110 Years: The Story Of The Grand Old Club
Words: Andréa Mandadakis
Tue 26th September, 03:22PM
One hundred and ten years is a long time in Rugby League. In 2018 we celebrate 110 Years of the South Sydney Rugby League Football Club, and with that comes our new logo.
Plenty has happened since the Rabbitohs humble beginnings in 1908, with a rich history filled with plenty of joy, heartbreak, heroes and villains. Some of the most famous stories in Rugby League are synonymous with the Rabbitohs name.
John Sattler’s broken jaw, Bob McCarthy’s intercept try, The Miracle of 55’, the expulsion and the reinstatement of the club, Nathan Merritt’s field goal and of course, the drought breaking 21stPremiership in 2014.
The new look design captures and celebrates the values and tradition of the Club while also representing a brand new era in the history of the Rabbitohs.
What exactly does ‘The Grand Old Club’ mean?
Those words were coined over a decade ago in the Book of Feuds, where author Mark Courtney wrote;
“It seemed an eternity since the grand old club had tasted even moderate success.”
For Courtney, this was 35 years into the Club’s 43 year premiership drought. It was a time of so much promise and so much disappointment, and while seasons would continue to end early, each and every time the phrase “there’s always next year” would come up.
Being the ‘Pride of the League’ captures our success and glory, but being ‘The Grand Old Club’ speaks to our successes as well as our struggles. It encapsulates the resilience we’re built on and the class of the Club and the people it represents.
With as much success the Club has had with its 21 premierships, there has been an equal amount of heartbreak and suffering. That’s something we can’t ignore because the Rabbitohs have always grown stronger in the face of adversity
With every bit of adversity that the Club has faced, fair or unfair, it has been met with an equal force of courage, leadership and justice. No other example perfectly illustrates this than our expulsion from the NRL in 1999.
The images of 80,000 fans marching to Town Hall in 2000 proved that the Rabbitohs are the people’s team; the team that wouldn’t die without a fight, and simply could not be killed.
There’s been plenty of adversity that has come our way, but despite that we still crave success. We’ve had our taste, and now we want more.
The famous Rabbitohs logo first made an appearance in 1959, and since then it’s seen many different stories, both good and bad, in its many incarnations.
First there was the lone white Rabbit that was worn on the chests of players like Coote, Sattler and McCarthy, then came along the famous Red and Green Oval design that made an appearance in 1978 all the way up until 2006, and in 2007 we saw the return of the singular Rabbitoh, along with a new black variant that has made a home on the home jersey.
And here we are with a new 110 year logo.
The lower half signifies strength and fortitude, appropriately set with the traditional Cardinal and Myrtle colours the club has had since 1908.
The upper half represents authority, wisdom and achievement in battle, with a black and white colours that now streak down the side and over the shoulders of the current jersey; modern colours with a traditional approach.
Although recent results haven’t been ideal, a new era is upon South Sydney, and this new emblem is indicative that the time is now.
With a new head coach in Anthony Seibold and a squad boasting a crop of some of the best young talent in the NRL competition, as well as the addition of the explosive Dane Gagai, there are plenty of exciting times ahead.
Since the Book of Feuds was written we’ve come pretty far, you could probably find 110 stories since that period alone, and our Members would all have their own experiences of heroics and heartache.
Although the Club’s values still remain true to the core, a new era is upon us at the Grand Old Club.
Here’s to 110 great years of South Sydney, and to 110 more
