South Sydney Rabbitohs
Encyclopedia
The South Sydney Rabbitohs (often shortened to Souths) 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
(NRL) premiership and are one of nine existing teams from the state capital. The club was formed in 1908
as one of the founding members of the New South Wales Rugby Football League, making them one of Australia's oldest rugby league teams. 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 New South Wales. The team's home ground is 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
.
There is such reverence for the Rabbitohs in Australian rugby league that there is the saying "When Souths are going well, rugby league is going well". Over the years, especially during their many golden runs they have been referred to as "The Pride of the League".
The Rabbitohs are one of the few "foundation clubs" playing in Australia's top rugby league competition to have survived in their original form (even after having been excluded and reinstated), with the likes of North Sydney
, Balmain
and Western Suburbs
having recently been replaced by newer "hybrid" teams.
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. 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.
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".
South Sydney struggled through most of the 1940s, only making the semifinals on two occasions (1944 and 1949). South Sydney's longest losing streak of 22 games was during the period 1945–1947. In the 1945 season they only managed to win one game while in 1946 they were unable to win a single game.
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
. 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 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 overawed 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 National Rugby League's selection criteria (criticised as unfair, flawed and biased to favour certain News Limited
associated teams and those teams located in areas contentiously viewed by News Limited as more important to the future of rugby league) 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 actor Russell Crowe
and businessman 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.
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.
May 2008 saw the sudden resignation of the then current Executive Chairman and CEO, Peter Holmes à Court
. He had been appointed to 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 their centenary year during the 2008 National Rugby League season
. The club fielded teams in the National Rugby League Telstra Premiership and the Toyota Cup National Youth Competition.
The Rabbitohs also have affiliate clubs in the New South Wales Cup competition (North Sydney Bears
) and the European Super League
(Leeds Rhinos
).
On 3 September 2008, the South Sydney Football Club was 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.
One version of how the club got the "Rabbitohs" nickname comes from the team's pre-schism 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 were 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 celebrated their centenary year during 2008. The club released a centenary emblem to commemorate the occasion. To also coincide with the centenary year, Souths opted to alter their logo by removing the red and green oval from their emblem for a solid white rabbit with the words Souths Sydney Rabbitohs in upper case font as seen above.
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 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 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 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 wore white shorts to match the white stripe running down the side of their jersey.
, at Moore Park, NSW
, which is in the territory of the Eastern Suburbs "Sydney" Roosters. Since 2006, they have played their home games in the territory of the Wests Tigers
, at Homebush, NSW.
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.
During 2004–2005, when the Rabbitohs contract with Sydney Football Stadium was about to expire, new home grounds were investigated at Gosford, North Sydney Oval and Telstra Stadium (Now ANZ Stadium). Eventually the decision was made to relocate to Telstra Stadium at Homebush. The move was controversial as it was claimed to have been made to secure the Rabbitohs future. However history showed that the club was several million dollars in the red at the end of 2005 and was forced into privatisation.
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.
During 2008 the City of Sydney Council
completed a $19.5 million upgrade and renovation of Redfern Oval. From season 2009, the upgraded Redfern Oval will provide the Rabbitohs with training facilities and a venue for hosting pre-season and exhibition matches.
The South Sydney Rabbitohs played the Wests Tigers in a pre-season match on Sunday, 8 February 2009. The seating capacity for this games was only 5,000, so only members from South Sydney and the Tigers were allowed to purchase tickets for the match. The Tigers won the game 30–26 in front of a sold out crowd.
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."
As at March 2010, the Rabbitohs had the highest football club membership in the National Rugby League, with total membership exceeding 17,500. The total member number also includes more than 11,000 ticketed members to date, the highest of the Sydney-based NRL Clubs. It 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 have entered the season with 10,000 ticketed members each. The club has members from every state in Australia and international members located in 22 countries. Football club membership had peaked at some 22,000 when the club was readmitted to the National Rugby League for season 2002
.
"Group 14", a collection of the club's backers which comprise an influential collection of businessmen, politicians and media personalities, was formed before the Rabbitohs' exclusion from the NRL in 1999. Members included Andrew Denton
, Anthony Albanese
, Deirdre Grusovin
, Mike Whitney
, Laurie Brereton
, Mikey Robbins, Ron Hoenig
, Nick Greiner
, Ray Martin
and former NSW Premier Kristina Keneally
. They contributed to South Sydney's bid for reinstatement, following 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 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 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.
During Oprah Winfrey
's 2010 tour of Australia as part of The Oprah Winfrey Show
, she was spotted sporting Souths merchandise while with co-owner Russell Crowe
.
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.
Indigenous players in the current Souths squad include Nathan Merritt
, Greg Inglis
, Rhys Wesser
and Chris Sandow
.
, 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 14–12. 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(although it could be argued that the Roosters may have instigated the controversy surrounding Wing, when they broke the news of the signing on their website in what some say was an attempt to steal the Rabbitohs thunder). In Round 1, 2010, the Rabbitohs and Roosters became the first clubs to play 200 matches against each other. The Roosters' 36–10 victory put the ledger at 105 games won by South Sydney, 90 by the Roosters (Eastern Suburbs) and 5 drawn. To celebrate their rivalry, the Rabbitohs and Roosters contest the Ron Coote
Cup annually.
Other long-time traditional rivals include the Manly-Warringah 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.
A book, The Book of Feuds
, chronicling the rivalries of the Rabbitohs with their NRL competitors was written by Mark Courtney at the instigation of Russell Crowe. It has been used as a motivational tool before Souths matches and was later released on sale to the public.
The club boasts some notable achievements:
The club's players have also achieved some notable individual game and point scoring milestones:
season in the NRL Telstra Premiership.
Losses
through to 2002
.
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...
football team based in Redfern
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...
, a suburb of South-central 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...
, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
. They participate in the 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...
(NRL) premiership and are one of nine existing teams from the state capital. The club was formed in 1908
New South Wales Rugby League season 1908
The 1908 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the inaugural season of Australia's first rugby league football club competition, which was based in Sydney, New South Wales...
as one of the founding members of the New South Wales Rugby Football League, making them one of Australia's oldest rugby league teams. They are one of only two foundation clubs still present in the league, the other being the Sydney Roosters
Sydney Roosters
The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League and is one of the oldest and most successful clubs in Australian rugby league history, having won twelve New South Wales Rugby League...
.
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 New South Wales. The team's home ground is currently ANZ Stadium at Sydney Olympic Park
Sydney Olympic Park
Sydney Olympic Park is a suburb in western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Sydney Olympic Park is located 16 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Auburn Council....
