Sydney Roosters and South Sydney Rabbitohs rivalry
Encyclopedia
South Sydney Rabbitohs
The rivalry between the Sydney RoostersSydney 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...
and the South Sydney Rabbitohs
South Sydney Rabbitohs
The South Sydney Rabbitohs are an Australian professional rugby league football team based in Redfern, a suburb of South-central Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League premiership and are one of nine existing teams from the state capital...
rugby league
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...
teams is the longest surviving in the current 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...
competition. The two teams are the only remaining "foundation clubs" in the league, that is, they were both participants in the inaugural season of the New South Wales Rugby Football 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...
. Between them, the two clubs have managed to secure 32 premierships and 33 minor premierships, almost all of which were won between 1908 and 1975. The Rabbitohs however have secured a total of 20 premiersihps as opposed to the 12 won by the Roosters.
The two clubs neighbour each other in the inner suburbs of 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...
and over the years have often been in bitter dispute over numerous issues. Despite being the two teams to have dominated the early seasons of the premiership and in fact being the two clubs to contest the first 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...
, the last time the two clubs met in a finals match was in the 1938 season
New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1938
the 1938 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the thirty-first season of Sydney, New South Wales' top-grade rugby league football club competition, Australia's firs...
.
Incidents
The Roosters and their fans have built up rivalries with other clubs, particularly the South Sydney RabbitohsSouth Sydney Rabbitohs
The South Sydney Rabbitohs are an Australian professional rugby league football team based in Redfern, a suburb of South-central Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League premiership and are one of nine existing teams from the state capital...
, the other remaining foundation club. The Roosters and the Rabbitohs share inner-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...
territory, causing a strong rivalry since 1908. The rivalry increased after 1950 due to conflict between junior territories, and escalated once more in the 1990s with the increased financial success of the Roosters eclipsing the decreasing funds of the Rabbitohs. In 2005, the Rabbitohs broke a ten-year, thirteen-game losing streak to the Roosters in a close 17–16 match.
Although the Rabbitohs drew key Roosters players to the Redfern-based club in previous years, the Roosters signed Rabbitohs captain Ashley Harrison
Ashley Harrison
Ashley Harrison is an Australian professional rugby league footballer for the Gold Coast Titans of the NRL...
and former South Sydney junior Braith Anasta
Braith Anasta
Braith Anasta is a Greek-Australian professional rugby league footballer who captains the Sydney Roosters of the National Rugby League...
from the Bulldogs
Canterbury Bulldogs
The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the National Rugby League premiership, as well as New South Wales Rugby League junior competitions...
; whom the Rabbitohs also heavily pursued—in 2005.
Late in 2007 former Rabbitohs turned Rooster Craig Wing signed on to return to South Sydney for the 2008 season. The signing was highighted by an event in which Craig Wing turned up to a Rabbitohs press conference in front of teams sponsorship logos while still under contract by the Roosters. Roosters chairman Nick Politis publicly criticised the press conference for the use of a player still contracted to the Roosters. In the last game of the regular season in 2007, both teams met in a fiery encounter in which the Roosters went on to win. The victory however was overshadowed by incidents in the game in which South Sydney second rower David Fa'alago was sent off for punching Braith Anasta after the Rabbitohs No 12 was held in a grapple tackle. Anasta-who was later sin-binned in the match for 'striking' Rabbitohs halfback Jeremy Smith-stated after the game that Fa'alago was a "weak human being".
In 2008 the rivalry hit boiling point in the lead up to their opening clash, which also was used to open the 2008 Centenary NRL season. Coming off a much improved 2007 season, the South Sydney Rabbitohs appeared to have one of their most competitive teams for the better half of two decades in which the Roosters have dominated most clashes against the Rabbitohs. Leading up to the match, the South Sydney Rabbitohs released their '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...
', in which the author claimed the Roosters club "had no soul". Both Roosters coach Brad Fittler and player Willie Mason added their own views, stating they "hate Souths".
Management of South Sydney expressed their feelings for the Roosters by allocating poor seating to the Roosters officials and players families for the round 1 clash. NRL protocol dictates that the hosts of the game are to provide seating for the visiting teams officials and players families, there have been no other reported incidents of teams providing poor seating allocation for visiting teams.
