McSharkie said:
A Rabbitoh was a guy who used to sell dead Rabbits from a murtle and cerise horse drawn cart during the depression, I think. I'm sure a Rabbitoh fan can help me out here. :?:
You're close to the mark.
At the start of the 20th Century when the club was playing Rugby (before League started in Australia in 1908), a number of players made money selling rabbits meat in the streets calling out "Rabbit-ohs" so people knew they were in the area. Rabbit's meat at the time was cheap and popular. The players would sell and carry the rabbits while wearing the clubs green jersey. The player's jerseys obviously had bloodstains on them, which they couldn't wash out (especially back then doing everything by hand). The club got stuck with the nickname "Rabbitohs" (it didn't officially become the clubs name until sometime in the 1940's or 1950's), the clubs colours also changed to Red and Green (officially Cardinal and Myrtle) sometime before 1900 because of blood on the jerseys.
The clubs logo is that of a white rabbit, but the club is named after the men that killed, ate, and sold dead rabbits.
