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South Sydney Rabbitohs

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The South Sydney Rabbitohs, also known as Souths, The Bunnies, SSFC or The Rabbits, are an Australian professional rugby league team based in Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and are one of nine existing teams from Sydney. The club was founded in 1908 and was one of the foundation members in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership, the predecessor of the current NRL competition. They are one of only two foundation clubs still present in the league, the other being the Sydney Roosters.

The Rabbitohs' traditional heartland covers the once-typically working class suburbs of inner-south and south eastern Sydney, however they have long held a wide supporter base spread all over country New South Wales. Previous home grounds have included Redfern Oval and the Sydney Football Stadium, and currently ANZ Stadium at Sydney Olympic Park.

At the elite competition level, South Sydney are the most successful professional team in the history of Australian rugby league in terms of total championships won, having claimed 20 first grade premierships. However, they have not won a premiership since 1971. In 2007 Souths qualified for their first finals series since 1989.

The South Sydney Rabbitohs will celebrate their centenary year during the 2008 National Rugby League season. The club will field teams in the National Rugby League Telstra Premiership and the Toyota Cup National Youth Competition throughout the 2008 season.

The Rabbitohs also have affiliate clubs in the New South Wales Cup competition (North Sydney Bears) and the European Super League (Leeds Rhinos, the reigning Super League champions).

On 26 January, 2008, the Rabbitohs lost 24-26 to the Leeds Rhinos in front of 12,000 fans at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida, the first time first-grade professional rugby league teams from Australia and England have played each other in the United States.

Currently business man Peter Holmes à Court and actor Russell Crowe together run the Rabbitohs.

History

The South Sydney District Rugby League Football Club was formed at a meeting on 17 January 1908 at Redfern Town Hall when administrator J J Giltinan, cricketer Victor Trumper and politician Henry Clement Hoyle came together in front of a large crowd of supporters. The club played in the first round of the newly-formed New South Wales Rugby League, defeating North Sydney 11–7 at Birchgrove Oval on 20 April 1908. The team went on to win the inaugural premiership then successfully defended their title in the 1909 season, winning the Grand Final by default. After further premiership success in 1914 and 1918, South Sydney won seven of the eight premierships from 1925–1932, only missing out in 1930. The 1925 side went through the season undefeated and is only one of six Australian premiership sides in history to have achieved this feat. Such was Souths dominance in the early years of the rugby league competition that the Rabbitohs were labelled "The Pride of the League".

In the 1950s South Sydney again had great success, winning five of the six premierships from 1950–1955, and losing the 1952 Grand Final against Western Suburbs in controversial circumstances. The 1951 side's point scoring feat in their 42–14 victory over Manly-Warringah remains the highest score by a team in a Grand Final and "the miracle of '55 involved South Sydney winning 11 straight sudden death matches to win the premiership. Players that were involved in these years included Denis Donoghue, Jack Rayner, Les "Chicka" Cowie, Johnny Graves, Ian Moir, Greg Hawick, Ernie Hammerton, Bernie Purcell and Clive Churchill.

In the late 1950s Souths began a poor run of form failing to make the finals from 1958–1964. However in 1965 a talented young side made the Grand Final against St. George who were aiming to secure their 10th straight premiership. The young Rabbitohs weren't owerawed by the Dragons formidable experience and in front of a record crowd of 78,056 at the Sydney Cricket Ground, they went down narrowly 12–8. The nucleus of this side went on to feature in Australian representative teams for the next six years and ensured another golden period for South Sydney making five successive grand finals from 1967–1971, winning four. Bob McCarthy, John O'Neill, Eric Simms, Ron Coote, Mike Cleary and John Sattler from 1965 were later joined by Elwyn Walters, Ray Branighan, Paul Sait, Gary Stevens and coach Clive Churchill to form a fearsome combination before internal strife and poaching by other clubs from 1972 onwards unravelled the star studded pack. From this period comes part of South's and Australian Rugby League folklore when in the 1970 premiership decider against Manly, captain John Sattler inspired the side to victory playing out 70 minutes of the match with his jaw broken in three places after being king hit by Manly prop John Bucknall.

Financial problems started to hit Souths in the early 1970s, forcing some players to go to other clubs. The licensed Leagues Club, traditionally such an important revenue provider to all first grade league sides, was closed in 1973 but a "Save Our Souths" campaign ensured the club survived. "Super Coach" Jack Gibson's arrival turned the club's form, winning the pre-season competition in 1978. The club captured victories in the mid-week Tooth Cup competition in 1981 and in the pre-season "Sevens" competition in 1988. The Rabbitohs were able to make the finals on five occasions in the 1980s, including a dominant season to finish as minor premiers in 1989. The 1989 season proved to be the club's most successful in years, but also marked the last time the club was able to reach the finals until 2007. The following season the Rabbitohs finished as wooden spooners.

