The South Sydney District Junior Rugby Football League is an affiliation of junior clubs in the South Sydney area.
105-640: When the South Sydney Rabbitohs first entered the NSWRL competition as South Sydney in 1908, Souths would become neighbours to fellow city counterpart, the Eastern Suburbs Roosters . Anzac Parade separated the territories for both inner-Sydney clubs when the boundaries were first established the previous year. Souths' boundaries were based on the municipalities of Redfern , Botany , Alexandria , Mascot and Waterloo , while
210-720: A National Football League ( American football ) exhibition game called the American Bowl was played between the Denver Broncos and the San Diego Chargers , bringing home former Australian Football League player Darren Bennett , the Chargers' punter . The Broncos won the game 20–17 in front of 73,811 spectators. This was Australia's first, and currently only, American Bowl game. The 1999 National Rugby League grand final , played on 26 September between
315-400: A centenary emblem to commemorate the occasion. To also coincide with the centenary year, Souths opted to alter the logo by removing the red and green oval from the emblem for a solid white rabbit with the words South Sydney Rabbitohs set in uppercase type. 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
420-421: A crowd of 40,466 in 2010. Tottenham Hotspur defeated Sydney FC 1–0 in front of a crowd of over 71,500 on 30 May 2015. The stadium hosted two exhibition matches in 2017: Liverpool defeated Sydney FC 3–0 in front of a crowd of 72,892 on 24 May 2017, while on 13 July 2017, Arsenal defeated Sydney FC 2–0 in front of a crowd of 80,432. Arsenal would play Western Sydney Wanderers in the stadium two days later, with
525-669: A crowd of 59,569 which remains the largest crowd ever for a cricket match in New South Wales . 30 September 2012 saw the largest ever NRL Grand Final crowd since reconfiguration up until 2014 when 82,976 attended the 2012 NRL Grand Final to see the Melbourne Storm defeat the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 14–4. This number was nearly reached in the 2009 NRL Grand Final between the Storm and
630-485: A decade of great success for South Sydney, winning five of the six premierships from 1950 to 1955 , and losing the 1949 Grand Final against St. George , and also the 1952 Grand Final against Western Suburbs in controversial circumstances. The 1951 side's point scoring feat in its 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
735-693: A famous 21–6 victory over his former club and at the same time denying the Storm back to back premierships. On 6 October 2019, another notable NRL Grand Final was held with 82,922 people witnessing the Sydney Roosters become the first back to back premiers in the NRL since the Brisbane Broncos of 1992 and 1993 , defeating the Canberra Raiders who were in their first Grand Final since 1994 in controversial circumstances. During
840-545: 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
945-616: A lifelong South Sydney supporter, was named the club’s number one ticket-holder. Reggie the Rabbit is the Rabbitohs' mascot. The mascot first appeared in lifesize form in 1968 after celebrity fan Don Lane brought back a suit from the US in time for the 1968 grand final against Manly Warringah Sea Eagles , won by the Rabbitohs 13–9. Perhaps the most notable of the early Reggies was the club's groundsman Reg Fridd. Standing just over four feet tall,
1050-627: A merger with South Sydney Junior Rugby League Club (Kingsford) and the struggling Maroubra Returned and Services League (RSL) Club . The club is on the site of the former Maroubra RSL club on Anzac Parade and Haig Street. The Juniors on Hawkesbury (Since 2008) – in the Hawkesbury River The South Sydney Leagues Club, colloquially known as Souths Leagues, was the club's official leagues club. The club closed in 2013 after being placed into administration with large debts. In 1999 Russell Crowe bought
1155-587: A new post-reconfiguration attendance record of 83,833 saw South Sydney defeat Canterbury-Bankstown 30–6 in the 2014 NRL Grand Final . It was the Rabbitohs first grand final appearance and premiership win since 1971 . On 27 December 2014, a new domestic cricket record crowd for NSW was set with 32,823 attending the Sydney Derby between the Sydney Thunder and the Sydney Sixers . The crowd was
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#17327733035771260-458: A number of high-profile supporters as well, many of whom were dominant figures in Souths' battle to be readmitted into the premiership in 2000 and 2001. In 2007, supporters set a new club record for attendance with an average home crowd figure of 15,702 being the highest ever since the introduction of the home and away system in 1974. In 2023, 31st Prime Minister of Australia , Anthony Albanese,
1365-481: A series of mergers by other teams, and a planned merger with Cronulla-Sutherland was met with staunch opposition from both clubs, South Sydney failed to meet the National Rugby League'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 its way back into the competition following
