbitohs are heading, but that optimism is countered by a feeling that I can't shake; 2016 showed how quickly the NRL has moved forward and it's the Rabbitohs who are one of a few teams who have simply been left behind.

What's unique about the Rabbitohs is that things are that drastic, to the point where they need to wipe the slate clean and rebuild. In saying that, they won't be winning anything in the next few seasons with their roster the way it is and we saw a few cracks in the culture around Redfern starting to appear. If you look at 2016 as a bridge between their Premiership campaign and their next Premiership tilt, it's not a season that fills people - other NRL players looking for a new club especially - with hope or excitement. It looks as though the Rabbitohs are floating, floating along a plateau and while they certainly aren't a bad footy team, they're a long way off being near that upper echelon.