The club stayed afloat in the 1990s despite major financial problems. Souths' only success came in 1994 when they won the pre-season competition, defeating the Brisbane Broncos 27–26 in the final. The Super League War and the eventual formation of the National Rugby League affected the club greatly when it was determined in 1998 that the newly formed competition would be contracted to 14 teams for the 2000 season. Following a series of mergers by other teams, South Sydney failed to meet the NRL's selection criteria to compete in the competition and were subsequently excluded from the premiership at the end of the 1999 season.

In 2000 and 2001, South Sydney fought their way back into the competition following a string of high profile legal battles against the National Rugby League and News Limited. A number of well attended public rallies took place during this time, as supporters from many different clubs got behind South Sydney's case. Upon appeal to the Federal Court in 2001, South Sydney won readmission into the premiership for the 2002 season.

Since being readmitted, the Rabbitohs have been rather unsuccessful in the premiership, finishing amongst the bottom three teams for five seasons straight including three wooden spoons. However, following the club's takeover by famous Hollywood actor Russell Crowe and Peter Holmes à Court in 2006, the club has had great success in securing a number of major international player signings as well as recruiting several key managerial positions including Jason Taylor as head coach.

The results were shown on the field with South Sydney winning their first three games of the 2007 season (marking their best start to a season since 1972) and being competitive in every game. On the back of one of the best defenses in the competition, the Rabbitohs finished strongly making the semi finals for the first time since 1989. They finished the season in 7th position, going down to Manly in the playoffs.

Emblem

One version of how the club got the "Rabbitohs" nickname comes from their rugby union days at the turn of the 20th century. During that period, players wearing their cardinal red and myrtle green football jumpers, earned some extra money on Saturday mornings by hawking rabbits around the district with the traditional cry of "Rabbitoh!" echoing through the narrow streets. As they made a sale, they would sling the bunny from their shoulder and skin it on the spot, inevitably accumulating some of the fur and blood on their jerseys as they did so. When they played in those blood stained jumpers that afternoon, opponents from wealthier rugby clubs did not always appreciate the aroma and would mockingly repeat the "Rabbitoh!" cry.

Another account of the legend relates that the Rabbitoh name was a disparaging reference by opposing teams to South's home ground being plagued with "rabbit 'oles". In those early days Redfern Oval was then known as Nathan's Cow Paddock. Yet another version links the Rabbitoh name as being adopted from that of the touring Australian rugby union teams of the early 1900s who where nicknamed "Rabbits" prior to discarding the name in 1908 in favour of the moniker "Wallabies".

The "Rabbitoh" emblem (a running white rabbit) first appeared on the team's jersey in 1959. The Rabbitoh emblem has in various forms been carried as the club's crest on every player's jersey ever since. The original "Rabbitoh" emblem design that appeared on the team's jerseys throughout the 1960s and 1970s has now been incorporated on the current jersey.

The South Sydney Rabbitohs will celebrate their centenary year during 2008. The club has released a centenary emblem to commemorate the occasion.

Colours

South Sydney has used cardinal red and myrtle green colours on its playing jerseys for the vast majority of the club's history. Prior to the establishment of the rugby league club in 1908, the South Sydney rugby union team originally wore a red and green hooped jersey. Some sources have suggested that this combination of colours was due to the local rugby union club being nicknamed the "Redfern Waratahs". The first British inhabitants had often called the waratah a "red fern" instead, hence giving the suburb its name, and ultimately the local rugby club its emblem. Red and green dominate the colours of the waratah and hence, possibly, the South Sydney Rugby League Football Club adopted these colours for their jerseys. However, the suburb of Redfern was named in honour of Dr. William Redfern, one of the first doctors of the colony, who treated convicts and poor settlers as well as the wealthy.

The club's jersey has been a hooped-styled one comprising of alternating red and green, and has been used for the vast majority of the club's history. In 1945 and 1946 the club broke with this tradition and used a green design with a red "V" around the collar, before reverting back to the original hoop style. From 1980 to 1984 the team played in a strip which saw the inclusion of white hoops within a predominately green design with a central red stripe and was affectionately known as the "Minties jersey (so-called due to its apparent similarity to the wrapper design of the popular sweet). With the introduction of "away" jerseys towards the end of the 20th Century, the club initially introduced a predominantly white jersey for away matches which was changed to a predominantly black one for the 2006 season.

Before the start of the 2007 season, the club announced that the away jersey would be styled identically to the traditional home jersey, with the exception of sponsorship and the rabbit emblem, which as been styled similarly to the one that initially featured on jerseys in the 1960s. For home matches, the rabbit emblem remains white and for away matches the emblem is black.

