Fixtures

NRL 03/22 09:00 3 Sydney Roosters vs South Sydney Rabbitohs - View
NRL 03/29 05:05 4 South Sydney Rabbitohs vs Canterbury Bulldogs - View
NRL 04/06 04:00 5 South Sydney Rabbitohs vs New Zealand Warriors - View
NRL 04/13 09:35 6 South Sydney Rabbitohs vs Cronulla Sharks - View
NRL 04/25 09:50 8 Melbourne Storm vs South Sydney Rabbitohs - View
NRL 05/02 09:50 9 South Sydney Rabbitohs vs Penrith Panthers - View

Results

NRL 03/14 09:00 2 Brisbane Broncos v South Sydney Rabbitohs L 28-18
NRL 03/03 02:30 1 Manly Sea Eagles v South Sydney Rabbitohs L 36-24
NRL Pre-Season Challenge 02/23 07:00 - South Sydney Rabbitohs v Sydney Roosters L 10-46
NRL Pre-Season Challenge 02/17 09:05 - South Sydney Rabbitohs v St George/Illawarra Dragons W 28-6
NRL 09/01 10:00 27 South Sydney Rabbitohs v Sydney Roosters L 12-26
NRL 08/20 04:05 25 Newcastle Knights v South Sydney Rabbitohs L 29-10
NRL 08/12 05:00 24 South Sydney Rabbitohs v St George/Illawarra Dragons W 26-14
NRL 08/05 09:35 23 South Sydney Rabbitohs v Cronulla Sharks L 16-26
NRL 07/28 08:00 22 Wests Tigers v South Sydney Rabbitohs W 18-32
NRL 07/21 10:00 21 South Sydney Rabbitohs v Brisbane Broncos L 20-36
NRL 07/08 09:35 19 South Sydney Rabbitohs v Canterbury Bulldogs L 32-36
NRL 06/30 08:00 18 New Zealand Warriors v South Sydney Rabbitohs W 6-28

The South Sydney Rabbitohs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Redfern that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). They are often referred to as Souths or the Bunnies.

The club was formed in 1908, as one of the founding members of the New South Wales Rugby Football League, making it one of Australia's oldest rugby league teams. It is one of only two NSW foundation clubs still present in the NRL, the other being the Sydney Roosters.

The Rabbitohs' traditional heartland covers the once typically working-class suburbs of inner-south Sydney. The club is based in Redfern, where its administration and training facilities are located, however it has long held a wide supporter base spread all over New South Wales. The team's home ground is currently Stadium Australia in Sydney Olympic Park. South Sydney is the most successful professional team in the history of Australian rugby league with twenty-one first grade premierships.

History

Origins

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 Hoyle gathered together in front of a large crowd of supporters. The club played in the first round of the newly formed New South Wales Rugby League, defeating North Sydney 11–7 at Birchgrove Oval on 20 April 1908. The team went on to win the inaugural premiership then successfully defended its title in the 1909 season, winning the Grand Final by default. During these early years Arthur Hennessy was considered the "founding father" of the South Sydney rugby league club.[] A hooker and prop forward, Hennessy was Souths' first captain and coach. He was also New South Wales' first captain and Australia's first test captain in 1908. S. G. "George" Ball became Club Secretary in 1911 after Arthur Hennessy stood down from the position, and he remained in that capacity for over fifty years, only retiring a few years before his death in 1969.[]

NSWRFL & ARL (1908–1997)

After further premiership success in 1914 and 1918, South Sydney won seven of the eight premierships from 1925 to 1932, missing out only in 1930. The 1925 side went through the season undefeated 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 between 1940–1948. South Sydney's longest losing streak of 22 games was during the period 1945–1947.[] In the 1945 season the club only managed to win one game while in 1946 it was unable to win a single game.

1950s golden era (1949–1957)

1949 would mark the beginning of almost a decade of great success for South Sydney, winning five of the six premierships from 1950 to 1955, and losing the 1949 Grand Final against St. George, and also the 1952 Grand Final against Western Suburbs in controversial circumstances. The 1951 side's point scoring feat in its 42–14 victory over Manly-Warringah remains the highest score by a team in a Grand Final and "the miracle of '55" involved South Sydney winning 11 straight sudden death matches to win 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 to 1964, during this time receiving the 1962 wooden spoon.