1470-493: A slim 6–0 lead in the first half of the 2014 grand final , Souths scored four second half tries to defeat Canterbury 30–6. This was South Sydney's first premiership win in 43 years. Sam Burgess received the Clive Churchill medal despite playing the entire match with a fractured cheekbone, suffered from a head clash during the first tackle of the match. Following the premiership victory, South Sydney were presented with
1575-485: 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 . After being readmitted, South Sydney were initially unsuccessful in
1680-401: A victory which granted Australia FIFA World Cup qualification for only the second time in the country's history. The event attracted a virtual capacity crowd of 82,698. The 1999 Bledisloe Cup rugby union match between Australia and New Zealand attracted a then-world record rugby union crowd of 107,042. In 2000, this was bettered when a near-capacity crowd of 109,874 (capacity at the time
1785-609: Is a multi-purpose stadium located in the suburb of Sydney Olympic Park , Sydney , New South Wales , Australia. The stadium, which is sometimes referred to as Sydney Olympic Stadium , Homebush Stadium or simply the Olympic Stadium , was completed in March 1999 at a cost of A$ 690 million to host the 2000 Summer Olympics . The Stadium was leased by a private company, the Stadium Australia Group, until
1890-564: Is based in Redfern, where its administration and training facilities are located, however it has long held a wide supporter base spread all over New South Wales. The team's home ground is currently Stadium Australia in Sydney Olympic Park . South Sydney is the most successful professional team in the history of Australian rugby league with twenty-one first grade premierships. The South Sydney District Rugby League Football Club
1995-527: Is known as " The Burrow ". South Sydney at one stage had the highest football club membership in the National Rugby League, with membership exceeding 35,000 as of June 23, 2015. That member number also included more than 11,000 ticketed members, the highest of the Sydney-based NRL clubs. Following the conclusion of the 2021 NRL season , new figures showed South Sydney to have the second highest membership of Sydney NRL clubs behind Parramatta . It
2100-492: Is on public display at the stadium. On 1 October 2006, the stadium hosted the 2006 NRL Grand Final between the Brisbane Broncos and Melbourne Storm. It was the first time since the competition began in 1908 that two teams from outside of Sydney had contested the grand final. 79,609 fans saw the Broncos defeat the Storm 15–8. As of the 2018 NRL Grand Final , this is one of three times that no Sydney based team has contested
2205-560: The Bunnies . The club was formed in 1908 , as one of the founding members of the New South Wales Rugby Football League , making it one of Australia's oldest rugby league teams. It is one of only two NSW foundation clubs still present in the NRL, the other being the Sydney Roosters . South Sydney's traditional heartland covers the once typically working-class suburbs of inner-south Sydney. The club
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#17327733035772310-615: The 1975 Grand Final played at the Sydney Cricket Ground . 2008 was the centenary year of the competition. It was also the first time a team had been held scoreless in a grand final since Manly had defeated Cronulla-Sutherland 16–0 in the 1978 Grand Final Replay at the SCG (the original Grand Final that year had been drawn 11-11). In February 2009, the stadium replaced its existing two television screens with new Panasonic HD LED video screens that measure 23x10m – 70% larger than
2415-465: The 2013 State of Origin series . Queensland defeated NSW 12–10 to win their 8th straight Origin series. With 80,380 attending Game 1 at the stadium, the attendances also broke the Origin attendance records for the first and third game of a series. With the second game of the series attracting 51,690 to Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium , 2013 also broke the Origin series attendance record with 215,883 attending
2520-620: The 2015 AFC Asian Cup Final , which marked the Socceroos' first Asian Cup victory, also came at the stadium. Sydney FC have played a number of one-off exhibition matches at the stadium. Sydney FC defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy of MLS 5–3 in front of a crowd of 80,295 in 2007. The game was notable for including Galaxy legend and US international Landon Donovan and former England captain David Beckham , who had joined
2625-731: The City of Sydney Council completed a $ 19.5 million upgrade and renovation of Redfern Oval. From season 2009, the upgraded Redfern Oval provided the Rabbitohs with training facilities and a venue for hosting pre-season and exhibition matches. In 2023, the Rabbitohs relocated its headquarters and first team training facilities from Redfern Oval to the Heffron Centre , a $ 58M community sporting complex in Maroubra owned by Randwick City Council . The South Sydney Rabbitohs’ $ 26M Community and High Performance Centre provides training facilities for
2730-480: The Melbourne Cricket Ground which held more than 120,000 before its re-design in the early 2000s. In 2003, reconfiguration work was completed to shorten the north and south wings, and install movable seating . These changes reduced the capacity to 80,000, with the capacity to add seating depending on the venue configuration. Awnings were also added over the north and south stands, allowing most of
