South Sydney Rabbitohs

South Sydney Rabbitohs

Club information
Full name	South Sydney District Rugby League Football Club
Nickname(s)	Souths, The Bunnies, The Rabbits, The Red n Green, The Pride of the League [1][2]
Colours	Primary      Cardinal Red      Myrtle Green Secondary      Black      White
Founded	17 January 1908 (1908-01-17)
Website	rabbitohs.com.au
Current details
Ground(s)	ANZ Stadium (84,000)
CEO	Blake Solly
Chairman	Nick Pappas
Coach	Michael Maguire
Captain	Greg Inglis
2016 Season	12th
Away colours
Current season
Records
Premierships	21 (1908, 1909, 1914, 1918, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1931, 1932, 1950, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1971, 2014)
Runners-up	13 (1910, 1916, 1917, 1920, 1923, 1924, 1935, 1937, 1939, 1949, 1952, 1965, 1969)
Minor premiership	17 (1908, 1909, 1914, 1918, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1929, 1932, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1953, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1989)
Wooden spoons	8 (1945, 1946, 1962, 1975, 1990, 2003, 2004, 2006)
Most capped	259 - John Sutton

The South Sydney Rabbitohs (often called Souths and The Bunnies) are a professional Australian rugby league team based in Redfern, a suburb of inner-southern Sydney, New South Wales.^[3] 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. The Rabbitohs were formed, under their original 1908 articles of association with the NSWRL competition, to represent the Sydney municipalities of Redfern, Alexandria, Zetland, Waterloo, Mascot and Botany. They are one of only two foundation clubs still present in the NRL, the other being the Sydney Roosters.^[4] The South Sydney District Rugby League Football Club is currently a subsidiary company 75% owned by Blackcourt League Investments which is, in turn, 50% owned by the actor Russell Crowe and 50% owned by James Packer's Consolidated Press Holdings; the other 25% is owned by the financial Members of the club.^[5]

The Rabbitohs' traditional heartland covers the once typically working-class suburbs of inner-south Sydney now generally occupied by factories. The club is based in Redfern, where the club's administration and training facilities are located, however they have long held a wide supporter base spread all over New South Wales. The team's home ground is currently Stadium Australia in Sydney Olympic Park. In the New South Wales Rugby League (1908–1994), Australian Rugby League (1995–1997), and National Rugby League (1998-1999, 2002–present) competitions South Sydney are the most successful professional team in the history of Australian rugby league in terms of total championships won, having claimed 21 first grade premierships.

History

The South Sydney District Rugby League Football Club was formed at a meeting on 17 January 1908 at Redfern Town Hall^[6] when administrator J J Giltinan, cricketer Victor Trumper and politician Henry Clement Hoyle gathered together in front of a large crowd of supporters.^[7] 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.^[7][8] The team went on to win the inaugural premiership then successfully defended their title in the 1909 season, winning the Grand Final by default.^[9] During these early years Arthur Hennessy was considered the "founding father" of the South Sydney rugby league club. A hooker and prop forward, Hennessy was Souths' first captain and coach. He was also New South Wales' first captain and Australia's first test captain in 1908. S. G. "George" Ball became Club Secretary in 1911 after Arthur Hennessy stood down from the position, and he remained in that capacity for over fifty years, only retiring a few years before his death in 1969.

After further premiership success in 1914 and 1918, South Sydney won seven of the eight premierships from 1925–1932, only missing out in 1930. The 1925 side went through the season undefeated^[10] 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".^[6][11]

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^[12] remains the highest score by a team in a Grand Final and "the miracle of '55"^[13][14] 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^[15] at the Sydney Cricket Ground, they went down narrowly 12–8.^[16] 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.^[17] 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^[18] in three places after being king hit by Manly prop John Bucknall.^[19][20]

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^[21] arrival turned the club's form, winning the pre-season competition in 1978.^[7] The club captured victories in the mid-week Tooth Cup competition in 1981^[22] and in the pre-season "Sevens" competition in 1988.^[7] 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.^[7] 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.^[7] 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,^[23] South Sydney failed to meet the National Rugby League's selection criteria to compete in the competition and were subsequently excluded from the premiership at the end of the 1999 season.