The playing shorts worn were historically black, though in the late 1970s the club adopted green shorts with a red vertical stripe. This was then superseded by the white shorts of the "Minties" outfit. When the club subsequently reverted to their traditional playing strip, the decision was made to wear black shorts once more.

In 2008 the Rabbitohs will wear white shorts to match the white stripe running down the side of their jersey.

Stadium

During the early years of the New South Wales Rugby League premiership, "home games" were not assigned as readily as they are today. However, South Sydney played most of their games at the Royal Agricultural Society Ground from 1908 until the club's final departure in 1920. From 1911 onwards, the Sydney Sports Ground was also used interchangeably with the Agricultural Ground over a decade for hosting matches. In 1947 the club played its final season at the Sports Ground, before relocating to Redfern Oval in 1948. It was here that team played in the heart of the club's territory and played the vast majority of its allocated home matches for an extended period of time.

In 1988, the club began to play in the newly-built Sydney Football Stadium, built upon the former Sydney Sports Ground and Sydney Cricket Ground No. 2 Oval. The side continued to play here up until 2005, with the exception of 2000 and 2001 during South Sydney's absence from the premiership.

In 2006 the club relocated home games to ANZ Stadium in Sydney's west (known as Telstra Stadium until the conclusion of 2007). In February 2008, the Rabbitohs renewed their partnership with ANZ Stadium to play NRL home games and home finals at the venue for the next 10 years, commencing season 2008. The agreement runs until the end of 2017, superseding the inaugural three-year home ground arrangement at ANZ Stadium that started in 2006.

Currently $19.5 million is being spent by the City of Sydney Council to completely upgrade and renovate Redfern Oval. Completion is expected in the later half of 2008. The upgraded ground will provide the Rabbitohs with training facilities as well as the option of hosting minor pre-season and exhibition matches. In the meantime, Erskineville Oval is the club's training venue until the upgrade of Redfern Oval is complete.

Supporters

The South Sydney Rabbitohs continue to have a large supporter base in their traditional areas of South-Eastern Sydney, despite having moved from Redfern Oval two decades ago, whilst also enjoying wide support throughout other rugby league playing centres around the country.The main South Sydney supporters group at matches is known as "The Burrow. By the start of the 2008 season, membership of the Rabbitohs amounted to over 11,500 (including over 6,000 season ticket holders), after it had peaked at some 22,000 when the club was readmitted to the National Rugby League for season 2002.

Souths Sydney's bid for reinstatement, following their exclusion from the competition at the end of the 1999 season, saw a sustained campaign of public support unprecedented in Australian sporting history. In that year 40,000 people attended a rally in the Sydney CBD in support of South Sydney's cause. In 2000 and 2001, public street marches took place in Sydney with in excess of 80,000 people rallying behind the Rabbitohs. The club also has a number of high-profile supporters as well, many of whom were dominant figures in their battle to be readmitted into the premiership in 2000 and 2001.

In season 2007 supporters set a new club record for attendance with an average home crowd figure of 15,702 being the highest ever for the Rabbitohs since the introduction of the home and away system in 1974.

Link to the indigenous community

Souths has a long history of producing talented indigenous players, including stars such as Eric Simms, Eric Robinson, Kevin Longbottom and, more recently, Nathan Merritt. Throughout its history the club has been a provider of opportunity for young Aboriginal players from both the South Sydney district and regional New South Wales. The link that exists between South Sydney Rugby League Club and the Aboriginal community of the district goes back to the formation of the Redfern All Blacks Football Club in 1930, a vitally important nursery for Souths over the years.

Rivalries

The Rabbitohs and their fans have built up rivalries with other clubs, particularly the Sydney Roosters, the other remaining foundation club. The Rabbitohs and the Roosters share inner-Sydney territory, resulting in a strong rivalry since 1908 when Souths beat Eastern Suburbs in the first grand final. Games between the neighbouring foundation clubs have since formed part of the oldest "local derby" in the competition. The rivalry increased after 1950 due to conflict between junior territories and since the 1970s escalated once more as both clubs drew key players away from each other (Souths lost internationals Ron Coote, Elwyn Walters and Jim Morgan to the Roosters from their last era of premiership winning teams, whilst more recently Souths lured key forwards Bryan Fletcher and Peter Cusack away from the Roosters 2002 premiership winning side). In June 2007, amid controversy and much public fanfare, Souths signed from the Roosters Craig Wing, a Souths junior and former Rabbitoh player, on a four year deal commencing season 2008.

Other long-time traditional rivals include the Manly Sea Eagles (who since 1970 purchased many of Souths' star players) and former clubs the St George Dragons (resulting in the annual Charity Shield match) and Balmain Tigers. The rivalry with Balmain began in 1909 when the Tigers failed to appear for the grand final and thereby forfeited to Souths. In 1969 enmity was again fueled between the clubs with Balmain's controversial victory against the Rabbitohs in the grand final that year.