2835-623: The Melbourne Storm and the St George Illawarra Dragons , broke the rugby league world-record crowd previously set earlier in the season when 107,999 came to watch the Storm defeat the Dragons 20–18 to win their first NRL premiership. During the 2000 Olympics , the evening athletics sessions on day 11 attracted 112,524 spectators on the night that Australia's Cathy Freeman won the Olympic Gold Medal for
2940-638: The Newtown Jets were expelled from the NSWRL in 1983, their junior district was eventually absorbed into the South Sydney junior district in 1987. With the tide having turned compared to the situation decades earlier, and the Roosters having a much smaller junior League than South Sydney, Eastern Suburbs at this time then made unsuccessful attempts to regain the suburbs on the same grounds used to hand
3045-754: The North Queensland Cowboys 30–16. 16 November 2005 saw 82,698 attend the second leg of the Oceania-South America Qualification Playoff game for qualification to the 2006 FIFA World Cup . Australia defeated Uruguay 1–0, which led to a penalty shootout as Uruguay had won the first leg of the playoff 1–0. Australia won the shootout 4–2 and secured a spot in the World Cup for the first time since 1974 . The penalty spot where John Aloisi 's spot kick secured victory has been permanently preserved and
3150-631: The Parramatta Eels defeat the Bulldogs RLFC 22–12 in the preliminary final of the 2009 NRL season . This beat the previous finals record of 57,973 set at the Sydney Cricket Ground for the preliminary final of the 1963 NSWRFL season which St George defeat Parramatta 12–7. It hosted its first International Cricket match when Australia took on India in a Twenty20 night game on 1 February 2012. The match attracted
3255-537: The Rabbits , Bunnies or Souths . Exactly how South Sydney came to be known as the Rabbitohs is unknown. According to one version of events, dating from pre- schism days at the turn of the 20th century, some of the club's players earned some extra money on Saturday mornings as rabbit-oh men, staining their jerseys with rabbit blood in the process; when they played in those blood stained jumpers that afternoon, opponents from wealthier rugby clubs did not always appreciate
South Sydney District Junior Rugby Football League - Misplaced Pages Continue
3360-564: The Sydney Cricket Ground , it 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 to 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
3465-721: 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. In 1988, the club began to play in the Sydney Football Stadium , just built upon
3570-727: The Women's 400 metres . As of 2014, this remains the world record attendance for any athletics event. Also during the Olympics, the soccer final attracted 104,098 to witness Cameroon defeat Spain for its first-ever Olympic gold medal. This was an Olympic Games football attendance record, breaking the record of 101,799 set at the Rose Bowl during the Gold medal game of the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles . The opening ceremony for
3675-558: The naming rights , resulting in the stadium being known as Telstra Stadium . On 12 December 2007 it was announced by the Stadium Australia Group (SAG) that the stadium's name was to be changed to ANZ Stadium after concluding a deal with ANZ Bank worth around A$ 31.5 million over seven years. This change took effect on 1 January 2008. In 2014, ANZ renewed the deal through to the end of 2017 and again until its closure for rebuilding in October 2019. In December 2020, ANZ's naming rights to
3780-784: The #GGTSS hashtag. Stadium Australia New South Wales Blues ( State of Origin ; 1999–present) Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs ( NRL ; 1999–present) South Sydney Rabbitohs ( NRL ; 2006–present) St George Illawarra Dragons ( NRL ; 2008, 2014–2017) Wests Tigers ( NRL ; 2005–2008, 2014–2018) Parramatta Eels ( NRL ; 2017–2019) Australia national rugby union team (selected matches) Western Sydney Wanderers ( A-League ; 2016–2019) Australia men's national soccer team (selected matches) Australia women's national soccer team (selected matches) Sydney FC (selected matches) New South Wales cricket team Sydney Thunder ( BBL ; 2012–2015) Stadium Australia , currently known as Accor Stadium for sponsorship reasons,
3885-482: The 1990s despite major financial problems. Souths' only success came in 1994 when it 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
3990-541: The 2000 Summer Olympics at the stadium completely sold out all 110,000 seats, while the highest attendance for any event in modern Olympic Games history was recorded with 114,714 at the stadium for the closing ceremony of the same Games. Musical acts for the closing ceremony were a "who's who" of Australian music including Kylie Minogue , John Williamson , John Paul Young , Jimmy Barnes , Midnight Oil , INXS (with Jon Stevens ), Men at Work , and Slim Dusty who sang Waltzing Matilda . Also in attendance on stage during
4095-486: The 2015 finals series, a nine-game winning streak in 2018 saw South Sydney return to premiership contention. This season marked the start of five consecutive preliminary finals appearances in the late 2010s and early 2020s. After losses in consecutive years to the Sydney Roosters, Canberra, and Penrith, Souths defeated Manly in 2021 to advance to the grand final against Penrith. With the game poised at 8–8 in