In 2000 and 2001, South Sydney fought their way back into the competition following a string of high-profile legal battles^[24] against the National Rugby League and News Limited.^[25] 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,^[26] South Sydney won readmission into the premiership for the 2002 season.^[27]

After being readmitted, the Rabbitohs were initially 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,^[28] the club has had great success in securing a number of major national and international player signings such as the four Burgess Brothers and Greg Inglis. The club was also successful in recruiting several key managerial positions including Jason Taylor as head coach in 2007 and more recently Michael Maguire in 2012.

South Sydney was a party to one of the sponsorship deals promoted by the fraudulent company Firepower International.^[29]

South Sydney won 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 defences 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.^[30][31] Reports suggested that Holmes à Court had been forced to stand down after his relationship with Russell Crowe had deteriorated beyond repair.^{[32][33][34][35][36]}

The South Sydney Rabbitohs celebrated their centenary year during the 2008 National Rugby League season. That year they were named the National Trust's inaugural 'Community Icon', in recognition of the club's significant longstanding contribution to sport and sporting culture at both state and national levels.^[37] In April 2012 the South Sydney Rabbitohs became the second club to record 1000 wins in First Grade.^[38] That same year the Rabbitohs finished third at the end of the regular season, qualifying for the finals for the first time since 2007 and just the second time since 1989.^[39] The South Sydney Rabbitohs finished third at the end of the regular season in 2014. They went on to win the Grand Final against the Canterbury Bulldogs 30-6 to claim their first premiership in 43 years, with Sam Burgess claiming the Clive Churchill Medal, South Sydney's first Clive Churchill Medallist in 43 years (taking into account the retrospective Clive Churchill medal awarded to Ron Coote in 1971). The 2014 Grand Final was the last match Burgess played for South Sydney, until an unexpected return to the club in 2016. On Thursday 9 October 2014, the Rabbitohs were presented with the Keys to the City of Randwick by Mayor Ted Seng at a presentation ceremony at Souths Juniors in Kingsford and later the same day awarded the Keys to the City of Sydney by Lord Mayor Clover Moore at a reception at Sydney Town Hall.

On 23 October 2014, Holmes à Court sold his 50% share of Blackcourt League Investments, and consequently his 37.5% stake in South Sydney, to James Packer's ScrumPac Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Packer's Consolidated Press Holdings.^[5]

Emblem

The club mascot is the rabbitoh, a now-disused term that was commonly used in the early 20th century to describe hawkers who captured and skinned rabbits and then sold the meat at markets,^[40] so named because they would shout "rabbit-oh!" around the markets to attract buyers. The club is also informally referred to as the Rabbits, Bunnies or Souths.

Exactly how South Sydney came to be known as the Rabbitohs is unknown. According to one version of events, dating from pre-schism days at the turn of the 20th century, some of the club's players earned some extra money on Saturday mornings as rabbit-oh men, staining their jerseys with rabbit blood in the process; when they played in those blood stained jumpers that afternoon, opponents from wealthier rugby clubs did not always appreciate the aroma and would mockingly repeat the "Rabbitoh!" cry.^[41] Another version was that the term was a disparaging reference by opposing teams to South's home ground being plagued with "rabbit 'oles"; in those early days Redfern Oval was then known as Nathan's Cow Paddock.^[6] A third version claims the Rabbitoh name was adopted from that of the touring Australian rugby union teams of the early 1900s who were nicknamed "Rabbits" prior to discarding the name in 1908 in favour of the moniker "Wallabies".^[42]

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 South Sydney Rabbitohs set in uppercase type.

Colours

South Sydney has used cardinal red and myrtle green colours on its playing jerseys for the vast majority of the club's history. Prior to the establishment of the rugby league club in 1908, the South Sydney rugby union team originally wore a red and green hooped jersey. Some sources have suggested that this combination of colours was due to the local rugby union club being nicknamed the "Redfern Waratahs". The first British inhabitants had often called the waratah a "red fern" instead, hence giving the suburb its name, and ultimately the local rugby club its emblem. Red and green dominate the colours of the waratah and hence, possibly, the South Sydney Rugby League Football Club adopted these colours for their jerseys.^[42] However, the suburb of Redfern was named in honour of William Redfern, one of the first doctors of the colony, who treated convicts and poor settlers as well as the wealthy.

The club's jersey has been a hooped-styled one comprising alternating red and green, and has been used for the vast majority of the club's history.^[43] In 1945 and 1946 the club broke with this tradition and used a green design with a red "V" around the collar, before reverting to the original hoop style. From 1980 to 1984 the team played in a strip which saw the inclusion of white hoops within a predominately green design with a central red stripe and was affectionately known as the "Minties"^[44] 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.^[45] For season 2009, the rabbit emblem is black for home matches whilst the emblem is the original white for away matches.^[46]

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.