.
At the elite competition level, South Sydney are the most successful professional team in the history of Australian rugby league
Rugby league in Australia
Rugby league football is one of the most popular sports in Australia. It is the dominant winter sport on the eastern seaboard of Australia, including the states of New South Wales and Queensland as well as the Australian Capital Territory, which together comprise around half of the country's...
in terms of total championships won, having claimed 20 first grade premierships
South Sydney Rabbitohs competition honours
The following is a list of titles that the National Rugby League club, the South Sydney Rabbitohs, have won. The premiership victories represent finals and grand finals won to decide the premier for the particular season...
. However, they have not won a premiership since 1971. In 2007
National Rugby League season 2007
The 2007 NRL season was the one hundredth season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the tenth run by the National Rugby League...
Souths qualified for their first finals series since 1989
New South Wales Rugby League season 1989
The 1989 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership was the eighty-second season of professional rugby league football in Australia. Sixteen clubs competed for the J J Giltinan Shield and Winfield Cup during the season, which culminated in a grand final between the Canberra Raiders and Balmain Tigers...
.
There is such reverence for the Rabbitohs in Australian rugby league that there is the saying "When Souths are going well, rugby league is going well". Over the years, especially during their many golden runs they have been referred to as "The Pride of the League".
The Rabbitohs are one of the few "foundation clubs" playing in Australia's top rugby league competition to have survived in their original form (even after having been excluded and reinstated), with the likes of North Sydney
North Sydney Bears
The North Sydney Bears are an Australian rugby league football club based in North Sydney, New South Wales. They currently compete in the New South Wales Cup, having exited the National Rugby League following the 1999 NRL season after 92 years of top-grade competition. The Bears are based on...
, Balmain
Balmain Tigers
The Balmain Tigers are a rugby league football club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and one of the most successful in the history of the premiership, with eleven titles...
and Western Suburbs
Western Suburbs Magpies
The Western Suburbs Magpies are an Australian rugby league football club based in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Formed in 1908, Wests, as they are commonly referred to, were one of the nine foundation clubs of the first New South Wales Rugby League competition in Australia...
having recently been replaced by newer "hybrid" teams.
History
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...
Town Hall when administrator J J Giltinan
J J Giltinan
James Joseph Giltinan was an Australian entrepreneur who helped to found the sport of rugby league football in Australia.On 8 August 1907 at Bateman's Crystal Hotel, George Street, Sydney politician Henry Hoyle chaired a meeting of fifty, comprising several leading rugby players and officials...
, cricketer Victor Trumper
Victor Trumper
Victor Thomas Trumper was an Australian cricketer known as the most stylish and versatile batsman of the Golden Age of cricket, capable of playing match-winning innings on wet wickets his contemporaries found unplayable. Archie MacLaren said of him, "Compared to Victor I was a cab-horse to a Derby...
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
New South Wales Rugby League premiership
The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League from 1908 until 1994, the premiership was the state's and later the country's elite rugby league competition...
, defeating North Sydney
North Sydney Bears
The North Sydney Bears are an Australian rugby league football club based in North Sydney, New South Wales. They currently compete in the New South Wales Cup, having exited the National Rugby League following the 1999 NRL season after 92 years of top-grade competition. The Bears are based on...
11–7 at Birchgrove Oval on 20 April 1908
New South Wales Rugby League season 1908
The 1908 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the inaugural season of Australia's first rugby league football club competition, which was based in Sydney, New South Wales...
. The team went on to win the inaugural premiership then successfully defended their title in the 1909 season
New South Wales Rugby League season 1909
The 1909 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the second season of Sydney's top-level rugby league football competition, Australia's first...
, winning the Grand Final
Grand Final
Grand Final is a predominantly Australian sport term used to describe a match that decides a league champion.It originated in Victoria and South Australia and has become specifically significant Australian culture...
by default. During these early years Arthur Hennessy
Arthur Hennessy
Arthur Stephen "Ash" Hennessy was an Australian pioneer rugby league identity. He was a seminal figure in the creation of the South Sydney Rabbitohs for whom he played and later coached...
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.
After further premiership success in 1914
New South Wales Rugby League season 1914
The 1914 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the seventh season of Sydney's top-grade rugby league football club competition, Australia's first. Eight teams from across the city contested during the season...
and 1918
New South Wales Rugby League season 1918
The 1918 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 11th season of Sydney's professional rugby league football club competition, Australia's first...
, 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".
South Sydney struggled through most of the 1940s, only making the semifinals on two occasions (1944 and 1949). South Sydney's longest losing streak of 22 games was during the period 1945–1947. In the 1945 season they only managed to win one game while in 1946 they were unable to win a single game.
Western Suburbs Magpies
The Western Suburbs Magpies are an Australian rugby league football club based in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Formed in 1908, Wests, as they are commonly referred to, were one of the nine foundation clubs of the first New South Wales Rugby League competition in Australia...
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
Jack Rayner
Jack Rayner was an Australian state and national representative rugby league player and NSWRFL coach. His club playing career was with the South Sydney Rabbitohs from 1946 to 1957 and he also represented New South Wales on eleven occasions and played in five Test matches for the Australian...
, Les "Chicka" Cowie
Les Cowie
Les Cowie was an Australian rugby league player, a fine lock forward for the champion South Sydney Rabbitohs teams of the 1950s and an Australian national representative.-Club career:...
, Johnny Graves, Ian Moir
Ian Moir
Ian Moir was an Australian rugby league player, a champion wing three-quarter of the 1950s for the South Sydney Rabbitohs. He made eight Test appearances for the Australian national representative side and represented in four World Cup matches in two World Cups and in 14 Kangaroo tour...
, Greg Hawick
Greg Hawick
Greg Hawick was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach. A fine utility back for the champion South Sydney Rabbitohs teams of the 1950s and a representative player in the Australian national side, he was named at five-eighth in the Australian 1950s rugby league team of the...
, Ernie Hammerton, Bernie Purcell
Bernie Purcell
Bernie Purcell was an Australian rugby league premiership winning footballer and coach. He was a goal-kicking second-row forward of the 1950s for the South Sydney Rabbitohs and Australian national representative and New South Wales state sides....
and Clive Churchill
Clive Churchill
Clive Bernard Churchill AM was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach of the mid-20th century. An Australian international and New South Wales and Queensland interstate representative fullback, he played the majority of his club football with and later coached the South Sydney Rabbitohs...