4200-474: The 2022 preliminary final, ending Souths' season for the third year in a row. Prior to the 2022 season, Atlassian founder Mike Cannon-Brookes became a partial owner of the Rabbitohs by buying one third of the management firm alongside Crowe and Packer. Together, these three own 75% of the Rabbitohs; the remaining 25% of the club is owned by fans. Despite sitting 2nd at the midway point of 2023 , Souths only won four of their remaining thirteen fixtures to miss
4305-462: The 2nd half with 10 minutes to go with scores locked at 8 all, referee Ben Cummins initially gave Canberra a new set of six tackles after he thought a Roosters player touched the ball, but then retracted the call as Canberra's Jack Wighton was tackled with the ball and ordered a handover to the Roosters with James Tedesco scoring the winning try for the Roosters shortly after the handover to win 14–8. In October 2001, major reconfiguration work on
South Sydney District Junior Rugby Football League - Misplaced Pages Continue
4410-880: The ANZ Stadium in Brisbane (now known as the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre ) on 27 August 1993 when St George defeated Brisbane 16–10 in Round 22 of the 1993 NSWRL season in front of 58,593 fans. On 18 June 2014, 83,421 fans saw NSW defeat Qld 6–4 in Game 2 of the 2014 State of Origin series . After having won Game 1 at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, the home side's win saw Queensland's eight year domination of Origin come to an end as New South Wales won their first series since 2005 . On 5 October 2014,
4515-585: The Closing ceremony were other famous Australian's including golfer Greg Norman and comedian-actor Paul Hogan .The venue also hosted the same events during the 2000 Summer Paralympics . The Sydney Swans v Collingwood Australian Football League (AFL) match at the Stadium on Saturday, 23 August 2003 set an attendance record for the largest crowd to watch an Australian rules football match outside Victoria with 72,393 spectators (87.7% capacity) attending and
4620-478: The Galaxy in 2007 and scored from a direct free kick during the game. The local A-League teams, Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers , have also hosted a number of English Premier League teams. Chelsea defeated Sydney FC 1–0 in front of a crowd of 83,598 on 2 June 2015, the largest crowd for a soccer game at the stadium since the post-Olympics reconfiguration in 2002. Everton defeated Sydney FC 1–0 in front of
4725-617: The Keys to the City of Randwick by Mayor Ted Seng at a presentation ceremony at Souths Juniors in Kingsford and later the same day awarded the Keys to the City of Sydney by Lord Mayor Clover Moore at a reception at Sydney Town Hall . On 23 October 2014, Holmes à Court sold his 50% share of Blackcourt League Investments, and consequently his 37.5% stake in South Sydney, to James Packer 's Consolidated Press Holdings . After elimination early in
4830-446: The NRL, Women’s and NSW Cup teams, as well as facilities for the administrative, commercial and Souths Cares staff members. The South Sydney Rabbitohs continue to have a large supporter base in its traditional areas of South-eastern Sydney, despite having moved from Redfern Oval two decades ago, while also enjoying wide support throughout other rugby league playing centres around the country. The official South Sydney supporter group
4935-536: The National Rugby League for season 2002 . "Group 14", a collection of club backers including businessmen, politicians, musicians and media personalities, was formed before the Rabbitohs' exclusion from the NRL in 1999. Members include Anthony Albanese , Laurie Brereton , Michael Cheika , Rodger Corser , Michael Daley , Andrew Denton , Cathy Freeman , Nick Greiner , Deirdre Grusovin , Ron Hoenig , Ray Martin , Mikey Robins , and Mike Whitney . They contributed to South Sydney's bid for reinstatement, following
5040-633: The New South Wales Government revealed that Stadium Australia would be knocked down and completely re-built, with a new 75,000 seat rectangular stadium built in its place. The announcement was made in conjunction with the unveiling of rebuilding plans for the Sydney Football Stadium in Moore Park . The original plan for Stadium Australia was for the demolition to start in 2019 and the new stadium to be completed by 2021. On 29 March 2018 NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian backflipped on
5145-718: The Parramatta Eels, with 82,538 in attendance. On 13 and 14 December 2010, a U2 concert, one of the biggest in history, was held at the ANZ Stadium. On 6 July 2013 a new rectangle configuration record attendance of 83,702 watched the British & Irish Lions defeat Australia 41–16 to win the Tom Richards Cup series by 2–1. The record set by the Wallabies test was broken just 10 days later on 17 July when 83,813 (only 187 short of capacity) attended Game 3 of
5250-567: The Rabbitohs lured the diminutive New Zealander from a touring production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves , the same troupe that had yielded the second Reggie, Roscoe Bova, killed in a car accident in the early 1970s. Most teams in the National Rugby League maintain mascots. During 2000 and 2001, when Souths was excluded from the NRL, Anth Courtney was Reggie Rabbit appearing at the second Town Hall rally and at games at Redfern Oval as well as being active in travelling extensively around
