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We kept Souths alive: Politis
March 14, 2008
The rivalry between the Roosters and Souths is such that even when he is holding his tongue, Nick Politis can't help firing off a few barbed comments, writes Andrew Webster.
The Godfather has been deadly quiet this week. Nick Politis - the Don of the Roosters - can be as elusive as his side's outside backs if he so chooses. But in the countdown to tonight's season-opener against South Sydney, he has been at his cagey best, refusing to fan the fire. Publicly, at least.
In his chairman's speech at a low-key season launch at Easts Leagues Club on Monday night, he didn't utter a syllable about the match, let alone the neighbouring inner-city club with which the Roosters have shared a century of hatred.
The Roosters were furious when Souths co-owner Peter Holmes a Court accused them of trying to dissuade supporters from attending the match at ANZ Stadium, Homebush Bay, presumably because it was a Rabbitohs' home fixture and they wouldn't benefit from gate receipts.
But as one Rooster official remarked on Monday night: "We'll wait until our home game before we say anything".
As far as Politis is concerned, the bile comes from one direction. "I don't know why they hate us," he says. "They continually bag us and have plenty to say about a lot of things. But what they seem to forget is that if it wasn't for us, South Sydney wouldn't be here.
"It was very tempting for us to take the dollars when Super League came along. We were one of the last clubs that Super League approached. If we had signed and the ARL had folded, South Sydney wouldn't have had a competition to play in. Without us, they would not exist. They should have a bit of a think before they come at us."
Since forming within seven days of one another in January 1908, no clubs have feared and loathed one another like the Chooks and Bunnies. Fur and feathers have flown for a hundred years. Until recently, it's been the definitive battle between Struggle Street and the Big End of Town. The Rabbitohs' working-class battlers versus the landslide of latte-sippers from the eastern suburbs.
Ron Coote, who famously switched from Souths to Easts in 1972, reckons the rivalry stems from the era when a player's residential address determined which club he played for. Yet he freely admits that money has long served as the great divide between the foundation clubs.
"You had to go where the quid was," says Coote, formerly of 37 Meeks Street, Kingsford. "And I was a good chaser. Souths weren't paying me enough money and that's why I left. That was the big difference back then."
Russell Crowe's decision to take majority ownership of South Sydney with businessman Holmes a Court has bridged decades of fiscal divide.
Crowe has never hidden his distaste of the Roosters, even before he seized control of Souths, so he may be surprised when Politis says this: "I think he's done a great job. He and Holmes a Court have saved that club."
Not so much saved it as elevated it above the Roosters as the NRL's glamour side. Indeed, the Armani suits and harbour cruises helped tempt Craig Wing back to the joint he was forced to abandon for the Roosters eight years ago when News Ltd cut the Rabbitohs adrift. "I can honestly say while playing for the Roosters last year, looking across at the Rabbitohs, there was a bit of jealousy there because they get treated really well," Wing says.
"They were part of something special - they were winning, they were getting a lot of media attention, their owners were outspoken. And, I think, for the Roosters in the last game [of the season], we put a bit extra in for that reason.
"I anticipate that's what clubs will do to us this year. They want to put us in our place and shut us up. It's nothing new to me."
Wing is right. His comments in the Herald a fortnight ago that he had been given the cold shoulder by his former teammates are still resonating at Bondi Junction. "If we just get hold of him," one said through gritted teeth this week.
"I haven't spoken to Nick since I finished up," says Wing. "I hope there's no bad blood. I'm sure they'll win a few games and I'll be long forgotten. It did get nasty [when I signed with Souths last year]. I suppose I got stuck in the crossfire. I really failed to see the rivalry between the Roosters and Souths. When I was playing for the Roosters against Souths, I felt it a bit. When I signed and all hell broke loose, I was like, 'Wow, this is personal'."
Tonight, Coote will make the three-hour drive from Lake Conjola on the south coast to watch the winning captain lift the Ron Coote Cup. "I love Souths and the Roosters," Coote says. "I think all this hatred is just a bit of banter."
Crowe won't be in attendance tonight because he is deep into production of a film called State of Play. He is filling in for Brad Pitt, who withdrew from the movie at the 11th hour.
It means there's no chance of Politis sharing a beer with him afterwards, something he regularly did with former Souths chairman George Piggins during his tenure, despite the hostility between the two clubs.
"I've never met Russell Crowe," Politis says. "I've watched his movies. I think he's a great actor."
And appropriate. Whether it's banter or genuine hatred, the intense rivalry between these foundation clubs has been pure theatre. For 100 years.