. 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 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
St. George Dragons
The St George Dragons was an Australian Rugby league football club in St George, Sydney, New South Wales that played in Australia's top-level Rugby league competition from New South Wales Rugby Football League in 1921 until 1998; in 1999 they formed a joint venture with the Illawarra Steelers,...
who were aiming to secure their 10th straight premiership. The young Rabbitohs weren't overawed by the Dragons formidable experience and in front of a record crowd of 78,056 at the Sydney Cricket Ground
Sydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
, 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
Bob McCarthy
Bob McCarthy MBE is an Australian former rugby league footballer and coach. He played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, New South Wales and for the Australian national side...
, John O'Neill, Eric Simms, Ron Coote
Ron Coote
Ron Coote AM is an Australian former representative rugby league player whose club career was played with the South Sydney and Eastern Suburbs, both of whom he won premierships with. He is considered one of the nation's finest footballers of the 20th century...
, Mike Cleary and John Sattler
John Sattler
John William Sattler is an Australian former rugby league footballer of the 1960s and '70s. He was a rugged Prop forward who led his club, South Sydney to four premiership victories between 1967 and 1971 and who played four tests for Australia – three as the national captain...
from 1965 were later joined by Elwyn Walters
Elwyn Walters
Elwyn Walters was an Australian rugby league player for the South Sydney Rabbitohs and Eastern Suburbs clubs and for the Australian national side.Walters came to South Sydney in the mid-1960s from the Brisbane Norths club...
, Ray Branighan
Ray Branighan
Ray Branighan is an Australian former rugby league player, a star winger and Centre of the 1970s for the South Sydney Rabbitohs , the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and Australian national representative side.-Souths club career:...
, Paul Sait
Paul Sait
Paul Sait was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach. A versatile Centre or running forward of the 1970s for the South Sydney Rabbitohs...
, Gary Stevens and coach Clive Churchill
Clive Churchill
Clive Bernard Churchill AM was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach of the mid-20th century. An Australian international and New South Wales and Queensland interstate representative fullback, he played the majority of his club football with and later coached the South Sydney Rabbitohs...
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
Jack Gibson (rugby league)
Jack Arthur Gibson OAM was an Australian rugby league identity – a player, commentator and most notably a coach...
's arrival turned the club's form, winning the pre-season competition in 1978
New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1978
The 1978 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the seventy-first season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first...
. The club captured victories in the mid-week Tooth Cup
Amco Cup
The Amco Cup was a mid-week rugby league competition held in Australia between 1974 and 1989. The format was usually a straight knock-out, but various group formats were used between 1979 and 1982...
competition in 1981 and in the pre-season "Sevens"
Rugby League World Sevens
The Rugby League World Sevens, usually referred to as the World Sevens and sometimes as the World Cup Sevens, were a pre-season rugby league sevens tournament made up over the years primarily of New South Wales Rugby League , Australian Rugby League and mostly recently National Rugby League ...
competition in 1988
New South Wales Rugby League season 1988
The 1988 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership was the eighty-first season of professional rugby league football in Australia. This year saw the first expansion of the NSWRL competition outside the borders of New South Wales, with the addition of three new teams, the Brisbane Broncos, Gold...
. 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
New South Wales Rugby League season 1989
The 1989 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership was the eighty-second season of professional rugby league football in Australia. Sixteen clubs competed for the J J Giltinan Shield and Winfield Cup during the season, which culminated in a grand final between the Canberra Raiders and Balmain Tigers...
. The 1989 season
New South Wales Rugby League season 1989
The 1989 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership was the eighty-second season of professional rugby league football in Australia. Sixteen clubs competed for the J J Giltinan Shield and Winfield Cup during the season, which culminated in a grand final between the Canberra Raiders and Balmain Tigers...
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
Wooden spoon (award)
A wooden spoon is a mock or real award, usually given to an individual or team which has come last in a competition, but sometimes also to runners-up. Examples range from the academic to sporting and more frivolous events...
.
The club stayed afloat in the 1990s despite major financial problems. Souths' only success came in 1994
New South Wales Rugby League season 1994
The 1994 New South Wales Rugby League season was the eighty-seventh season of professional rugby league football in Australia...
when they won the pre-season competition, defeating the Brisbane Broncos
Brisbane Broncos
The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the city of Brisbane, the capital of the state of Queensland. Founded in 1988, the Broncos play in Australasia's elite competition, the National Rugby League premiership. They have won six premierships and two...
27–26 in the final. The Super League War
Super League (Australia)
Super League was an Australian rugby league football administrative body that conducted professional competition in Australasia for one season in 1997. Along with Super League of Europe, it was created by News Corporation during the Super League war which arose following an unsuccessful attempt to...
and the eventual formation of the 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...
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
National Rugby League season 2000
The 2000 NRL season was the 93rd season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the third to be run by the National Rugby League...
. Following a series of mergers by other teams, South Sydney failed to meet the National Rugby League's selection criteria (criticised as unfair, flawed and biased to favour certain News Limited
News Limited
News Limited is one of Australia's largest diversified media companies. The publicly listed company's interests span newspaper and magazine publishing, Internet, Pay TV, National Rugby League, market research, DVD and film distribution, and film and television production trading assets.News Limited...
associated teams and those teams located in areas contentiously viewed by News Limited as more important to the future of rugby league) to compete in the competition and were subsequently excluded from the premiership at the end of the 1999 season
National Rugby League season 1999
The 1999 NRL season was the 92nd season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and the second to be run by the National Rugby League. Seventeen teams competed for the NRL Premiership during the season which culminated in a grand final between the first grand final played at Stadium...
.
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
Federal Court of Australia
The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court of record which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law , along with some summary criminal matters. Cases are heard at first instance by single Judges...
in 2001, South Sydney won readmission into the premiership for the 2002 season
National Rugby League season 2002
The 2002 NRL season was the 95th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the fifth to be run by the National Rugby League...
.
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
Wooden spoon (award)
A wooden spoon is a mock or real award, usually given to an individual or team which has come last in a competition, but sometimes also to runners-up. Examples range from the academic to sporting and more frivolous events...
. However, following the club's takeover by actor Russell Crowe
Russell Crowe
Russell Ira Crowe is a New Zealander Australian actor , film producer and musician. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius in the 2000 historical epic film Gladiator, directed by Ridley Scott, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor, a...
and businessman Peter Holmes à Court
Peter Holmes à Court
Peter Holmes à Court is an Australian businessman and a joint owner of the National Rugby League team South Sydney Rabbitohs together with Russell Crowe....
