The Burrow (supporters' group)

The Burrow
NicknameThe Burrow
TypeSupporters' group
TeamSouth Sydney Rabbitohs

The Burrow is an organisation linked to South Sydney Rabbitohs Rugby League Football Club, based in Redfern, a suburb of inner-southern Sydney, New South Wales.[1]

The South Sydney Rabbitohs continue to have a large supporter base in their traditional areas of south-eastern Sydney, despite having moved from Redfern Oval two decades ago.[when?] They also enjoy wide support throughout other rugby league playing centres around the country.[2] The official South Sydney supporter group is known as "The Burrow"[3] while the active supporter group is known as "Gate38" which is made up of young men who were involved in the "scumgate" scandal in 2013.[4] The Rabbitohs also have a large supporter base in Perth, where they rival the Fremantle Dockers in supporter size.

The Rabbitohs have the highest football club membership in the National Rugby League, with total membership exceeding 35,000 on 23 June 2015. The total member number also includes more than 11,000 ticketed members to date, the highest of the Sydney-based NRL Clubs. It was announced during the 2010 Charity Shield game that both St George Illawarra and Souths had exceeded the 10,000 milestone, making the 2010 season the first time that two Sydney clubs had entered the season with 10,000 ticketed members each. The club has members from every state in Australia and international members located in 22 countries. Football club membership had peaked at some 22,000 when the club was readmitted to the National Rugby League for 2002 season.[5]

"Group 14", a collection of the club's backers which comprisse an influential collection of businessmen, politicians and media personalities, was formed before the Rabbitohs' exclusion from the NRL in 1999.[6] Members included Andrew Denton, Anthony Albanese, Deirdre Grusovin, Mike Whitney, Laurie Brereton, Mikey Robins, Ron Hoenig, Nick Greiner, Ray Martin, Cathy Freeman, Candice Warner and the former New South Wales premier, Kristina Keneally.[7] They contributed to South Sydney's bid for reinstatement, following the club's exclusion from the competition at the end of the 1999 season. A sustained campaign of public support that year, unprecedented in Australian sporting history, saw 40,000 people[8] attending a rally in the Sydney central business district in support of South Sydney's cause.[9] In 2000 and 2001, public street marches took place in Sydney with more than 80,000 people rallying behind the Rabbitohs.[10] The club also has a number of high-profile supporters, many of whom were dominant figures in their battle to be readmitted into the premiership in 2000 and 2001.[11] In 2007, supporters set a new club record for attendance with an average home crowd figure of 15,702 being the highest ever since the introduction of the home and away system in 1974.[2]

The Burrow Appreciation Award

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Men's

[edit]
Season Winner Ref
2006 Nathan Merritt [12]
2007 Paul Mellor
2008 Luke Stuart
2009 Nathan Merritt
2010 Chris Sandow
2011 Michael Crocker
2012 Adam Reynolds
2013 Issac Luke [13]
2014 Sam Burgess [14]
2015 Jason Clark [15]
2016 Kyle Turner [12]
2017 Angus Crichton
2018 Damien Cook
2019 John Sutton
2020 Thomas Burgess
2021 Cody Walker
2022 Alex Johnston
2023 Campbell Graham
2024 Jai Arrow

Women's

[edit]
Season Winner Ref
2018 Chloe Caldwell & Grace Uluiburotu [16]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Brad Walter (16 September 2012). "Burrow call the tune as diehards sing their heroes' praises". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  2. ^ a b "Rabbitohs make ANZ Stadium home for next 10 years" (Press release). rleague. 8 February 2008.[dead link]
    - "Supporter Groups". South Sydney District Rugby League Football Club. Archived from the original on 6 March 2014. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  3. ^ "About us". The Burrow. Archived from the original on 9 January 2016. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  4. ^ "Fans Banned For Scum Sign". Triple M. 13 September 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  5. ^ Jackson, Glenn (20 December 2006). "Pride in the Rabbitohs jersey – and dollars, too". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  6. ^ "Mission Impossible". Australian Story. ABC. 23 September 1999. Archived from the original on 18 January 2001. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  7. ^ Swanton, Will (5 March 2006). "Souths power bloc backs Crowe bid". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 5 October 2010.
    - Walter, Brad (18 February 2006). "Souths support group enters Crowe fray". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 5 October 2010.
  8. ^ Moller, Michael. "Reclaiming the Game: Fandom, Community and Globalisation". API Network. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  9. ^ "In George We Trust". Australian Story. ABC. 2 August 2001.[dead link]
    - Courtney, Mark (2000). Moving the Goalposts. Halstead Press. See chapters "Reclaim the Game" and "Taking it to the Streets".
  10. ^ Shilbury, David; Quick, Shayne; Westerbeek, Hans (2003). "The Souths Revival". Strategic Sports Marketing. Allen & Unwin. p. 150 of. ISBN 9781865089188.
  11. ^ "South's 2009 Corporate Partnership Brochure" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 September 2009.
    - "Warne's new job: being Shane Warne". The Sydney Morning Herald. AAP. 7 January 2007. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  12. ^ a b "The Burrow Appreciation Award (NRL) - Damien Cook". South Sydney Rabbitohs. 5 October 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  13. ^ "Issac Luke Collects the 2013 the Burrow Appreciation Award". Rabbitohs. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  14. ^ "Sam Burgess Collects the Burrow Appreciation Award for 2014". Rabbitohs. 10 October 2014.
  15. ^ "Jason Clark Collects Burrow Appreciation Award for 2015". Rabbitohs. 9 October 2015.
  16. ^ "The Burrow Appreciation Award (Womens) - Chloe Caldwell and Grace Uluiburotu". Rabbitohs. 5 October 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
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