South Sydney Rabbitohs Fans Deserve Credit for NRL Grand Final Win

The South Sydney Rabbitohs really do have some of the best fans around.

Everyone loves to take some of the credit when a favourite sporting team wins. Seldom have they actually done anything other than support the team.

It was a different story when the Rabbitohs won their first National Rugby League Premiership since 1971 in a white-hot atmosphere at the former Olympic stadium in Sydney. While the players got the job done on the field, if it were not for their fans they would not have been on the field at all.

October 10, 1999 was the fateful day. Anywhere between 50,000 and 80,000 fans—depending on which source you believe—led by George Piggins, marched down Sydney's George Street all the way to the Town Hall in protest of the NRL's decision to drop them from the competition.

It was the result of the Super League War of the mid-1990s which caused the biggest shakeup rugby league in Australia has ever known. As two competitions combined to form one, the decision was made in 1999 to restrict the competition to 14 teams while also emphasising an expansion beyond Sydney.

Three new clubs were formed through amalgamations of old, in some cases historic, clubs. The Balmain Tigers and Western Suburbs Magpies became the Wests Tigers. The St. George Dragons and the Illawarra Steelers formed the St. George Illawarra Dragons, while the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and the North Sydney Bears formed the ill-fated Northern Eagles.

One club who would not comply with this was Souths. Upon refusing to amalgamate, they were deemed to not meet the NRL's selection criteria and were excluded from the competition at the end of 1999.

But that was not good enough for the faithful of the club. They were given a reason to fight, and fight they did, showing their support and passion in huge numbers.

Souths took the fight to court and won. They were readmitted to the Premiership for the 2002 season.

The passion the fans showed was instrumental in this.

It must have been a proud moment for those 80,000 faithful fans who marched 15 years ago, as their team finished strongly to beat the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 30-6.

The atmosphere was as electric as you will find at a sporting event these days. In fact it did have a feel of the old days to it. The flags, banners, signs and number of people wearing the jerseys of their beloved Bunnies was reminiscent of an earlier era.

They were vocal the whole game and did not let up in their support for the gladiators out in the middle.

Sam Burgess broke a cheekbone in the first play of the game but continued to play on for the entire 80 minutes. He was as crucial as he has been all season with his strong carries and relentless defence. It was he who was awarded the Clive Churchill Medal for the Grand Final man of the match in his last game before switching codes to rugby union.

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He was not alone though. His brother George Burgess was a mountain of strength too. George ran through three defenders en route to scoring under the posts to give the Bunnies a lead they would never give up. It was the defining moment.

But it was a team effort. The game itself was brutal from start to finish, both teams throwing themselves at each other with little regard for self-preservation. It was that intensity that made the game so tight.

The 30-6 scoreline really was not a true reflection of this. Souths went to the half-time break up 6-0 and only through three late tries did they make the win a convincing one.

Give them credit; they deserve it. But do not forget the effort of their loyal fans, without whom Souths would not have been there at all.

It has been a long time coming. They struggled upon their reinstatement to the league but slowly have built a formidable line-up. 1971 was their last Premiership; how sweet it must finally taste to those fans who have waited those 43 long years.

Glory, glory to South Sydney, indeed. The Bunnies are back.