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
Jason Taylor (rugby league footballer)
Jason Taylor is an Australian professional rugby league football coach and former player, currently working at the Sydney Roosters of the NRL. He formerly coached the Parramatta Eels and South Sydney Rabbitohs clubs...
as head coach.
National Rugby League season 2007
The 2007 NRL season was the one hundredth season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the tenth run by the National Rugby League...
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.
On 26 January 2008, the Rabbitohs lost 24–26 to the Leeds Rhinos
Leeds Rhinos
Leeds Rhinos is an English professional rugby league football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The club won the 2011 Super League and became the most successful club in the Super League era, beating St Helens 32-16 on 8th October 2011. Formed in 1890, Leeds competes in Europe's Super League...
in front of 12,000 fans at the University of North Florida
University of North Florida
The University of North Florida is a public university located in Jacksonville, Florida. A member institution of the State University System of Florida, the university is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award baccalaureate, master’s...
in Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
, the first time first-grade professional rugby league teams from Australia and England have played each other in the United States.
May 2008 saw the sudden resignation of the then current Executive Chairman and CEO, Peter Holmes à Court
Peter Holmes à Court
Peter Holmes à Court is an Australian businessman and a joint owner of the National Rugby League team South Sydney Rabbitohs together with Russell Crowe....
. He had been appointed to 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 their centenary year during the 2008 National Rugby League season
National Rugby League season 2008
The 2008 NRL season was the 101st season of professional rugby league club competition in Australia, and the eleventh run by the National Rugby League. For the second year, sixteen teams competed for the 2008 Telstra Premiership title. The season commenced with the first matches played on 14 March...
. The club fielded teams in the National Rugby League Telstra Premiership and the Toyota Cup National Youth Competition.
The Rabbitohs also have affiliate clubs in the New South Wales Cup competition (North Sydney Bears
North Sydney Bears
The North Sydney Bears are an Australian rugby league football club based in North Sydney, New South Wales. They currently compete in the New South Wales Cup, having exited the National Rugby League following the 1999 NRL season after 92 years of top-grade competition. The Bears are based on...
) and the European Super League
Super League
Super League is the top-level professional rugby league football club competition in Europe. As a result of sponsorship from engage Mutual Assurance the competition is currently officially known as the engage Super League. The League features fourteen teams: thirteen from England and one from...
(Leeds Rhinos
Leeds Rhinos
Leeds Rhinos is an English professional rugby league football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The club won the 2011 Super League and became the most successful club in the Super League era, beating St Helens 32-16 on 8th October 2011. Formed in 1890, Leeds competes in Europe's Super League...
).
On 3 September 2008, the South Sydney Football Club was named the National Trust
National Trust of Australia
The Australian Council of National Trusts is the peak body for community-based, non-government organisations committed to promoting and conserving Australia's indigenous, natural and historic heritage....
's inaugural 'Community Icon' in recognition of the club's significant longstanding contribution to sport and sporting culture at both state and national levels.
Emblem
Redfern Oval
Redfern Oval is a football ground located in Sydney suburb of Redfern, New South Wales. The South Sydney Rabbitohs Rugby League Football Club played at Redfern Oval between 1948 and 1987...
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
Australia national rugby union team
The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...
teams of the early 1900s who were 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 celebrated their centenary year during 2008. The club released a centenary emblem to commemorate the occasion. To also coincide with the centenary year, Souths opted to alter their logo by removing the red and green oval from their emblem for a solid white rabbit with the words Souths Sydney Rabbitohs in upper case font as seen above.
Colours
New South Wales Rugby Union
The New South Wales Rugby Union is the organisation responsible for the sport of rugby union in most of the state of New South Wales, Australia...
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
Waratah
Waratah is a genus of five species of large shrubs or small trees in the Proteaceae, native to the southeastern parts of Australia...
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
William Redfern
William Redfern was a leading surgeon in early colonial New South Wales.-Early life:Redfern appears to have been born in Canada and raised in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England...
, 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 the vast majority of the club's history. In 1945
New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1945
The 1945 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the thirty-eighth season of Sydney's top-level rugby league club competition, Australia's first...
and 1946
New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1946
The 1946 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the thirty-ninth season of Sydney's top-level rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Eight teams from across the city contested during the season which culminated in the Balmain club's victory over St...
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
New South Wales Rugby League season 1984
The 1984 New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the seventy-seventh season of professional rugby league football in Australia. With the departure of the Newtown Jets from the first grade competition at the close of the previous season, 1984 saw thirteen teams compete for the J J Giltinan...
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
National Rugby League season 2006
The 2006 NRL season was the 99th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the ninth run by the National Rugby League. The lineup of teams remained unchanged from the previous year, with fifteen clubs competing for the 2006 Telstra Premiership...
.
Before the start of the 2007 season
National Rugby League season 2007
The 2007 NRL season was the one hundredth season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the tenth run by the National Rugby League...
, 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 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 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 wore white shorts to match the white stripe running down the side of their jersey.
Stadium
Despite being a foundation club, formed for the start of the 1908 New South Wales Rugby Football League season, Souths have had a nomadic existence in terms of having a home ground. Throughout the entirety of their existence, Souths only played home games regularly inside their "home territory", the South Sydney District, between 1948 and 1987, when they played at Redfern Oval. From 1908 to 1947, and 1988 to 2005 (not including their two years excluded from the League) they played their home games in Sydney's Eastern SuburbsEastern Suburbs (Sydney)
The Eastern Suburbs is a general term used to describe the metropolitan area directly to the east and south-east of the Sydney central business district in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Eastern Suburbs can refer to the suburbs within the local government areas of Woollahra, Waverley, Dover...
, at Moore Park, NSW
Moore Park, New South Wales
Moore Park is a large area of parkland in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of Centennial Parklands, a collective of three parks being Moore Park, Centennial Park and Queens Park. Centennial Parklands is administered by the Centennial Park &...
, which is in the territory of the Eastern Suburbs "Sydney" Roosters. Since 2006, they have played their home games in the territory of 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...
, at Homebush, NSW.
During the early years of the New South Wales Rugby League premiership
New South Wales Rugby League premiership
The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League from 1908 until 1994, the premiership was the state's and later the country's elite rugby league competition...
, "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
Sydney Sports Ground
The Sydney Sports Ground was a Stadium and Dirt track racing venue in Sydney, New South Wales. The ground was located where the car park of the Sydney Football Stadium currently sits. The ground had two main grandstands and was surrounded by a grass covered hill, giving it a capacity of more than...
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
Redfern Oval
Redfern Oval is a football ground located in Sydney suburb of Redfern, New South Wales. The South Sydney Rabbitohs Rugby League Football Club played at Redfern Oval between 1948 and 1987...