Geographic area

The South Sydney District Rugby League Football Club (pre-curser to the current corporate entity) was formed, under the original 1908 articles of association with the NSWRL competition, to represent the Sydney municipalities of Redfern, Alexandria, Zetland, Waterloo, Mascot and Botany.

Stadium

During the early years of the New South Wales Rugby League premiership, "home games" were not assigned very often. However, South Sydney played most of their games at the Royal Agricultural Society Ground (Sydney Showground) from 1908 until the club's departure in 1920. From 1911 onwards, the Sydney Sports Ground was also used interchangeably with the Agricultural Ground over a decade for hosting matches.^[47] In 1947 the club played its final season at the Sports Ground, before relocating to Redfern Oval in 1948.^[48] It was here that team played in the heart of the club's territory and played the vast majority of its allocated home matches.

In 1988, the club began to play in the Sydney Football Stadium,^[49] just 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 when South Sydney was absent 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 not well received by some of the fans,^[50][51] but provided more money for the club that was several million dollars in the red at the end of 2005.^[52]

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^[53] 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.^[53]

As well as their main home ground, South Sydney also play home games at Barlow Park in Cairns, the Sydney Football Stadium and at Perth Oval during the year.

As well as hosting Rabbitohs games, the stadium is also home to SEDA College NSW who host their rugby based curriculum at the venue.

Supporters

The South Sydney Rabbitohs continue to have a large supporter base in their traditional areas of South-eastern Sydney, despite having moved from Redfern Oval two decades ago, while also enjoying wide support throughout other rugby league playing centres around the country.^[54] The official South Sydney supporter group is known as "The Burrow."^[55] While their active supporter group is known as "Gate38" which is made up of young men who were involved in the "scumgate" scandal in 2013.^[56]

The Rabbitohs have the highest football club membership in the National Rugby League, with membership exceeding 35,000 as of June 23, 2015. That member number also includes more than 11,000 ticketed members, 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 had entered the season with 10,000 ticketed members each. The club has members from every state in Australia and international members in 22 countries. Football club membership had peaked at some 22,000 when the club was re-admitted to the National Rugby League for season 2002.^[57]

"Group 14", a collection of club backers including businessmen, politicians, musicians and media personalities, was formed before the Rabbitohs' exclusion from the NRL in 1999.^[58] Members include Andrew Denton, Anthony Albanese, Deirdre Grusovin, Mike Whitney, Laurie Brereton, Mikey Robins, Ron Hoenig, Nick Greiner, Ray Martin, Cathy Freeman, Jode Gannon who has players John Sutton, Greg Inglis and Sam Burgess tattooed on his arm with the writing 2014 Premiers, Candice Warner and former NSW Premier Kristina Keneally.^[59][60] 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^[61] attended a rally in the Sydney CBD in support of South Sydney's cause.^[62][63] In 2000 and 2001, public street marches took place in Sydney with in excess of 80,000 people rallying behind the Rabbitohs.^[27] 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.^[64][65] 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.^[66]

Reggie the Rabbit

Reggie the Rabbit is the Rabbitohs mascot. Founders by Kip Gambilin. The rabbit took lifesize form in 1968 when celebrity fan Kip Gamblin brought back a suit from the US in time for the 1968 grand final against Manly, won by the Bunnies 13–9. Perhaps the most notable of the early Reggies was the club's groundsman Reg Fridd. Standing just over four feet tall, the Rabbitohs lured the diminutive Kiwi from a touring production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, the same troupe that had yielded the second Reggie, Roscoe Bova, tragically killed in a car accident in the early 70s. Most teams in the National Rugby League maintain mascots. But none do the sort of charity work as Reggie and none dare venture to opposition grounds as he does. Yet for the current Reggie, Charlie Gallico – a sub-five footer who runs a panelbeating shop on the side – it's all part of the job. For five years little Charlie has been quietly and anonymously volunteering his services to his club and community to maintain a sideline alter-ego as one of sport's most enduring symbols. During 2000 and 2001, when Souths was excluded from the NRL, Anth Courtney was Reggie Rabbit appearing at the second Town Hall rally and at games at Redfern Oval as well as being active in travelling extensively around the state to attend fundraisers as Reggie Rabbit.^[67]