5355-494: The Randwick and Coogee areas, was given to South Sydney. The Roosters expressed disappointment at losing some of its junior clubs, but the NSWRL would not waver. This was not to be the end of struggle for junior territory between the two inner-city clubs. In the 1980s some junior clubs such as Paddington Colts that were within Roosters territory became dissatisfied with Roosters management and affiliated with South Sydney. After
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#17327733035775460-461: The Roosters' boundaries were those of the eastern municipalities of Paddington , Woollahra , Vaucluse and Waverley . The new junior league boundaries set out in the early 1950s would take territory away from the Roosters, and hand it over to rival neighbouring club South Sydney. In the mid-20th century, the southern half of Roosters territory within the Randwick local government area was handed to South Sydney. The NSWRL made this change to 'even
5565-695: The South Sydney Juniors Team of the Century was named at the Centenary Ball. Coach: Alf Blair (Waterloo Albions) South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney District Rugby League Football Club , also known as the South Sydney Rabbitohs , is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Redfern that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). They are often nicknamed Souths or
5670-540: The Stadium was sold back to the NSW Government on 1 June 2016 after NSW Premier Michael Baird announced the Stadium was to be redeveloped as a world-class rectangular stadium. The Stadium is owned by Venues NSW on behalf of the NSW Government. The stadium was originally built to hold circa 115,000 spectators, making it the largest Olympic Stadium ever built and the second largest stadium in Australia after
5775-456: The all-time great grand finals when the game went into golden point time courtesy of a Kyle Feldt try in the dying moments to level the scores at 16 all. But the game would be remembered for Ben Hunt 's dropped ball from the kick-off to extra time which led to Johnathan Thurston 's field goal that gave North Queensland their first premiership in the NRL since being admitted into the competition in 1995. Apart from games involving national teams,
5880-505: The aroma and would mockingly repeat the "Rabbitoh!" cry. Another version was that the term 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. A third version claims the Rabbitoh name was adopted from that of the touring Australian rugby union teams of the early 1900s who were nicknamed "Rabbits" prior to discarding
5985-439: The club in the early 2010s saw South Sydney qualify for the finals. In April 2011, Souths announced Michael Maguire would replace retiring coach John Lang for the 2012 season, signing as head coach on a three-year deal. Following consecutive preliminary final exits in 2012 and 2013 , it defeated the Sydney Roosters in the 2014 preliminary final to advance to its first grand final since the successful 1971 campaign. Following
6090-405: The club's exclusion from the competition at the end of the 1999 season. A sustained campaign of public support that year, unprecedented in Australian sporting history , saw 40,000 people attend 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
6195-586: The competition' as South Sydney's original heartland, around Redfern and Waterloo, had rapidly industrialised and de-populated. Rabbitohs stalwart S.G. Ball was a dual administrator within South Sydney Rabbitohs and the New South Wales Rugby League at the time. The Rabbitohs were in a highly successful period and had established South Sydney Juniors Rugby League Club in Kingsford , Roosters territory in recent times. Debate still continues amongst rival fans as to how and why Eastern Suburbs territory, comprising suburbs with junior league clubs rich in talent and numbers in
6300-403: The crowd is the largest ever in NSW not to involve a team based in the state. On 30 September 2018, the Grand Final between the Sydney Roosters and the Melbourne Storm featured one of the most courageous performances in Australian sporting history when Cooper Cronk , despite carrying a severe shoulder injury from the week before, played for nearly the entire match, inspiring his Roosters to
6405-412: The decision was made to relocate to Stadium Australia at Sydney Olympic Park. The move was generally not well received by the fans, but provided considerably more income for the club, which was several million dollars in the red at the end of 2005. In 2008, the club renewed its partnership with Stadium Australia to play NRL home games and home finals at the venue for the next 10 years. During 2008,
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#17327733035776510-443: 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
6615-405: 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
6720-403: The exception of sponsorship and the rabbit emblem, which has been styled similarly to the one that initially featured on jerseys in the 1960s. For season 2009, the rabbit emblem is black for home matches whilst the emblem is the original white for away matches. The playing shorts worn were historically black, though in the late 1970s the club adopted green shorts with a red vertical stripe. This