The game itself proved just as controversial, in the 7th minute Rabbitohs recruit and former Rooster Craig Wing was severely injured after being shoulder charged on by hooker Riley Brown. While the incident did not receive any punishment and referral by the NRL Judiciary, the incident did not escape public scrutiny and mixed opinions are shared about the legality and integrity of the tackle, given Craig Wing was sidelined for close to 22 weeks. The Roosters went on to win the match 34–20.
Statistics
Statistics correct as of 1 January 2008.| Team | Head to Head | Overall | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | |
 South SydneySouth Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney Rabbitohs are an Australian professional rugby league football team based in Redfern, a suburb of South-central Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League premiership and are one of nine existing teams from the state capital... |
196 | 104 | 5 | 87 | 2931 | 2941 | ||||||||
| 1853 | 955 | 45 | 853 | 30355 | 30761 | |||||||||
 Sydney RoostersSydney 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... |
196 | 87 | 5 | 104 | 2941 | 2931 | 1919 | 1009 | 68 | 842 | 32918 | 29247 | ||
The Bulldogs
The Sydney Roosters have a long-standing rivalry with fellow Sydney team, the Canterbury Bulldogs. Whilst both teams had crossed premiership paths in Grand Finals on four occasions, the most significant chapter came when the Sydney Roosters won the 2002 NRL Premiership on the back of a 10-game winning streak. This was the same year the premiership favourite Bulldogs were stripped of 37 points due to systematic breaches of the salary cap in the 2001National Rugby League season 2001
The 2001 NRL season was the 94th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the fourth run by the National Rugby League. The Newcastle Knights claimed their second premiership in five seasons, defeating minor premiers Parramatta Eels in the first ever night-time grand...
and the 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...
seasons. The following year, the Bulldogs prevailed in both regular season matchups with the Roosters; however, the Sydney Roosters retaliated by defeating the Bulldogs 28–18 in the Grand Final qualifier. In 2004, both teams met up in the Grand Final itself; the Bulldogs prevailed 16–13.
After the 2004 Grand Final the rivalry between both teams settled down. However since 2006, the rivalry has once again re-ignited with players and officials from both clubs trading blows against each other. The Roosters during this time acquired four of the Bulldogs first grade players; Braith Anasta
Braith Anasta
Braith Anasta is a Greek-Australian professional rugby league footballer who captains the Sydney Roosters of the National Rugby League...
(2006), Nate Myles
Nate Myles
Nate Myles is an Australian professional rugby league footballer for the Sydney Roosters of the NRL. A Queensland State of Origin and Australian international representative forward, he previously played for the Bulldogs club...
(2007), Mark O'Meley
Mark O'Meley
Mark O'Meley is an Australian professional rugby league footballer for the European Super League team, Hull, and previously of the Sydney Roosters in the National Rugby League competition. He also previously played for the North Sydney Bears, the ill fated Northern Eagles and the Bulldogs...
(2008) and Willie Mason
Willie Mason
William Marshall "Willie" Mason is an Australian professional rugby union footballer for Toulon in the Top 14 competition, having previously being a rugby league footballer for Hull KR in the European Super League.Mason signed a 3-year contract with Hull KR in September 2010, pending a successful...
(2008). All four have played representative rugby league and all except Nate Myles were a part of the 2004 Bulldogs premiership winning team.
In leading up to their first game against each other in the 2008 season, the Bulldogs released a t-shirt with the label 'Bred not bought' with a cartoon depicting a Bulldog attacking a Rooster. The t-shirt which was considered a taunt at the Roosters recruiting techniques and was subject to media scrutiny and led to Roosters great and former recruitment manager Arthur Beetson
Arthur Beetson
Arthur Henry "Artie" Beetson, OAM , was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach. He represented Australia and Queensland from 1964 to 1981. His position was at prop. Beetson became the first Indigenous Australian to captain his country in any sport. and is frequently cited as the best...
criticising the release of the t-shirt and also questioning the merits of the Bulldogs' recruitment policies. The match itself, played in round 4 of the 2008 NRL season was the subject of much media hype. The Roosters won comfortably, 40-12, with former Bulldog Willie Mason featuring strongly, scoring two tries.
