Redfern Oval is a football ground located in Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

 suburb of Redfern, New South Wales

Redfern, New South Wales

Redfern is an inner-city suburb of Sydney. Redfern is 3 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney...

. The South Sydney Rabbitohs

South Sydney Rabbitohs

The South Sydney Rabbitohs are an Australian professional rugby league football team based in Redfern, a suburb of South-central Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League premiership and are one of nine existing teams from the state capital...

 Rugby League Football Club played at Redfern Oval between 1948 and 1987. Rabbitoh supporters often refer to Redfern Oval as "The Holy Land".

In July 1987 Souths played Manly in front of a record crowd of 23,257.

The former National Rugby League

National Rugby League

The National Rugby League is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL's main competition, called the Telstra Premiership , is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand...

 ground had a main grandstand on the wing with seats on either side and a hill surrounding the rest of the ground with a few rows of seats near the fence. The total capacity of the ground was around the 20,000 mark, until the redevelopment. The current ground has a lone grandstand with bench style seating, with the structure incorporating the Rabbitohs' training equipment/gym, as well as a cafe and basic luxury hospitality. The seating is covered by a large roof spanning the width of the structure. The stand is wheelchair accessible and also contains hearing loop accessibility. The player's tunnel is accessed by a small staircase which is below field level. Around the rest of the ground (which is now all public park, including the field) is three rows of terraced, hill seating. The side opposite the stand contains basketball courts and a skateboard park behind the terraces.

$19 million was spent by the City of Sydney Council to completely upgrade and renovate Redfern Oval which has allowed the Rabbitohs to return to Redfern in 2009 with state-of-the-art training facilities for players and coaches.

The upgrade offers the Rabbitohs a professional standard playing surface and facilities to allow the oval to be used as their preferred training ground and for a limited number of pre-season and exhibition matches.

Return to Redfern (RTR)

South Sydney played the Wests Tigers

Wests Tigers

The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's mid-western suburbs. They have competed in the National Rugby League since they were formed at the end of the 1999 season as a joint-venture club between the Balmain Tigers and the Western Suburbs...

 in a pre-season match on Sunday the 8th February 2009. The seating capacity for this games was only 5,000, so only members from South Sydney and the Tigers were allowed to purchases tickets for the match. The Tigers won the game 30-26 in front of a sold out crowd.

Due to the success of the RTR match, the South Sydney Rabbitohs decided to play another trial match on the 7th February 2010 against the Manly Sea Eagles. The match was advertised at Souths home games as 'RTR 2010 The Tradition Continues. Once again, the game was for members only. The game took place approximately 40 years after the famous 1970 NSWRL grand final, in which Souths legend John Sattler played most of the game with a shattered jaw. A teaser

Teaser

A teaser is a type of gambling bet that allows the bettor to combine his bets on two different games. The bettor can adjust the point spreads for the two games, but realizes a lower return on the bets in the event of a win....

 for the game was uploaded to YouTube by a Souths fan which details the rivalry between Souths and Manly . Sam Burgess

Sam Burgess

Sam Burgess is an English professional rugby league footballer for the South Sydney Rabbitohs of the National Rugby League...

 made his debut for the Rabbitohs and scored a try as South Sydney won on the day 42-14.

The third annual RTR game was played on Saturday the 5th February 2011 when South Sydney took on the Newtown Jets

Newtown Jets

The Newtown Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Newtown, a suburb of Sydney's inner west. They currently compete in the NSWRL Premier League competition, having left the top grade after the 1983 NSWRFL season...

. The last time these two teams met was back in the 1983 NSWRFL season. The game was marked as Ben Ross

Ben Ross

Ben Ross is an Australian professional rugby league footballer for the South Sydney Rabbitohs of the National Rugby League . A Queensland State of Origin representative forward, he has previously played club football for St...

' return to rugby league

Rugby league

Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

 after a two year neck injury. Ross captained the side, as South Sydney won their second straight RTR match, beating the Jets 10-4.

South Sydney announced that the 2012 RTR game will be against the English Super League club, the Warrington Wolves

Warrington Wolves

Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league football club based in Warrington, England that competes in Super League. They play at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2003....

. The game will be played on the 28th January 2012.

External links

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