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.
During 2004–2005, when the Rabbitohs contract with Sydney Football Stadium was about to expire, new home grounds were investigated at Gosford, North Sydney Oval and Telstra Stadium (Now ANZ Stadium). Eventually the decision was made to relocate to Telstra Stadium at Homebush. The move was controversial as it was claimed to have been made to secure the Rabbitohs future. However history showed that the club was several million dollars in the red at the end of 2005 and was forced into privatisation.
During 2008 the City of Sydney Council
City of Sydney
The City of Sydney is the Local Government Area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, Australia...
completed a $19.5 million upgrade and renovation of Redfern Oval. From season 2009, the upgraded Redfern Oval will provide the Rabbitohs with training facilities and a venue for hosting pre-season and exhibition matches.
The South Sydney Rabbitohs played the Wests Tigers in a pre-season match on Sunday, 8 February 2009. The seating capacity for this games was only 5,000, so only members from South Sydney and the Tigers were allowed to purchase tickets for the match. The Tigers won the game 30–26 in front of a sold out crowd.
Supporters
South-eastern Sydney
South-Eastern Sydney is a term which is used to describe the metropolitan area directly to the south and east of the Sydney central business district in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.The area stretches from the inner city to the foreshores of Botany Bay...
, despite having moved from Redfern Oval
Redfern Oval
Redfern Oval is a football ground located in Sydney suburb of Redfern, New South Wales. The South Sydney Rabbitohs Rugby League Football Club played at Redfern Oval between 1948 and 1987...
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."
As at March 2010, the Rabbitohs had the highest football club membership in the National Rugby League, with total membership exceeding 17,500. The total member number also includes more than 11,000 ticketed members to date, the highest of the Sydney-based NRL Clubs. It was announced during the 2010 Charity Shield
Rugby League Charity Shield (Australia)
Regarded as the unofficial start to the National Rugby League season, the Charity Shield has been in operation since 1982 ....
game that both St George Illawarra and Souths had exceeded the 10,000 milestone, making the 2010 season the first time two Sydney clubs have entered the season with 10,000 ticketed members each. The club has members from every state in Australia and international members located in 22 countries. Football club membership had peaked at some 22,000 when the club was readmitted to the National Rugby League for season 2002
National Rugby League season 2002
The 2002 NRL season was the 95th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the fifth to be run by the National Rugby League...
.
"Group 14", a collection of the club's backers which comprise an influential collection of businessmen, politicians and media personalities, was formed before the Rabbitohs' exclusion from the NRL in 1999. Members included Andrew Denton
Andrew Denton
Andrew Christopher Denton is an Australian television producer, comedian, Gold Logie-nominated television presenter and former radio host, and was the host of the ABC's weekly television interview program Enough Rope. He is known for his comedy and interviewing technique...
, Anthony Albanese
Anthony Albanese
Anthony Norman Albanese , Australian politician, who serves as Leader of the House of Representatives and Minister for Infrastructure and Transport in the Gillard Ministry...
, Deirdre Grusovin
Deirdre Grusovin
Deirdre Mary Grusovin was a member of the New South Wales Parliament for twenty five years.Grusovin was born Deirdre Mary Brereton in Sydney, and is the sister of influential former politician Laurie Brereton....
, Mike Whitney
Mike Whitney
Michael Roy Whitney is an Australian television personality and former cricketer, who played in 12 Tests and 38 ODIs from 1981 to 1993....
, Laurie Brereton
Laurie Brereton
Laurence John "Laurie" Brereton , Australianpolitician, was a state minister, a federal member of cabinet, and kingmaker in the election of several Australian Labor Party leaders, including Paul Keating and Mark Latham...
, Mikey Robbins, Ron Hoenig
Ron Hoenig
Ron Hoenig is an Australian Barrister at Law and is the Mayor of the City of Botany Bay. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party. After being elected as a councillor in 1980, he became mayor in 1981 and has held that position continuously since...
, Nick Greiner
Nick Greiner
Nicholas "Nick" Frank Hugo Greiner AC, is an Australian businessman and former politician. He was the 37th Premier New South Wales from 1988 to 1992. He was Leader of the New South Wales Division of the Liberal Party from 1983 to 1992 and Leader of the Opposition from 1983 to 1988. He is married...
, Ray Martin
Ray Martin (television presenter)
Raymond George "Ray" Martin AM is an Australian television journalist. He is best known for his various on-air roles on Channel Nine from 1978 to 2008. In 2011 he returned to 60 Minutes....
and former NSW Premier Kristina Keneally
Kristina Keneally
Kristina Kerscher Keneally MP, is an Australian politician and was the 42nd Premier of New South Wales. She was elected leader of the Australian Labor Party in New South Wales and thus Premier in 2009, but went on to lose government to the Liberal/National Coalition at the March 2011 state election...
. They contributed to South Sydney's bid for reinstatement, following 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
Sport in Australia
Australia has a long sporting history dating back to the mid 1800s. By the 1920s, a number of sports were being played by both men and women, including cricket, badminton, judo, swimming, tennis, netball, lacrosse, golf, hockey and various codes of football....
, saw 40,000 people attended a rally in the Sydney CBD
Sydney central business district
The Sydney central business district is the main commercial centre of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It extends southwards for about 3 kilometres from Sydney Cove, the point of first European settlement. Its north–south axis runs from Circular Quay in the north to Central railway station in...
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 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.
During Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011...
's 2010 tour of Australia as part of The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
, she was spotted sporting Souths merchandise while with co-owner Russell Crowe
Russell Crowe
Russell Ira Crowe is a New Zealander Australian actor , film producer and musician. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius in the 2000 historical epic film Gladiator, directed by Ridley Scott, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor, a...
.
Link to the indigenous community
Souths has a long history of producing talented indigenousIndigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
players, including stars such as Eric Simms, Eric Robinson, Kevin Longbottom
Kevin Longbottom
Kevin Longbottom was an Aboriginal Australian professional rugby league player for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the New South Wales Rugby League between 1961 and 1969, playing 105 games....
and, more recently, Nathan Merritt
Nathan Merritt
Nathan Merritt is an Australian professional rugby league footballer for the South Sydney Rabbitohs of the National Rugby League. He has also previously played for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks. His position of choice is either on the wing or at fullback. Merritt is an Indigenous Australian who...
. Throughout its history the club has been a provider of opportunity for young Aboriginal
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
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.