South Sydney Leagues Club

The Juniors

The Juniors aka Souths Juniors on Anzac Parade in Kingsford, New South Wales^[68][69][70]

Juniors at the Junction

Juniors @ The Junction (Since 2009) – The result of a merger with South Sydney Junior Rugby League Club (Kingsford) and the struggling Maroubra Returned and Services League (RSL) Club. The club is on the site of the former Maroubra RSL club on Anzac Parade and Haig Street.^[71]

The Juniors on Hawkesbury

The Juniors on Hawkesbury (Since 2008) – in the Hawkesbury River^[72]

Kit sponsors and manufacturers

Year	Kit Manufacturer	Main Shirt Sponsor	Back Sponsors	Sleeve Sponsors	Shorts Sponsors
1991-1992	Classic Sportswear	David Brown Gears
1992-1995		Ravensport
1995-1997		DBS
1998		Perrys
1999		Downtown Duty Free		RSL COM
2002	International Sports Clothing	TV Week		Arrive Alive
2003		Allight		Arrive Alive
2004		Real Insurance		Arrive Alive
2005		Real Insurance		Arrive Alive
2006		Real Insurance		Arrive Alive
2007		High concept and Real Insurance		Firepower
2008		National Australia Bank and Firepower	De'Longhi	Trivest
2009		National Australia Bank	De'Longhi	V8 Supercars
2010		National Australia Bank	De'Longhi	V8 Supercars
2011		The Star	De'Longhi	V8 Supercars	Kenwood
2012		The Star	De'Longhi	Kenwood	Alcatel One Touch
2013		The Star	De'Longhi	Kenwood	Alcatel One Touch
2014		Crown Resorts	De'Longhi	Fujitsu	Alcatel One Touch
2015		Crown Resorts	Fujitsu	Crown Resorts	Alcatel One Touch

Link to the Indigenous Australian community

Souths has a long history of producing talented Indigenous players, including stars such as Eric Simms, Eric Robinson, Kevin Longbottom and, more recently, Nathan Merritt, Alex Johnston, Dylan Walker & Kyle Turner .^[73] Throughout its history the club has selected young Aboriginal players from both the South Sydney district and regional New South Wales. The link to the Aboriginal community of the district goes back to the formation of the Redfern All Blacks Football Club^[74][75] in 1930.^[76] Indigenous players in the 2014 Souths squad include Greg Inglis, Nathan Merritt, Alex Johnston, Dylan Walker, Kyle Turner, Beau Champion and Chris Grevsmuhl.

Rivalries

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.^[77]

Major

Sydney Roosters – The Rabbitohs and their fans have built up rivalries with other clubs, particularly the Sydney Roosters (Eastern Suburbs), the only other remaining foundation club.^[78] 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.^[79] 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, Peter Cusack and centre Shannon Hegarty away from the Roosters 2002 premiership winning side) & later Michael Crocker. 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.^[80] To celebrate their rivalry, the Rabbitohs and Roosters contest The Ron Coote Cup annually.^[81]

St George Dragons and St George Illawarra Dragons – The long-standing rivalry against the Dragons results in the annual Charity Shield match, originally played against the original St George Dragons and now (since their merger with Illawarra Steelers) played against the current team, St George Illawarra.

Minor

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles – Manly have, since 1970, purchased many of Souths' star players including John O'Neill, Ray Brannighan, Ian Roberts,^[82] and more recently Luke Burgess^[83] and Dylan Walker.

Wests Tigers – The rivalry with Wests continues from the historical rivalry between Souths and one of the teams that merged to form Wests, Balmain. The rivalry with Balmain began in 1909 when the Tigers failed to appear for the grand final and thereby forfeited to Souths.^[6][9] In the 1969 NSWRFL season enmity was again fueled between the clubs with Balmain's controversial^[84] victory against the Rabbitohs in the grand final that year.^[85]

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs – A more recent rivalry that primarily developed in the years 2014 and 2015, following a Grand Final and a controversial Good Friday match.

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 achievements include:

• The Rabbitohs have won the most first grade premierships (21) during the history of elite rugby league competition in Australia.^[86]
• Souths have also won the most reserve grade^[87] premierships (20).
• The club has the distinction of scoring the most points (42), most tries (8) and most goals (9) in a grand final, all achieved against Manly in 1951.^[12]
• Souths' 1925 first grade side is one of six New South Wales sides to ever go through a season undefeated.^[10] 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 Cowboys, the Rabbitohs won the match 29–28.
• In 2014, the Rabbitohs entered their first Grand Final in 43 years, defeating the Sydney Roosters 32-22 on 26 September 2014 in the Grand Final Qualifier.
• In 2014, the Rabbitohs won their first Grand Final and premership in 43 years, defeating the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 30-6 on 5 October 2014.