6825-423: The finals series. This slump continued into 2024, with the Rabbitohs finishing 16th. The club mascot is the rabbitoh , a now-disused term that was commonly used in the early 20th century to describe hawkers who captured and skinned rabbits and then sold the meat at markets, so named because they would shout "rabbit-oh!" around the markets and suburbs to attract buyers. The club is also informally referred to as
6930-399: 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 when South Sydney was absent from the premiership. During 2004–2005, when the Rabbitoh's contract with Sydney Football Stadium was about to expire, new home grounds were investigated at Gosford, North Sydney Oval and Stadium Australia. Eventually
7035-402: The foundation bell at the Red and Green Ball for the club. The club's most well known song is played when the team runs out for home games and after victories at home. Originally recorded in 1967 by the Will Dower Sounds as "South's Victory Song" [sic], "Glory, Glory to South Sydney" is one of the best-known NRL team songs, prominently featuring in promotional materials, merchandise and even
7140-476: The ground. ANZ Stadium hosts the following: As the largest capacity stadium in Australia that can be configured for rectangular field sports, important Australia national soccer team (Socceroos) games are staged at the stadium. The stadium hosted Australia's 2005 shootout victory over Uruguay in the OFC-CONMEBOL playoff , which qualified the Socceroos for the 2006 FIFA World Cup , their first appearance since 1974. Australia's extra time victory over South Korea in
7245-491: The highest domestic cricket crowd in NSW history, only to be knocked off a few weeks later at the Sydney Cricket Ground involving the same two teams. History was repeated on 4 October 2015 when for only the second time in the NRL's history, no NSW team was in the grand final and for the first time ever, it was a Queensland derby in the final between Brisbane and North Queensland . 82,758 people, many of whom had travelled down from various parts of Queensland, witnessed one of
7350-492: The inaugural premiership then successfully defended its title in the 1909 season , winning the Grand Final by default. During these early years Arthur Hennessy was considered the "founding father" of the South Sydney rugby league club. A hooker and prop forward, Hennessy was Souths' first captain and coach. He was also New South Wales' first captain and Australia's first test captain in 1908. S. G. "George" Ball became Club Secretary in 1911 after Arthur Hennessy stood down from
7455-404: The late 1950s Souths began a run of poor form, failing to make the finals from 1958 to 1964 , during this time receiving the 1962 wooden spoon. In 1965 a talented young side made the Grand Final against St. George who were aiming to secure its tenth straight premiership. The young Rabbitohs were not overawed by the Dragons' formidable experience and in front of a record crowd of 78,056 at
7560-584: The local district clubs including La Perouse United , Redfern All Blacks and Indigenous recruits from Country NSW . During the early years of the New South Wales Rugby League premiership , "home games" were not assigned very often. However, South Sydney played most of its games at the Royal Agricultural Society Ground (Sydney Showground) from 1908 until the club's departure in 1920. From 1911 onwards,
7665-569: 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 its jerseys. However, the suburb of Redfern was named in honour of 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 alternating red and green, and has been used for
7770-426: The match day change rooms and media facilities were completed at a cost of $ 81.4 million ahead of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup and were first used for a NRL game between South Sydney and Manly Warringah on 25 March 2023. In September 2015, the New South Wales Government announced it intended to upgrade the stadium within the next decade, and install a retractable roof over the stadium. On 23 November 2017,
7875-506: 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 celebrated its centenary year during 2008. The club released
7980-656: The old record of 102,569 set at the Odsal Stadium in Bradford , England for the Challenge Cup Final replay between Warrington and Halifax held on 5 May 1954. The first musical act held at the newly built stadium was the Bee Gees , consisting of Barry , Robin and Maurice Gibb , on 27 March 1999. The band had embarked on what would be their final world tour as a group before the death of Maurice,
8085-436: The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic . The decision meant the stadium remained capable of hosting oval-shaped sports such as cricket and Australian rules football , and retain its capacity to 83,500. Various sporting codes have used this ground on a regular basis. The National Rugby League is the most regular tenant of the ground, while rugby union internationals, soccer internationals and Australian rules football are all played at
