South Sydney Rabbitohs

When I was growing up I inherited my cousins enthusiasm as a fan of the South Sydney Rugby League Club. 'The Rabbitohs' [named after the blokes who used to carry sticks with rabbits hanging from them around the streets of Redfern and Darlinghurst and call out that produce was available for sale for stew or soup] were a foundation club from 1908 with the NSW Rugby League. This was a hybrid rugby union invention championed by JJ Giltnan and others. Giltnan managed to convince Dally Messengers mum to let Dally switch from rugby union to the paid professional sport of rugby league.
Souths colours are myrtle and coachwood [green and red] and they are the most successful winning-est club in the history of league in Oz. JUst not so for the last several years. During the Super League war over broadcast rights the Rabbitohs were excluded from the comp while other teams went the merger route. People protest power and the courts re-admitted Souths a couple of years ago and the club has struggled to catch up to the modern era ever since. For every forward step there's been two backwards...

Today, historically it seems more than 75% of voting members have voted to privatise the club by offering a 75% stake to Peter Holmes a Court and Russell Crowe [mad Souths supporter] with 25% in the hands of members and a raft of conditions on future sale etc!!

While not all good news, things could not possibly have been worse and so the inevitable has happened...

While I have moved on the follow Rugby Union in the last twenty years and had a soft spot for the Newcastle Knights... the bunnies hold a special place in my story and my growing up. I spent years watching black and white telecasts of grandfinals as Eric Simms, John Sattler and Co won year after year...

It's an interesting story for many reasons. The Souths supporters from inner city Sydney are an underpriviledged group... an eclectic mix of 'battlers', sufferers from mental illness, the aboriginal community, yuppies, the old guard, long term locals, traditionalists and fans from Australia far and wide... The protests that led to Souths reinstatement were a localised groundswell gone mad... in many ways this stands in stark contrast to the idea of privatisation... BUT if it has to happen, better loyal fans and passionate supporters than business opportunists!! Nothing thats happened has prevented the team from being moved away from Redfern Oval... which was a great venue in its heyday!! but is now a delapidated eyesore that Clover Moore [Sydney's independent Lord Mayor] is determined to return to greenfield site. It will be a state of the art training ground but not a redeveloped stadium!!

LIke all good stories I guess we'll have to wait for the next chapters to judge the current scenario!!

Go the Rabbitohs!!