Indigenous players in the current Souths squad include Nathan Merritt
Nathan Merritt
Nathan Merritt is an Australian professional rugby league footballer for the South Sydney Rabbitohs of the National Rugby League. He has also previously played for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks. His position of choice is either on the wing or at fullback. Merritt is an Indigenous Australian who...
, Greg Inglis
Greg Inglis
Greg Inglis is an Australian professional rugby league player for the South Sydney Rabbitohs. A Queensland State of Origin and Australian international representative outside back, Inglis joined the Rabbitohs in 2011 after much controversy.Inglis is a versatile back, having played in several...
, Rhys Wesser
Rhys Wesser
Rhys Joseph "Sugar" Wesser is an Australian professional rugby league footballer for the South Sydney Rabbitohs of the NRL...
and Chris Sandow
Chris Sandow
Chris Sandow is an Indigenous Australian professional rugby league player who previously played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the National Rugby League competition but from the 2012 NRL season, Sandow will play for the Parramatta Eels...
.
Rivalries
The Rabbitohs and their fans have built up rivalries with other clubs, particularly the Sydney RoostersSydney Roosters and South Sydney Rabbitohs rivalry
-South Sydney Rabbitohs:The rivalry between the Sydney Roosters and the South Sydney Rabbitohs rugby league teams is the longest surviving in the current National Rugby League competition. The two teams are the only remaining "foundation clubs" in the league, that is, they were both participants in...
, 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
Sydney Roosters
The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League and is one of the oldest and most successful clubs in Australian rugby league history, having won twelve New South Wales Rugby League...
in the first grand final 14–12. Games between the neighbouring foundation clubs have since formed part of the oldest "local derby
Local derby
In many countries the term local derby, or simply just derby means a sporting fixture between two, generally local, rivals, particularly in association football...
" in the competition. The rivalry increased after 1950 due to conflict between junior territories
Sydney Roosters Juniors
The Sydney Roosters Juniors is officially known as the Eastern Suburbs District Junior Rugby League . It is an affiliation of junior clubs in the Eastern Suburbs area, covering the Woollahra and Waverley local government areas , the northern parts of the Randwick LGA and also the eastern areas of...
and since the 1970s escalated once more as both clubs drew key players away from each other (Souths lost internationals Ron Coote
Ron Coote
Ron Coote AM is an Australian former representative rugby league player whose club career was played with the South Sydney and Eastern Suburbs, both of whom he won premierships with. He is considered one of the nation's finest footballers of the 20th century...
, Elwyn Walters
Elwyn Walters
Elwyn Walters was an Australian rugby league player for the South Sydney Rabbitohs and Eastern Suburbs clubs and for the Australian national side.Walters came to South Sydney in the mid-1960s from the Brisbane Norths club...
and Jim Morgan
Jim Morgan
Jim Morgan was an Australian rugby league footballer of the 1960s and 70s. He played at prop forward in the New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership for the South Sydney Rabbitohs and later the Eastern Suburbs Roosters, and also represented Australia.Hailing from Maitland, Morgan first...
to the Roosters from their last era of premiership winning teams, whilst more recently Souths lured key forwards Bryan Fletcher
Bryan Fletcher
Bryan Fletcher is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer of the 1990s and 2000s. A New South Wales State of Origin and Australian international representative second-row-forward, he played his club football in Australia with the Sydney Roosters then the South Sydney Rabbitohs...
and Peter Cusack
Peter Cusack (rugby league)
Peter Cusack is an Australian professional rugby league footballer with Hull in the European Super League. His position of choice is at prop...
away from the Roosters 2002 premiership winning side). In June 2007, amid controversy and much public fanfare, Souths signed from the Roosters Craig Wing
Craig Wing
Craig Wing is an Australian rugby union player. He currently plays rugby union in Japan. A former rugby league player for New South Wales State of Origin and Australian international utility player, Wing played for South Sydney Rabbitohs and Sydney Roosters.-South Sydney Rabbitohs:Craig Wing was a...
, a Souths junior and former Rabbitoh player, on a four-year deal commencing season 2008(although it could be argued that the Roosters may have instigated the controversy surrounding Wing, when they broke the news of the signing on their website in what some say was an attempt to steal the Rabbitohs thunder). In Round 1, 2010, the Rabbitohs and Roosters became the first clubs to play 200 matches against each other. The Roosters' 36–10 victory put the ledger at 105 games won by South Sydney, 90 by the Roosters (Eastern Suburbs) and 5 drawn. To celebrate their rivalry, the Rabbitohs and Roosters contest the Ron Coote
Ron Coote
Ron Coote AM is an Australian former representative rugby league player whose club career was played with the South Sydney and Eastern Suburbs, both of whom he won premierships with. He is considered one of the nation's finest footballers of the 20th century...
Cup annually.
Other long-time traditional rivals include the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
The Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. They compete in the National Rugby League's Telstra Premiership, the premier rugby league competition of Australasia...
(who since 1970 purchased many of Souths' star players) and former clubs the St George Dragons (resulting in the annual Charity Shield
Rugby League Charity Shield (Australia)
Regarded as the unofficial start to the National Rugby League season, the Charity Shield has been in operation since 1982 ....
match) and Balmain Tigers
Balmain Tigers
The Balmain Tigers are a rugby league football club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and one of the most successful in the history of the premiership, with eleven titles...
. 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.
A book, The Book of Feuds
Book of Feuds
The Book of Feuds is a book commissioned by South Sydney Rabbitohs co-owner Russell Crowe to chronicle the rivalries of the club and to be used as a motivational tool. A chapter is dedicated to each of their 15 National Rugby League competitors...
, chronicling the rivalries of the Rabbitohs with their NRL competitors was written by Mark Courtney at the instigation of Russell Crowe. It has been used as a motivational tool before Souths matches and was later released on sale to the public.
Statistics and records
South Sydney are the most successful club 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 (20South Sydney Rabbitohs competition honoursThe following is a list of titles that the National Rugby League club, the South Sydney Rabbitohs, have won. The premiership victories represent finals and grand finals won to decide the premier for the particular season...
) during the history of elite rugby league competition in Australia.
- Souths have also won the most reserve grade premierships (20NSWRL Premier LeagueThe New South Wales Cup is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales previously known as the NSWRL Premier League. It has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserve grade competition. It is now the premier open age competition in the state...
).
- 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).
- In 2008, the Rabbitohs equalled the second biggest comeback in Australian Rugby League history. After being down 28–4 after 53 minutes against the North Queensland CowboysNorth Queensland CowboysThe North Queensland Cowboys are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, Queensland. They compete in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby League premiership...