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

• John Sutton holds the record for the most first grade games for the club, having played 229 matches since 2004.^[88] Nathan Merritt, Bob McCarthy, Craig Coleman and Eric Simms are the only other players to have played over 200 matches, having taken to the field in 219, 211, 208 and 206 games respectively.^[88]
• 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.^[88]
• 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.^[88] 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).
• Nathan Merritt broke Benny Wearing's record for the most number of tries scored (144) by an individual while playing for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, whilst scoring his 145th try against Penrith at Centrebet Stadium on the 11 April 2014. Merritt is Souths highest ever try scorer with 146 tries between 2002 and 2014.
• Nathan Merritt equaled the South Sydney club record of 5 tries in a match against Parramatta at ANZ Stadium in a 56-6 win, joining greats such as Harold Horder, Johnny Graves and Ian Moir.
• Johnny Graves' tally of 29 points in a match against Eastern Suburbs in 1952^[88] 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.
• Les Brennan's 29 tries in 19 games in 1954 remains a club record,^[88] 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.^[88]
• During game 2 in the 2012 finals series Adam Reynolds became the second player in Souths history to score 200 points in one season after Eric Simms.
• Alex Johnston equaled the South Sydney club record of 5 tries in a match against Penrith at ANZ Stadium in a 42-14 win, joining greats such as Nathan Merritt, Harold Horder, Johnny Graves and Ian Moir.

Players

Current squad

South Sydney Rabbitohs 2017 Squad
First team squad								Coaching staff
Dean Britt - SR George Burgess - PR Sam Burgess (vc) - PR, SR, HK Tom Burgess - PR Braidon Burns - CE Anthony Cherrington - SR, PR, LK Jason Clark - SR, LK, PR Damien Cook - HK, FE, FB Angus Crichton - SR, CE Robbie Farah - HK Tyrell Fuimaono - CE, SR		Bryson Goodwin - CE, WG (gk) Campbell Graham - WG, CE Jack Gosiewski - SR Aaron Gray - CE, WG Brett Greinke - SR, CE Hymel Hunt - CE, WG Greg Inglis (c) - FB, CE, FE Robert Jennings - CE, WG Alex Johnston - FB, WG Luke Kelly - HB, FE Sitiveni Moceidreke - WG, FB, CE		Cameron Murray - LK Zane Musgrove - PR Adam Reynolds - HB, FE (gk) Toby Rudolf - PR, SR John Sutton - FE, LK, SR Siosifa Talakai - SR, CE Connor Tracey - HB Kyle Turner - SR David Tyrrell - PR Cody Walker - FE, HB				Head coach Michael Maguire Assistant coaches David Penna Steve Georgallis Wayne Collins Ben Lowe (Coach) Scott Geddes (Coach) Matt King (Coach) Legend: (c) Captain (vc) Vice captain Injured Updated: 16 July 2017 Source(s): Rabbitohs Squad 2017

Notable players

No. Position Player 1 FB Clive Churchill 2 WG Harold Horder 3 CE Herb Gilbert 4 CE Paul Sait 5 WG Ian Moir 6 FE Jim Lisle 7 HB Bob Grant 8 PR John Sattler (c) 9 HK Elwyn Walters

No. Position Player 10 PR John O'Neill 11 SR George Treweek 12 SR Bob McCarthy 13 LK Ron Coote 14 RE Greg Hawick 15 RE Ray Branighan 16 RE Ian Roberts 17 RE Les Cowie CO Jack Rayner (coach)

In 2002 on the Rabbitohs readmission to the competition, The Magnificent XIII,^[89] 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 1908 through to 2002.

