Southern Districts captain Marcus Carbone says his side is devastated after yesterday’s shock 47-18 loss to Northern Suburbs.

The Rebels won nine straight matches and finished second at the end of the regular season, but were eliminated from the competition after yesterday’s loss and Eastwood’s shock victory over minor premiers Manly.

Under the current Shute Shield finals system, the two lowest ranked losers are eliminated in the opening week of the playoffs and only the minor premiers are safe in week one.

“I don’t think it was complacency. I think we trained well all week and we were ready for a tough encounter. In the first half, I felt we were in it even though a couple of things didn’t go our way but going into the second half I thought we had a good chance of getting back on top,” Carbone said.

“In the second half, a couple of 50/50 calls didn’t go our way, the bounce of the ball didn’t go our way and Norths were just really hungry and they defended brilliantly.

“I do think the better side won on the day, but we certainly didn’t do ourselves any favours.”

While Norths scored several opportunistic tries, the defending premiers were brutal in defence and dominated the break down.

Carbone shifted from No.8 to openside flanker following a season ending injury to regular No.7 Conor Mitchell last month, and admitted the Rebels missed a traditional breakaway against Norths.

“They are a smart side and they definitely targeted our breakdown but at the same time, we weren’t urgent enough and we didn’t support each other like we had been all year,” the captain said.

“Will Miller is a quality player. In my opinion, he should be at the next level and he capitalised on the fact we didn’t have a traditional No.7. I think we could have worked around that, but Will Miller was outstanding on the day.”

Ironically, Norths beat Souths at Forshaw Park in last year’s preliminary final in a match eerily similar to yesterday’s game.

“Two charge downs, an intercept try and a try from an uncontested bomb. You look at those tries and it’s frustrating because there is 20 or so points that came on the back of our mistakes and that could have been avoided,” Carbone added.

“You shouldn’t make those mistakes in finals footy and we did so I guess it’s just another learning curve. We’ve been in the mix for five years now and I think this is probably the toughest loss to take.”

While the 26-year old said he didn’t want to make excuses, Carbone said he thought the finals system is something that should be looked at ahead of the 2017 season.

“To finish second and then be done after one loss, it’s pretty tough to take and I think it’s something that should be considered for next year. Possibly first and second get a week off, then third plays sixth and fourth plays fifth for a spot in the preliminary finals.

“That way first and second are rewarded for their efforts in the regular season. At the end of the day though, that’s the system that we’ve got and dwelling on it isn’t going to change the result.”

Southern Districts’ second grade side benefitted from the six team finals system and will play Eastwood in next week’s preliminary final, after losing to Manly 39-38 on Saturday.

“Seconds have been outstanding all year and I think that’s really helped first grade because there has been some strong competition for spots and that has lifted the standard at training,” Carbone said.

“I’m sure all the first graders will be down supporting seconds and hopefully the entire club can watch them win a premiership in a few weeks time.”