The storied Book of Feuds between the Sydney Roosters and South Sydney Rabbitohs has a few more chapters added to it after the Bunnies were called the ‘visiting team’ instead of having their name displayed on the scoreboard on Friday night.
The Roosters and Rabbitohs feud is widely regarded as one of the fiercest rivalries in Australian sport, with the clubs’ war still going strong after nearly 120 years.
The two foundation clubs have been clashing since rugby league was born in 1908 and every match between them seems to breed a new scandal.
One simple act on Friday night at Allianz Stadium has tipped petrol onto that simmering fire, with South Sydney chairman Nick Pappas demanding an unreserved apology from the Roosters.
It comes after the Tricolours reportedly asked Venues NSW to remove any reference to South Sydney from the scoreboard at their home venue.
Instead, the scoreboard read ‘visiting team’ where the South Sydney logo should have been. The term was also used in signage around the venue.
‘I have never seen that done before at an elite sporting event,’ a fuming Pappas told the Sydney Morning Herald.
‘It was thoroughly discourteous and clearly a bit of a jab at us, and symptomatic of the way our desire for us to return to what is a public asset has been viewed by Venues NSW. Our club deserves an unreserved apology.
‘Coming from a state-of-the-art stadium with a sophisticated scoreboard, it was really disappointing and thoroughly unprofessional.’
Roosters winger Mark Nawaqanitawase rubbed salt into the wound by saying, ‘That was quite funny; it was a nice little touch’ after the match.
It also comes after South Sydney was unsuccessful in its bid to move from Sydney Olympic Park, where the club has called home since 2006, to play home games at Allianz Stadium.
The request was denied by the New South Wales State Government, leaving the Roosters as the only NRL tenants at the venue.
The bitterness runs far deeper than geography, with Rabbitohs supporters embracing their working-class identity while Roosters fans have long been viewed as representing the more glamorous eastern suburbs.
The hostility was intensified in the 1970s when one of the game’s greatest forwards, Ron Coote, sensationally defected from South Sydney to the Roosters at the peak of his career, a move many Bunnies fans still haven’t forgiven.
Another iconic chapter came in the brutal 1970 grand final when South Sydney defeated the Roosters 21-12 and captain John Sattler famously played on with a broken jaw.
The rivalry has been fuelled for decades by explosive on-field incidents, including the infamous 2007 clash when Roosters playmaker Braith Anasta was punched in the mouth by Souths prop David Fa’alogo.
Player defections have repeatedly poured petrol on the fire, from Craig Wing switching clubs after South Sydney’s shock expulsion from the NRL in 1999 to Luke Keary leaving the Rabbitohs and winning premierships with the Roosters.
The rivalry erupted again when superstar Latrell Mitchell made the stunning move from the Roosters to South Sydney after helping the Tricolours win back-to-back titles.
Their clashes have produced some of the most chaotic scenes in rugby league history, including the infamous 2022 elimination final dubbed ‘Sin Bin Sunday,’ where seven players were sent to the bin amid a night of melees and high shots.
The feud reached another dramatic peak when Mitchell fractured former teammate Joey Manu’s eye socket in a moment that sent shockwaves through the sport.
Yet despite all the chaos, the rivalry still produces unforgettable moments of brilliance, such as South Sydney’s stunning 2014 preliminary final victory over the Roosters that paved the way for their drought-breaking premiership.