No. Position Player 1 FB Clive Churchill (c) 2 WG Harold Horder 3 CE Ray Branighan 4 CE Paul Sait 5 WG Ian Moir 6 FE Alf Blair 7 HB Bob Grant 8 PR John Sattler 9 HK George Piggins

No. Position Player 10 PR John O'Neill 11 SR Jack Rayner 12 SR Bob McCarthy 13 LK Ron Coote 14 RE Terry Fahey 15 RE Ziggy Niszczot 16 RE Elwyn Walters 17 RE George Treweek CO Bernie Purcell (coach)

Season summaries

Season	Ladder Position	Finals Result
1908	1st	Premiers
1909	1st	Premiers
1910	2nd	Runner-up
1911	3rd	Finalist
1912	4th	Did Not Qualify
1913	3rd
1914	1st	Premiers
1915	4th	Did Not Qualify
1916	2nd	Runner-up
1917	2nd	Did Not Qualify
1918	1st	Premiers
1919	6th	Did Not Qualify
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	Did Not Qualify
1937	2nd
1938	2nd	Semi-finalists
1939	4th	Runner-up
1940	6th	Did Not Qualify
1941	7th
1942	5th
1943	5th
1944	4th	Semi-finalists
1945	Wooden Spoon (8th)	Did Not Qualify
1946	Wooden Spoon (8th)
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	Did Not Qualify
1959	6th
1960	8th
1961	7th
1962	Wooden Spoon (10th)
1963	9th
1964	5th
1965	4th	Runner-up
1966	6th	Did Not Qualify
1967	2nd	Premiers
1968	1st	Premiers
1969	1st	Runner-up
1970	1st	Premiers
1971	2nd	Premiers
1972	4th	Semi-finalists
1973	7th	Did Not Qualify
1974	5th	Qualifying Finalists
1975	Wooden Spoon (12th)	Did Not Qualify
1976	10th
1977	11th
1978	7th
1979	9th
1980	5th	Qualifying Finalists
1981	9th	Did Not Qualify
1982	6th
1983	8th
1984	5th	Semi-finalists
1985	9th	Did Not Qualify
1986	2nd	Semi-finalists
1987	5th	Semi-finalists
1988	8th	Did Not Qualify
1989	1st	Preliminary Finalists
1990	Wooden Spoon (16th)	Did Not Qualify
1991	14th
1992	14th
1993	14th
1994	9th
1995	18th
1996	19th
1997	11th
1998	18th
1999	12th
2000	Excluded from competition
2001
2002	14th	Did Not Qualify
2003	Wooden Spoon (15th)
2004	Wooden Spoon (15th)
2005	13th
2006	Wooden Spoon (15th)
2007	7th	Qualifying Finalists
2008	14th	Did Not Qualify
2009	10th
2010	9th
2011	10th
2012	3rd	Preliminary Finalists
2013	2nd	Preliminary Finalists
2014	3rd	Premiers
2015	7th	Qualifying Finalists
2016	12th	Did Not Qualify

Season summaries

P=Premiers, R=Runners-Ups, M=Minor Premierships, F=Finals Appearance, W=Wooden Spoons
(Brackets Represent Finals Games)

Competition	Games Played	Games Won	Games Drawn	Games Lost	Ladder Position	P	R	M	F	W	Coach	Captain	Notes
2002 NRL Season	24	5	0	19	14 / 15						Craig Coleman	Adam Muir	Reinstated into the NRL Competition
2003 NRL Season	24	3	0	21	15 / 15					X	Paul Langmack	Bryan Fletcher
2004 NRL Season	24	5	2	17 )	15 / 15					X	Paul Langmack Arthur Kitinas		2nd Wooden Spoon in a row, midseason coach change
2005 NRL Season	24	9	1	14	13 / 15						Shaun McRae	Bryan Fletcher Peter Cusack	Bryan Fletcher stripped of captaincy.
2006 NRL Season	24	3	0	24	15 / 15					X		Peter Cusack
2007 NRL Season	24	12	0	12	7 / 16				X		Jason Taylor	rowspan=2 Roy Asotasi David Kidwell	First Finals appearance since 1989 with new coach Jason Taylor
2008 NRL Season	24	8	0	16	14 / 16								Equalled the 2nd biggest comeback in NRL history. After trailing 28–4 after fifty minutes, the Rabbitohs won the match 29–28.
2009 NRL Season	24	11	0	13	1 / 16			X	X			Roy Asotasi	100th Season
2010 NRL Season			0		/ 16						John Lang
2011 NRL season					/ 16
2012 NRL season					/16						Michael Maguire	Michael Crocker, Roy Asotasi, John Sutton, Matt King, Sam Burgess
2013 NRL season					/16							John Sutton
2014 NRL season					/16								Premiers
2015 NRL season					/16							Greg Inglis	World Club Challenge, Auckland Nines champions.
2016 NRL season					/16								Sam Burgess returns after stint in Rugby Union
2017 NRL season					/16							Greg Inglis→Sam Burgess