8190-472: The original 1908 articles of association with the NSWRL competition, to represent the Sydney municipalities of Alexandria, Botany, Mascot, Waterloo, Redfern and Darlington and the southern parts of the City of Sydney. It additionally represents southern parts of the eastern suburbs of Sydney, including the suburbs Coogee, Kensington, Kingsford, and Maroubra. Souths have a proud history of Indigenous players from
8295-479: The original screens, and 50% larger than the screens in the Beijing National Stadium , whilst consuming less power than the old screens. Additionally, an LED perimeter screen showcasing ANZ advertising has been installed on the second level from the 30m line to the 30m line. 25 September 2009 saw the largest ever NRL finals attendance (non-grand final) in competition history when 74,549 fans saw
8400-435: The position, and he remained in that capacity for over 50 years, only retiring a few years before his death in 1969. After further premiership success in 1914 and 1918 , South Sydney won seven of the eight premierships from 1925 to 1932 , missing out only in 1930 . The 1925 side went through the season undefeated for 12 games. and is only one of six Australian premiership sides in history to have achieved this feat. Such
8505-408: The pre-season "Sevens" competition in 1988 . The Rabbitohs made 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 was also the last time the club reached the finals until 2007. The following season the Rabbitohs finished as wooden spooners . The club stayed afloat in
8610-620: The premiership decider and also the only time an NRL grand final at the Olympic Stadium has failed to attract at least 80,000 fans. On 5 October 2008, the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles defeated the Melbourne Storm 40–0 in the 2008 NRL Grand Final in front of 80,388 fans. This is the record winning margin for a grand final, breaking the previous record of 38-0 when Eastern Suburbs defeated St George in
8715-448: The premiership, finishing amongst the bottom three teams for five seasons straight including three wooden spoons . Following this, the club was taken over by actor Russell Crowe and businessman Peter Holmes à Court in 2006. In the 2007 season South Sydney played in its first finals campaign since 1989. May 2008 saw the sudden resignation of the then current executive chairman and CEO, Peter Holmes à Court . He had been appointed to
8820-462: 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 . Churchill, nicknamed "the Little Master" for his brilliant attacking fullback play, is universally regarded as one of the greatest ever Australian rugby league players. In
8925-400: The rebuilding plan, and revealed the government would instead refurbish Stadium Australia and reconfigure the pitch dimensions to a permanently rectangular shape. This would come at a cost of $ 800 million, compared to the knock-down and rebuild cost of $ 1.3 billion. On 31 May 2020, the renovation plans were cancelled by the government, who pointed to a shift in budget priorities as a result of
9030-483: The rectangular field and 82,500 for the oval field at a total cost of $ 80 million. The construction work was carried out by Multiplex . The reconfiguration work was completed in October 2003 in time for the 2003 Rugby World Cup where the then Telstra Stadium hosted the opening game, two other groups games, both semi-finals, the third-place play-off and final matches of the competition. In the first semi-final on 15 November 2003, Australia beat New Zealand 22–10 and then in
9135-622: The role of CEO at the start of 2008. Reports suggested that Holmes à Court had been forced to stand down after his relationship with Russell Crowe had deteriorated beyond repair. The South Sydney Rabbitohs celebrated its centenary year during the 2008 National Rugby League season . That year the club were named the National Trust 's inaugural 'Community Icon', in recognition of the club's significant longstanding contribution to sport and sporting culture at both state and national levels. The arrival of Sam Burgess and Greg Inglis to
9240-498: The seating to be under cover. The stadium was engineered along sustainable lines, e.g., utilising less steel in the roof structure than the Olympic stadiums of Athens and Beijing . The stadium lacked a naming rights sponsor in its formative years, bearing the name Sydney Olympic Stadium between its opening in 1999 and 2001, it is then knows as Stadium Australia in 2001 and 2002. In 2002, telecommunications company Telstra acquired
9345-402: The second half, Cody Walker threw a pass that was intercepted by Panthers winger Stephen Crichton who scored untouched. Souths scored in the final five minutes of the match, but halfback Adam Reynolds missed the conversion from the sideline and a subsequent field-goal attempt, either of which would have seen the game tied. Penrith won the game 14–12. Penrith would also defeat South Sydney in
9450-470: The second semi-final the following day England beat France 24–7. In the final, on 22 November, England beat Australia 20–17 in extra time. In 2022, a new scoreboard was installed at the southern end of the stadium, measuring 120 metres wide. Also in 2022, the stadium lighting was replaced with new LED sports lights and were first used in Game One of the 2022 State of Origin series . In 2023, upgrades of
