|
The South Sydney Rabbitohs (often shortened to Souths) is a professional Australian rugby league team based in Redfern, a suburb of inner-southern Sydney, New South Wales.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.rabbitohs.com.au/about/contact-us.html )〕 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.〔In Australia, a foundation club is one that played in the first season of a competition. South Sydney played in the first season of the New South Wales Rugby League premiership, the predecessor to the National Rugby League competition.〕 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. The Rabbitohs' traditional heartland covers the once typically working-class suburbs of inner-south and south-eastern Sydney. 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 when administrator J J Giltinan, cricketer Victor Trumper and politician Henry Clement Hoyle gathered together in front of a large crowd of supporters.〔Ian Heads, ''South Sydney, Pride of the League'', Lothian, 2000.〕 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.〔〔(Season 1908 ) from the (Rugby League Tables & Statistics website ).〕 The team went on to win the inaugural premiership then successfully defended their title in the 1909 season, winning the Grand Final by default.〔("The Balmainiacs of 1909" ) ''RL1908.com'' by Sean Fagan.〕 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〔(Season 1925 ) from the (Rugby League Tables & Statistics website ).〕 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".〔〔In 1925 rugby league journalist Claude Corbett nicknamed the club the "Pride of the League" – see page 3 of Ian Heads' book ''South Sydney, Pride of the League'', Lothian, 2000. On the internet Souths are referred to as the ''Pride of the League'' on the Sydney Olympic Park website: (Sydney Olympic Park. ) Reference is also made in the official history of the South Sydney Rugby League Football Club by Tom Brock titled ''South Sydney, Pride of the League'', published in 1994. This is mentioned in Mr Brocks' biography: (Tom Brock Biography ) at the ''Australian Society for Sports History'' website.〕 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〔(Season 1951 ) from the (Rugby League Tables & Statistics website ).〕 remains the highest score by a team in a Grand Final and "the miracle of '55"〔See the (1955 season summary ) (select the year 1955 from the dropdown box at the top of the page and then click the Search button) from the official South Sydney website.〕〔See the article ''10 of the Best – 1955: The Miracle of '55'' by Glenn Jackson in ''Souths The People's Team'', edited by Angus Fontaine, League Week, ACP Publishing, 2002.〕 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〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.sydneycricketground.com.au/history/facts/record-crowds/ )〕 at the Sydney Cricket Ground, they went down narrowly 12–8.〔(Season 1965 ) from the (Rugby League Tables & Statistics website ).〕 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.〔See the chapter ''Premiers No More'' in Mark Courtney's ''Moving the Goalposts'', Halstead Press, 2000.〕 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〔(1970 Grand Final, Souths v Manly ) from the ''History of Australian Rugby League'' reproduced on the ''Era of the Biff'' website.〕 in three places after being king hit by Manly prop John Bucknall.〔A full description of the famous incident is in the article ''10 of the Best – 1970: The Jawdropper'' by Glenn Jackson in ''Souths The People's Team'', edited by Angus Fontaine, League Week, ACP Publishing, 2002.〕〔See reference to (John Bucknall ) from the ''Soaring Sea Eagles'' website players page.〕 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〔Reference to Jack Gibson as a "Super Coach" is common terminology in Australian rugby league circles given Gibson's outstanding coaching record – see: 〕 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〔See the article ''10 of the Best – 1981: The Droughtbreaker'' by Glenn Jackson in ''Souths The People's Team'', edited by Angus Fontaine, League Week, ACP Publishing, 2002.〕 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,〔The St George Dragons and Illawarra Steelers merged into the St George Illawarra Dragons in 1998, the Balmain Tigers and Western Suburbs Magpies merged to form the Wests Tigers in 1999 whilst also in the same year the Manly Sea Eagles and North Sydney Bears (who were excluded from the competition on failing to meet solvency criteria) merged into the Northern Eagles (the merger was subsequently dissolved with Manly re-entering the competition in 2003).〕 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 against the National Rugby League and News Limited.〔See ("Grassroots Ethics: The Case of Souths versus News Corporation" ), pages 216–229 of ''Remote Control: New Media, New Ethics'' by Michael Moller, edited by Catharine Lumby and Elspeth Probyn, Cambridge University Press, 2003 at (Google Books )〕 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,〔See (South Sydney District Rugby League Football Club Ltd v News Limited FCA 862 (6 July 2001) ), decision of the Full Bench of the Federal Court of Australia.〕 South Sydney won readmission into the premiership for the 2002 season.〔See ("The Souths Revival" ), page 150 of ''Strategic Sports Marketing'' by David Shilbury, Shayne Quick and Hans Westerbeek, Allen & Unwin, 2003 at Google Books〕 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,〔(Episode 2 – What happened at the Handover Ceremony? ) from the "South Sydney Story" website (www.southsydneystory.com).〕 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.〔Ryle, G. (Where there's smoke, it's a job for Firepower ) ''Sydney Morning Herald'', 24 February 2007〕 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.〔 〕 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. 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. In April 2012 the South Sydney Rabbitohs became the second club to record 1000 wins in First Grade.〔(【引用サイトリンク】author=Justin Davies )〕 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. 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.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「South Sydney Rabbitohs」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|