South Sydney centre Campbell Graham has called for the club to return to Allianz Stadium for home games as they prepare to take on the Sydney Roosters in Friday night’s opening NRL match at the rebuilt 45,000 seat venue.
The NRL’s oldest club played most home games at Moore Park for the first 40 years of their existence until relocating to Redfern Oval in 1948, and then returned when the Sydney Football Stadium was opened in 1988.
Despite moving to Sydney’s Olympic Stadium - now known as Accor Stadium - in 2006, the Rabbitohs have continued to train at Redfern and from next year will be based at the Heffron Centre in nearby Maroubra.
“Olympic Park has been a great home for us when we have been there, and I do love playing out there, as well, but to have our home stadium in South Sydney or close to South Sydney just makes perfect sense to me,” Graham said.
“I know personally, and from talking to friends and fans in the area, they would be much more inclined to go to games if we are playing there. I think we would draw a bigger crowd for every single game, so I think it is a no-brainer.”
The origins of Souths’ departure from the SFS trace back to a bitter dispute over their arch-rivals, the Roosters, receiving greater financial incentives to play home games at the venue but both 1908 foundation clubs are now considered among the most successful in the Telstra Premiership.
With tram route from Souths Juniors at Kingsford to the Central Station and the CBD including a stop at the Moore Park sporting precinct, Rabbitohs officials are keen to return to Sydney’s newest stadium in their heartland.
However, unless the club convinces the NSW Government to allow them to move from Accor Stadium, the only time the Rabbitohs may get to play at Allianz Stadium is away games against the Roosters.
The two clubs played the last match before the original Allianz Stadium was demolished, with a capacity crowd of 44,380 watching the Roosters triumph 12-4 in the 2018 preliminary final before going on to beat Melbourne in the grand final a week later.
“I can’t wait for it,” Campbell said. “The stadium is down the road from my house and it is in the area of South Sydney. Obviously, with the rivalry there with the Roosters it is probably going to be one of the best games of the season so far.”
Match Highlights: Roosters v Rabbitohs - Finals Week 3, 2018
Graham has been cleared to play after controversy over a tackle on the Rabbitohs tackle in last weekend’s defeat of the Cowboys that resulted in Coen Hess being sinbinned and suspended for dangerous contact.
North Queensland coach Todd Payten questioned why Graham was allowed to leave the field and return three minutes later without undergoing a HIA but NRL head of football Graham Annesley said both players had passed an on-field assessment.
The confusion was caused as Graham had been temporarily replaced so Souths could take advantage of a free interchange.
The HIA process from the sideline
“If a player is injured as a result of foul play that results in a sin bin or send off, they are entitled to a free interchange, so that was that process and it is a completely different rule and completely unrelated to the HIA process,” Annesley said.
“There are three doctors that work in unison. It doesn’t all fall into the lap of the independent doctor, and they work together as a team.
“Together they reached a decision both for the Cowboys player and the Rabbitohs player that they required on-field trainer checks as a result of that incident. Collectively they reached that decision, and that is why neither player was taken off for a HIA.”