9555-399: The southern parts of Coogee and Randwick from Easts to Souths, that of providing an 'even competition'. The NSWRL, controlled at the time by a Board with a ruling faction of representatives from South Sydney (Terry Parker), Balmain ( Keith Barnes ), Canterbury ( Peter Moore ) and Manly ( Ken Arthurson ), refused to redraw the boundaries. Reference: 2023 Alexandria rovers On 16 May 2008,
9660-520: The stadium expired and it reverted to being Stadium Australia . In November 2021, multinational hospitality company Accor acquired the rights, with the venue to be known as Accor Stadium . The first sporting event held at the stadium was on 6 March 1999 when a then-record rugby league football crowd of 104,583 watched the NRL first round double-header, featuring Newcastle v Manly and Parramatta v St George Illawarra Dragons . The attendance broke
9765-459: The stadium hosted its first State of Origin series game between New South Wales and Queensland . The match, Game 2 of the three-game series , saw the record Origin attendance in Sydney when 88,336 saw the Blues christen their new home with a 12–8 win. The attendance broke the Origin attendance record of 87,161 set at the Melbourne Cricket Ground for Game 2 of the 1994 series . On 7 August 1999,
9870-415: The stadium was commenced to allow for sports that require an oval field, such as cricket and Australian rules football , to be played at the ground. The two wing stands and the athletics track were removed; they were replaced with a movable seating section. New roofs were built over the two ends and seats that had a poor view of the field were removed. The reconfiguration reduced the capacity to 84,000 for
9975-590: The state to attend fundraisers as Reggie Rabbit. Charlie Gallico has been South Sydney's Reggie Rabbit since 2002, The Juniors aka Souths Juniors on Anzac Parade in Kingsford, New South Wales has been the club's leagues club since the old Souths Leagues closed in 2013. The club is owned by the South Sydney District Junior Rugby Football League . Juniors @ The Junction (Since 2009) – The result of
10080-407: The three games. On 6 September 2013, the largest ever NRL minor round attendance for a single game at the stadium was set when 59,708 saw eventual 2013 Premiers the Sydney Roosters defeat South Sydney 24–12 in the final round of the 2013 NRL season . This was also the largest single game minor round crowd in the history of the premiership dating back to 1908, breaking the previous record set at
10185-604: The tour ending in the newly built Olympic Stadium. The show was sold out with an attendance of 66,285. The stadium was not officially opened until 12 June 1999 when the Australian National Soccer team played the FIFA All Stars . Australia won the match 3–2 in front of a crowd of 88,101. Stadium Australia also played host to the national side's historic playoff win over Uruguay in November 2005,
10290-449: 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 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
10395-410: 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
10500-508: Was 110,000) witnessed the "greatest ever rugby match" when a Jonah Lomu try sealed an All Blacks win over the Wallabies 39–35. The All Blacks had led 24-0 after 11 minutes only to see Australia draw level at 24–24 by halftime. An exhibition soccer match between the Australia national team and English club Manchester United was played on 18 July 1999. Manchester United defeated Australia 1–0 in front of 78,000 spectators. On 9 June 1999,
10605-462: Was Souths' dominance in the early years of the rugby league competition that the Rabbitohs were labelled "The Pride of the League". South Sydney struggled between 1940–1948. South Sydney's longest losing streak of 22 games was during the period 1945–1947. In the 1945 season the club only managed to win one game while in 1946 it was unable to win a single game. 1949 would mark the beginning of almost
10710-415: Was announced during the 2010 Charity Shield game that both St. George Illawarra and Souths had exceeded the 10,000 milestone, making the 2010 season the first time two Sydney clubs had entered the season with 10,000 ticketed members each. The club had members from every state in Australia and international members in 22 countries. Football club membership peaked at some 22,000 when the club was re-admitted to
10815-403: Was formed at a meeting on 17 January 1908 at Redfern Town Hall when administrator J. J. Giltinan , cricketer Victor Trumper and politician Henry Hoyle gathered 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
10920-681: Was the largest home-and-away AFL crowd at any Australian stadium for 2003. The attendance broke the record of 66,897 set at Football Park in Adelaide , South Australia on 28 September 1976 for the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) grand final between the Sturt and Port Adelaide Football Clubs . 2 October 2005 saw 82,453 attend the NRL grand final in which the Wests Tigers defeated
11025-408: Was then superseded by the white shorts of the "Minties" outfit. When the club subsequently reverted to the traditional playing strip, the decision was made to wear black shorts once more. In 2008 the Rabbitohs wore white shorts to match the white stripe running down the side of the jersey. The South Sydney District Rugby League Football Club (precursor to the current corporate entity) was formed, under
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