Statistics and Records

South Sydney are one of the most successful clubs in terms of honours and individual player achievements in the history of Australian rugby league.

The club boasts some notable achievements:

  • The Rabbitohs have won the most first grade premierships (20) during the history of elite rugby league competition in Australia.

  • Souths have also won the most reserve grade premierships (20).

  • The club has the distinction of scoring the most points (42), most tries (8) and most goals (9) in a grand final, all achieved against Manly in 1951.

  • Souths' 1925 first grade side is one of six New South Wales sides to ever go through a season undefeated. The club won the premiership in all three grades in 1925, a feat only repeated on three other occasions (Balmain Tigers in 1915 and 1916 and St George Dragons in 1963).

The club's players have also achieved some notable individual game and point scoring milestones:

  • Bob McCarthy holds the record for the most first grade games for the club, having played 211 matches between 1963 and 1978. Craig Coleman and Eric Simms are the only other two players to have played over 200 matches, having taken to the field in 208 and 206 games respectively.

  • Jack Rayner holds the individual record of the most grand final successes as a captain (5) and coach (5) achieved between 1950 and 1955.

  • Eric Simms holds the club record for the most points, tallying 1841 points between 1965 and 1975.

  • Eric Simms scored 265 points on his own for South Sydney in 1969 and this tally along with ones achieved in 1970 and 1967 remain unsurpassed by any other player at the club. The 1969 tally was once a league record, and has since been broken by a number of players at other clubs.

  • Eric Simms still holds a club and competition record for the most number of goals (112 goals and 19 field goals) in a season, most career field goals (86) and most field goals in a game (5).

  • Johnny Graves' tally of 29 points in a match against Eastern Suburbs in 1952 remains the club record for the most individual points in a match. Had this feat been scored as it is today it would have stood at 32 points.

  • Between 1921 and 1933 Benny Wearing scored 144 tries in his 172 games for the club, which is an exceptional proportion of tries per games played.

  • Les Brennan's 29 tries in 19 games in 1954 remains a club record, having broken Johnny Graves' tally of 28 in 17 games set just three years earlier.

  • During his career Bob McCarthy scored 100 tries for the club, the most by a forward.

2008 Squad

The following list comprises players who are in the Rabbitohs full-time first-grade squad for the 2008 Centenary Season in the NRL Telstra Premiership. '' Coach: Jason Taylor

Player Gains and Losses for 2008

GAINS

Craig Wing (Sydney Roosters), Nathanael Barnes (Tweed Heads Seagulls), Luke Capewell (Brisbane Easts Tigers), Jamie Simpson (Toowoomba Clydesdales), John Tamanika (Brisbane Easts Tigers), George Ndaira (Sydney Roosters).

LOSSES

David Peachey (retired), Paul Mellor (retired), Shane Rigon (retired), Reece Simmonds (retired), Daniel Irvine (retired), Joe Williams (Penrith Panthers), Joe Galuvao (Parramatta Eels), Stuart Webb (St George Illawarra Dragons), Peter Cusack (Hull FC).

Notable players

The South Sydney Rabbitohs' greatest club side in history, the South Sydney Dream Team, was announced in Sydney on 29 July, 2004. The team consists of 17 players (four being reserves) and a coach representing the South Sydney Rabbitohs Football Club from 1908 through to 2004. The team spans the history of the code of rugby league in Australia and has collectively played 2,135 first grade games for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, 158 games for New South Wales, 3 games for Queensland and 158 Tests for Australia.

In 2002 on the Rabbitohs readmission to the competition, The Magnificent XIII, a team consisting of great South Sydney players over the years was selected by a panel comprised of rugby league journalists and former Souths players and coaches. The team consists of 17 players (four being reserves) and a coach representing the South Sydney Rabbitohs Football Club from 1908 through to 2002.

Honours

References

Footnotes

Works cited

  • Andrews, Malcolm (2006). The ABC of Rugby League. Australia: ABC Books. ISBN 9780733319464.
  • Courtney, Mark (2000). Moving the Goalposts. Halstead Press. ISBN 1-8756-8449-2.
  • Fontaine, Angus (ed); League Week (2002). Souths The People's Team. ACP Publishing.
  • Heads, Ian (2000). South Sydney, Pride of the League. Lothian. ISBN 0-7344-0152-3.
  • Piggins, George; as told to Ian Heads (2002). Never Say Die - The Fight to Save the Rabbitohs. Macmillan. ISBN 9780732911058.
  • Whiticker, Alan; Hudson, Glen (2005). The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players - South Sydney Rabbitohs. Bas Publishing. ISBN 1920910581.
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External links



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