More premiership success (1965–1971)

In 1965 a talented young side made the Grand Final against St. George who were aiming to secure its tenth straight premiership. The young Rabbitohs were not overawed by the Dragons' formidable experience and in front of a record crowd of 78,056 at the Sydney Cricket Ground, it went down narrowly 12–8. The nucleus of this side went on to feature in Australian representative teams for the next six years and ensured another golden period for South Sydney making five successive grand finals from 1967 to 1971, winning four. Bob McCarthy, John O'Neill, Eric Simms, Ron Coote, Mike Cleary and John Sattler from 1965 were later joined by Elwyn Walters, Ray Branighan, Paul Sait, Gary Stevens and coach Clive Churchill to form 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 trouble and exclusion (1972–1999)

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 made the finals on five occasions in the 1980s, including a dominant season to finish as minor premiers in 1989. The 1989 season proved to be the club's most successful in years, but was also the last time the club reached the finals until 2007. The following season the Rabbitohs finished as wooden spooners.

The club stayed afloat in the 1990s despite major financial problems. Souths' only success came in 1994 when it won the pre-season competition, defeating the Brisbane Broncos 27–26 in the final. The Super League War and the eventual formation of the National Rugby League affected the club greatly when it was determined in 1998 that the newly formed competition would be contracted to 14 teams for the 2000 season. Following a series of mergers by other teams, and a planned merger with Cronulla-Sutherland was met with staunch opposition from both clubs, South Sydney failed to meet the National Rugby League's selection criteria to compete in the competition and were subsequently excluded from the premiership at the end of the 1999 season.

South Sydney Rabbitohs shareholder, actor Russell Crowe.

Fight for readmission

In 2000 and 2001, South Sydney fought its 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.

National Rugby League (2002–present)

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. Following this, the club was taken over by actor Russell Crowe and businessman Peter Holmes à Court in 2006. In the 2007 season the Rabbitohs played in its first finals campaign since 1989.

Broncos vs Rabbitohs 2008

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.

Warriors v Rabbitohs 2009

The South Sydney Rabbitohs celebrated its centenary year during the 2008 National Rugby League season. That year the club were named the National Trust's inaugural 'Community Icon', in recognition of the club's significant longstanding contribution to sport and sporting culture at both state and national levels.

Return to premiership success

The arrival of Sam Burgess and Greg Inglis to the club in the early 2010s saw the Rabbitohs rise to the top of the ladder. Following consecutive preliminary final exits in 2012 and 2013, it defeated the Roosters in the 2014 preliminary final to advance to its first grand final since the successful 1971 campaign.

Following a slim 6–0 lead in the first half of the 2014 grand final, Souths scored four second half tries to defeat Canterbury 30–6. This was the Rabbitohs first premiership win in 43 years. Sam Burgess received the Clive Churchill medal despite playing the entire match with a fractured cheekbone, suffered from a head clash during the first tackle of the match.

Following the premiership victory, South Sydney were presented with 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 Pty Limited, and consequently his 37.5% stake in South Sydney, to James Packer's ScrumPac Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Packer's Consolidated Press Holdings.

After elimination early in the 2015 finals series, a 9-game winning streak in 2018 saw the Rabbitohs return to premiership contention. This season marked the start of five consecutive preliminary finals appearances in the late 2010s and early 2020s. After losses in consecutive years to the Roosters, Raiders, and Panthers, South Sydney defeated the Sea Eagles in 2021 to advance to the grand final against Penrith.

With the game poised at 8–8 in the second half, Cody Walker threw a pass that was intercepted by Panthers winger Stephen Crichton who scored untouched. Souths scored in the final five minutes of the match, but halfback Adam Reynolds missed the conversion from the sideline and a subsequent field-goal attempt, either of which would have seen the game tied. Penrith won the game 14–12. The Panthers defeated the Rabbitohs in the 2022 preliminary final, ending Souths' season for the third year in a row.

Prior to the 2022 season, Atlassian founder Mike Cannon-Brookes became a partial owner of the Rabbitohs by buying one third of the management firm alongside Crowe and Packer. Together, these three own 75% of the Rabbitohs; the remaining 25% of the club is owned by fans.


The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional rugby league team based in Redfern, New South Wales, Australia. The team was founded in 1908 and is one of the oldest and most successful clubs in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Rabbitohs have won a total of 21 premierships, including the inaugural NRL Premiership in 1908, making them one of the most successful teams in the league's history.

The team's mascot is a rabbit, which is a nod to the club's early history when players would sell rabbits to make ends meet. The team's colors are cardinal and myrtle, which are also a nod to the club's early history when players would wear the colors of their local rugby union team.

The Rabbitohs have a strong and passionate fan base, known as the "Rabbitohs Army", who are known for their vocal support of the team. The team's home ground is ANZ Stadium, which has a capacity of over 80,000 spectators.

The Rabbitohs have produced many great players over the years, including Clive Churchill, John Sattler, Bob McCarthy, and Greg Inglis. The team is currently coached by Wayne Bennett and captained by Adam Reynolds. The Rabbitohs are known for their attacking style of play and their ability to score points from anywhere on the field.