Honours

Club

• New South Wales Rugby League, Australian Rugby League and National Rugby League Premierships:^[90] 21

1908, 1909, 1914, 1918, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1931, 1932, 1950, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1971, 2014

• Premiership runners-up: 13

1910, 1916, 1917, 1920, 1923, 1924, 1935, 1937, 1939, 1949, 1952, 1965, 1969

• New South Wales Rugby League, Australian Rugby League and National Rugby League minor premierships: 17

1908, 1909, 1914, 1918, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1929, 1932, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1953, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1989

• New South Wales Rugby League Club Championships: 9

1932, 1933, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1989

• Holden Cup minor premierships: 1

2010

• Holden Cup runners-up: 1

2010

• City Cup: 5

1912, 1919, 1921, 1924, 1925

• Pre-Season Cup titles: 4

1966, 1969, 1972, 1978

• Tooth Cup: 1

1981

• Tooheys Challenge: 1

1994

• Sevens: 1

1988

• NRL Auckland Nines: 1

2015

• World Club Challenge: 1

2015

• Sports Ground Cup: 2

1914, 1915

• League Cup: 5

1916, 1917, 1918, 1919, 1922

• Charity Shield: 18

1984, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1999, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017

• First Division, Premier League:^[87] 20

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 Cup: 8

1962, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1978

Individual

The George Piggins Medal is the award given to the Rabbitohs player determined to have been the "best and fairest" throughout an NRL season. The inaugural winner of the award in 2003 was Bryan Fletcher. In 2013, John Sutton & Greg Inglis became the first joint winners of the award.^[91][92]

Year	George Piggins Medal	Jack Rayner Players' Player Award	Bob McCarthy Clubman of the Year Award	John Sattler Rookie of the year Award	Roy Asotasi Members’ Choice Award	The Burrow Appreciation Award	NYC Best and Fairest Award	NYC Players’ Player
2003	Bryan Fletcher	Luke Stuart	Jason Death	Mark Minichiello	Justin Smith
2004	Ashley Harrison	Ashley Harrison	Ashley Harrison	Joe Williams	Mark Minichiello
2005	Peter Cusack	Peter Cusack	Luke Stuart	Manase Manuokafoa and Yileen Gordon	John Sutton
2006	David Fa'alogo	Nathan Merritt	Peter Cusack	Germaine Paulson	Nathan Merritt
2007	Roy Asotasi	Roy Asotasi	Luke Stuart	Issac Luke	Roy Asotasi	Paul Mellor
2008	Luke Stuart	Luke Stuart and Nathan Merritt	Beau Champion	Chris Sandow	Luke Stuart	Luke Stuart	Trent Trotter	Jason Clark
2009	John Sutton	Luke Stuart	Scott Geddes	David Tyrrell	Nathan Merritt	Nathan Merritt	Jason Clark	Jason Clark
2010	Issac Luke	Sam Burgess	Sam Burgess	Dylan Farrell	Issac Luke	Chris Sandow	Matt Mundine	Malcolm Webster
2011	Nathan Merritt	Chris Sandow	Michael Crocker	Nathan Peats	Michael Crocker	Michael Crocker	Kyle Turner	Adrian Ha’angana
2012	John Sutton	Greg Inglis	Sam Burgess and Michael Crocker	Adam Reynolds	Adam Reynolds	Adam Reynolds	Luke Keary	Jesse Roberts
2013	John Sutton and Greg Inglis	Sam Burgess	Matt King	Dylan Walker	Issac Luke	Issac Luke	Cameron McInnes	Cameron McInnes
2014	Sam Burgess	Sam Burgess	Sam Burgess	Alex Johnston	Sam Burgess	Sam Burgess	Cheyne Whitelaw	Jack Gosiewski
2015	Greg Inglis	Greg Inglis	Ben Lowe	Chris Grevsmuhl	Bryson Goodwin	Jason Clark	Clayton Williams	Clayton Williams
2016	Sam Burgess	Sam Burgess	Jason Clark	Cody Walker	Cody Walker	Kyle Turner	Maia Sands	Maia Sands

References

Works cited

External links

• Official website
• Rebel Rabbitohs website
• Rabbitohs Warren website
• The Pride website