, the Rabbitohs won the match 29–28.
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 WearingBenny WearingBenny Wearing was an Australian rugby league footballer of the 1920s and 30s. An Australian international and New South Wales representative three-quarter, he played his club football in the NSWRFL Premiership for the South Sydney Rabbitohs....
scored 144 tries in his 172 games for the club, which is an exceptional proportion of tries per games played.
- Les BrennanLes BrennanLeslie Brennan is an Australian former rugby league player for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the New South Wales Rugby League competition. He holds the record for the third most number of tries in a NSWRL season, scoring 29 tries in 1954...
'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.
- In 2011 Nathan Merritt equaled the Rabbitohs record for most tries in a game with 5 in a 56-6 demolition of the Parramatta Eels.
2012 Squad
The following list comprises players who are in the Rabbitohs full-time first-grade squad for the 20122012 NRL season
The 2012 NRL season will be the 106th season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the fifteenth run by the National Rugby League. The NRL will be contested by sixteen teams for the sixth consecutive year...
season in the NRL Telstra Premiership.
2012 Transfers
Gains| Player | Previous Club | |
|---|---|---|
 Justin HuntJustin Hunt Justin Travis Hunt , is an American filmmaker. He was born in Grand Junction, Colorado, where his father, Glen Hunt, was a jockey, and his mother, Linda, was a race horse trainer. Hunt was a television news anchor and reporter, primarily in New Mexico, in the late '90s and early 2000s... |
Redcliffe Dolphins Redcliffe Dolphins The Redcliffe Dolphins are a rugby league team from the city of Redcliffe in Queensland, Australia. The Redcliffe Dolphins were founded in 1947, accepted into the Brisbane Rugby League premiership in 1960, and since 1996 have played in the Queensland Cup.... |
|
 Luke BurgessLuke Burgess (rugby league) Luke Burgess is an English rugby league footballer currently playing for Australian NRL side South Sydney RabbitohsBorn in Wakefield, he played for the Leeds Rhinos having previously been on loan to Harlequins RL and Doncaster... |
Leeds Rhinos Leeds Rhinos Leeds Rhinos is an English professional rugby league football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The club won the 2011 Super League and became the most successful club in the Super League era, beating St Helens 32-16 on 8th October 2011. Formed in 1890, Leeds competes in Europe's Super League... |
|
| Matt King |
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.... |
|
| Ryan Carr Ryan Carr Ryan Carr is a rugby league player who has been contracted by the South Sydney Rabbitohs to join the NRL squad for the 2012 National Rugby League season. He plays in the position of Halfback or Hooker. His signing was announced on the South Sydney Rabbitohs official website on the 29th July... |
Redcliffe Dolphins Redcliffe Dolphins The Redcliffe Dolphins are a rugby league team from the city of Redcliffe in Queensland, Australia. The Redcliffe Dolphins were founded in 1947, accepted into the Brisbane Rugby League premiership in 1960, and since 1996 have played in the Queensland Cup.... |
Losses
| Player | Signed for | |
|---|---|---|
| Chris Sandow Chris Sandow Chris Sandow is an Indigenous Australian professional rugby league player who previously played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the National Rugby League competition but from the 2012 NRL season, Sandow will play for the Parramatta Eels... |
Parramatta Eels Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta. The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, with their First Grade side playing their first season in the New South Wales Rugby Football League... > |
|
| Shannon McPherson |
Salford Salford City Reds Salford City Reds are an English rugby league club based in Salford, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1873, they currently play in the Super League. They have won six Rugby Football League Championships and one Challenge Cup... > |
|
| Beau Falloon Beau Falloon Beau Falloon is a rugby league player for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the National Rugby League. He plays as a hooker.-References:*... |
Gold Coast Titans Gold Coast Titans Gold Coast Titans are an Australian professional rugby league football club, based in the Gold Coast, Queensland. The club competes in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby League premiership. It is the newest of the sixteen clubs in the league, having commenced its... > |
|
| Junior Vaivai |
Penrith Panthers Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football team based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith. They compete in the National Rugby League premiership, the top rugby league football competition in Australasia. For the 2012 NRL season they will be coached by Ivan... > |
|
| Rhys Wesser Rhys Wesser Rhys Joseph "Sugar" Wesser is an Australian professional rugby league footballer for the South Sydney Rabbitohs of the NRL... |
Retirement Retirement Retirement is the point where a person stops employment completely. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours.Many people choose to retire when they are eligible for private or public pension benefits, although some are forced to retire when physical conditions don't allow the person to... > |
|
| Luke Stuart Luke Stuart Luke Stuart is an Australian professional rugby league footballer for the South Sydney Rabbitohs of the National Rugby League . His playing position is second row forward... |
Retirement Retirement Retirement is the point where a person stops employment completely. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours.Many people choose to retire when they are eligible for private or public pension benefits, although some are forced to retire when physical conditions don't allow the person to... > |
Notable players
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 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 1908New South Wales Rugby League season 1908
The 1908 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the inaugural season of Australia's first rugby league football club competition, which was based in Sydney, New South Wales...
through to 2002
National Rugby League season 2002
The 2002 NRL season was the 95th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the fifth to be run by the National Rugby League...
.