The Bulldogs triumphed in their only match in 2009; whilst in 2010 results were split. The Bulldogs thrashed the Roosters 60-14 in the former of those matches.
St George Illawarra Dragons
The two sides' rivalry started back in 2001 when these two sides drew 20-all at WIN StadiumWIN Stadium
Wollongong Showground is a rectangular multi-purpose stadium located in the city of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. The stadium was officially opened in 1911. From 1982 until 1998 it played host to every home match for the Illawarra Steelers NRL team...
halfway through that season. Since 2002, the two sides have clashed on ANZAC Day, the Roosters winning the first ever match by 24-20. However the Dragons did win the 2003 ANZAC Day match by the same margin. 2004 saw an eventful 11-8 win to the Roosters before the Dragons won the next two clashes. In 2007
2007 NRL season results
The 2007 NRL season consisted of 25 weekly regular season rounds, starting from 16 March and ending on 2 September, followed by four weeks of play-offs that culminated in a grand final on 30 September....
, the Roosters ended their worst ever start to a season by winning 18-4 - in the process notching up their 1000th win in their 100 year history. In 2008
2008 NRL season results
The 2008 National Rugby League season consisted of 26 weekly regular season rounds, starting on 14 March, followed by four weeks of play-offs, culminating in a grand final on 5 October.-Regular season:...
, the Roosters put in a shocker losing 26-6. The Dragons have since won the next two ANZAC Day matches, in 2009 by 29-0 and 2010 by 28-6.
The Dragons triumphed against the Roosters twice more in the 2010 season, by 29-22 in round 22 and ultimately 32-8 in the hotly-contested Grand Final.
The Roosters won the 1975 Grand Final which is now the second biggest ever Grand Final winning margin - 38-0 (8 tries, 7 goals) against St George (even though the scoreline was only 5-0 at halftime).
Brisbane Broncos
The two teams' rivalry stems back to 1998 when the Roosters famously upset the eventual premiers 26-12 at the former ANZ StadiumQueensland Sport and Athletics Centre
The Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre , more commonly known by its former names ANZ Stadium or QE II, is a major sporting facility on the south side of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia...
during the regular season. However, in the preliminary final that year the Roosters were smashed 46-18 at the same venue.
The two teams met in the last daytime Grand Final way back in 2000
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...
with the Broncos winning 14-6. Since 2001, the two teams have clashed on Good Friday, however the Roosters have only won 2 from 8 clashes which are always held at the Sydney Football Stadium. The Roosters avenged their 2000 Grand Final loss by defeating the Broncos 16-12 in the preliminary final in 2002, and then went on to win the title.
In 2003 the Roosters were the Broncos' only Suncorp Stadium
Suncorp Stadium
Lang Park is the original name of the site located in the Brisbane suburb of Milton, Queensland, Australia, now occupied by the major sports facility known by its sponsorship name, Suncorp Stadium...
victims; despite leading 8-4 at halftime they lost 10-8. However they got one back in 2005, winning 17-10. That was the Roosters' first win at the old ground since 1991.
The Broncos won the next five matches after that, all achieved at the Sydney Football Stadium before the Roosters ended the drought with a 25-6 win in Round 4, 2010. The Roosters then won a thriller 34-30 at Suncorp Stadium, giving the Roosters two wins over Brisbane in one season for the first time since 2002 (2001 not including the finals series).
Newcastle Knights
These two teams rivalries stem right back to 1908 from when Australian Rugy League first started. In modern times, these two clubs compete annually in the Heritage round which was started in 2008 the centennary year. Since 2008, Newcastle have won all 3 heritage round clashes against the Roosters.A notable trend in their matches is that the Roosters did not lose a match in Newcastle since the 2001 finals series until Round 16, 2011. The Roosters, however, have not beaten the Knights as the home team since 2005 (a 32-2 win at the Sydney Football Stadium in round nine). Since Round 17, 2005, the away team have always triumphed, but in 2011 the home teams won their matches (a win in Round 11 to the Roosters before the Knights returned the favour barely five weeks later).