Year by Year Standings
| Season | Ladder Position | Finals Result |
| 1908 | 1st | Premiers |
| 1909 | 1st | Premiers |
| 1910 | 2nd | Runner-Up |
| 1911 | 3rd | Finalist |
| 1912 | 4th | |
| 1913 | 3rd | |
| 1914 | 1st | Premiers |
| 1915 | 4th | |
| 1916 | 2nd | Runner-Up |
| 1917 | 2nd | |
| 1918 | 1st | Premiers |
| 1919 | 6th | |
| 1920 | 2nd | |
| 1921 | 5th | |
| 1922 | 4th | |
| 1923 | 2nd | Runner-Up |
| 1924 | 2nd | Runner-Up |
| 1925 | 1st | Premiers |
| 1926 | 1st | Premiers |
| 1927 | 1st | Premiers |
| 1928 | 3rd | Premiers |
| 1929 | 1st | Premiers |
| 1930 | 3rd | Semi-Finalists |
| 1931 | 2nd | Premiers |
| 1932 | 1st | Premiers |
| 1933 | 3rd | Semi-Finalists |
| 1934 | 4th | Semi-Finalists |
| 1935 | 2nd | Runner-Up |
| 1936 | 7th | |
| 1937 | 2nd | |
| 1938 | 2nd | Semi-Finalists |
| 1939 | 4th | Runner-Up |
| 1940 | 6th | |
| 1941 | 7th | |
| 1942 | 5th | |
| 1943 | 5th | |
| 1944 | 4th | Semi-Finalists |
| 1945 | 8th | Wooden Spoon |
| 1946 | 8th | Wooden Spoon |
| 1947 | 7th | |
| 1948 | 7th | |
| 1949 | 1st | Runner-Up |
| 1950 | 1st | Premiers |
| 1951 | 1st | Premiers |
| 1952 | 3rd | Runner-Up |
| 1953 | 1st | Premiers |
| 1954 | 2nd | Premiers |
| 1955 | 4th | Premiers |
| 1956 | 3rd | Preliminary Finalists |
| 1957 | 3rd | Preliminary Finalists |
| 1958 | 8th | |
| 1959 | 6th | |
| 1960 | 8th | |
| 1961 | 7th | |
| 1962 | 10th | Wooden Spoon |
| 1963 | 9th | |
| 1964 | 5th | |
| 1965 | 4th | Runner-Up |
| 1966 | 6th | |
| 1967 | 2nd | Premiers |
| 1968 | 1st | Premiers |
| 1969 | 1st | Runner-Up |
| 1970 | 1st | Premiers |
| 1971 | 2nd | Premiers |
| 1972 | 4th | Semi-Finalists |
| 1973 | 7th | |
| 1974 | 5th | Qualifying Finalists |
| 1975 | 12th | Wooden Spoon |
| 1976 | 10th | |
| 1977 | 11th | |
| 1978 | 7th | |
| 1979 | 9th | |
| 1980 | 5th | Qualifying Finalists |
| 1981 | 9th | |
| 1982 | 6th | |
| 1983 | 8th | |
| 1984 | 5th | Semi-Finalists |
| 1985 | 9th | |
| 1986 | 2nd | Semi-Finalists |
| 1987 | 5th | Semi-Finalists |
| 1988 | 8th | |
| 1989 | 1st | Preliminary Finalists |
| 1990 | 16th | Wooden Spoon |
| 1991 | 14th | |
| 1992 | 14th | |
| 1993 | 14th | |
| 1994 | 9th | |
| 1995 | 18th | |
| 1996 | 19th | |
| 1997 | 11th | |
| 1998 | 18th | |
| 1999 | 12th | |
| 2002 | 14th | |
| 2003 | 15th | Wooden Spoon |
| 2004 | 15th | Wooden Spoon |
| 2005 | 13th | |
| 2006 | 15th | Wooden Spoon |
| 2007 | 7th | Qualifying Finalists |
| 2008 | 14th | |
| 2009 | 10th | |
| 2010 | 9th | |
| 2011 | 10th | |
Honours
- New South Wales Rugby LeagueNew South Wales Rugby League premiershipThe New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League from 1908 until 1994, the premiership was the state's and later the country's elite rugby league competition...
, Australian Rugby LeagueAustralian Rugby LeagueThe Australian Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in Australia. It is made up of state bodies, including the New South Wales Rugby League and the Queensland Rugby League...
and National Rugby LeagueNational Rugby LeagueThe 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...
Premierships: 20
-
- 1908, 1909, 1914, 1918, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1931, 1932, 1950, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1971
- Premiership runners-up: 13
- 1910, 1916, 1917, 1920, 1923, 1924, 1935, 1937, 1939, 1949, 1952, 1965, 1969
- New South Wales Rugby LeagueNew South Wales Rugby LeagueThe New South Wales Rugby League is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and is a member of the Australian Rugby League. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was known as the New South Wales Rugby Football League until 1984 when forward thinking marketing managers decided...
, Australian Rugby LeagueAustralian Rugby LeagueThe Australian Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in Australia. It is made up of state bodies, including the New South Wales Rugby League and the Queensland Rugby League...
and National Rugby LeagueNational Rugby LeagueThe 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...
minor premierships: 17
- New South Wales Rugby League
- 1908, 1909, 1914, 1918, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1929, 1932, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1953, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1989
- New South Wales Rugby LeagueNew South Wales Rugby LeagueThe New South Wales Rugby League is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and is a member of the Australian Rugby League. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was known as the New South Wales Rugby Football League until 1984 when forward thinking marketing managers decided...
Club Championships: 9
- New South Wales Rugby League
- 1932, 1933, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1989
- Toyota Cup minor premierships: 1
- 2010
- City CupCity CupThe City Cup was a rugby league competition involving Australian premiership teams. The post season tournament was a regular feature in the years 1912 - 1925. City Cups were also played in 1937, 1942 and 1959....
: 5
- City Cup
- 1912, 1919, 1921, 1924, 1925
- Pre-Season Cup titles: 4
- 1966, 1969, 1972, 1978
- Tooth CupAmco CupThe Amco Cup was a mid-week rugby league competition held in Australia between 1974 and 1989. The format was usually a straight knock-out, but various group formats were used between 1979 and 1982...
: 1
- Tooth Cup
- 1981
- Tooheys Challenge: 1
- 1994
- SevensRugby League World SevensThe Rugby League World Sevens, usually referred to as the World Sevens and sometimes as the World Cup Sevens, were a pre-season rugby league sevens tournament made up over the years primarily of New South Wales Rugby League , Australian Rugby League and mostly recently National Rugby League ...
: 1
- Sevens
- 1988
- Sports Ground Cup: 2
- 1914, 1915
- League Cup: 5
- 1916, 1917, 1918, 1919, 1922
- Charity ShieldRugby League Charity Shield (Australia)Regarded as the unofficial start to the National Rugby League season, the Charity Shield has been in operation since 1982 ....
: 13
- Charity Shield
- 1984, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1999, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010
- First Division, Premier LeagueNSWRL Premier LeagueThe New South Wales Cup is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales previously known as the NSWRL Premier League. It has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserve grade competition. It is now the premier open age competition in the state...
: 20
- First Division, Premier League
- 1913, 1914, 1917, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1929, 1931, 1932, 1934, 1943, 1945, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1966, 1968, 1983
- Third Grade: 10
- 1912, 1918, 1925, 1928, 1933, 1962, 1969, 1981, 1986, 1989
- Jersey Flegg CupJersey Flegg CupThe Jersey Flegg Cup was a junior rugby league competition played in New South Wales, contested among teams made up of players aged under 20. The competition was administered by the New South Wales Rugby League and run concurrently with the National Rugby League...
: 8
- Jersey Flegg Cup
- 1962, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1978
- 1908, 1909, 1914, 1918, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1931, 1932, 1950, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1971