The South Sydney Rabbitohs are pleased to announce their side to take on the Manly Sea Eagles in round 23 of the NRL Telstra Premiership this Monday 20 August at 7pm at Telstra Stadium. The referee is Sean Hampstead.
Manly CEO sledges billionaire Souths owners
Hollywood star Russell Crowe and his South Sydney co-owner Peter Holmes a Court were last night accused of being attention seekers by rivals Manly. The inflammatory comments from Sea Eagles chief executive Grant Mayer come with tonight's airing of ABC television documentary South Side Story about Crowe and Holmes a Court's take-over of Souths. Mayer claimed Crowe and Holmes a Court continue to hog the "limelight" - with Holmes a Court firing back last night by suggesting Manly do not want Souths in the NRL premiership. The drama sets up a fiery round-23 match between the two clubs at Telstra Stadium.
Mayer claimed Manly's two owners Scott Penn and Max Delmege work "behind the scenes", unlike the Rabbitohs owners. "Our owners do work behind the scenes, they love the club and have a passion for the club," Mayer told The Daily Telegraph. "They haven't attempted to seek the limelight. "It would be very difficult for Souths to perform with their owners constantly over the front and back pages of newspapers and now releasing a six-part documentary on TV. "It would also be distracting for the players. "The approach from Delmege and Penn is proving much more successful than the alternative at Souths. "Our owners are great businessmen and very astute but, unlike the Souths owners, do not get swept up in the emotion of running a rugby league club. "Privatisation is no doubt the future of the game - having been involved with Manly for 12 months, I note how 'under-the-radar' our owners have been. The main focus should be on the players, not the owners."
Holmes a Court last night, claiming Manly were "death-riding" Souths. "Manly would no doubt prefer us out of the competition but the reality is we're in and the competition is better for it," Holmes a Court said. "Some clubs obviously liked rugby league more when we weren't in it. "I can't help it if some people are against us, some members of the old guard. "His job as Manly CEO it seems is to death-ride us. We are only trying to improve South Sydney. "I'm not sure what he's talking about. Everything we have done is to promote Souths and promote league." Holmes a Court suggested Mayer should keenly observe this evening's documentary. "I just hope he watches the documentary and maybe it could help his club," he said. "Does he really think that a 30-minute documentary about rugby league during prime time on the ABC is a bad thing? "Is presenting our players in a good light and dressed well bad for rugby league? "We believe the game has a huge amount of potential. If he (Mayer) feels that way, I suppose he has a right to his opinion."
But Holmes a Court praised the input of Penn - the pair being friends. "Manly are the model for us," Holmes a Court said. "They are premiership contenders and are doing everything right on the field."
The Rabbitohs NRL side is:
1. Merritt, Nathan 2. Talanoa, Fetuli 3. Vagana, Nigel 4. Gordon, Yileen 5. Mellor, Paul 6. Williams, Joe 7. Smith, Jeremy 8. Cusack, Peter (c) 9. Luke, Issac 10. Asotasi, Roy (c) 11. Sutton, John 12. Fa’alogo, David 13. Rogers, Ben Interchange: 14. Rigon, Shane 15. Widders, Dean 16. Stuart, Luke 17. Grenfiled, Michael Coach – Jason Taylor
The North Sydney Bears NSW Premier League side will play Manly-Warringah at North Sydney Oval on Saturday August 18 kickoff 3:00pm.
1. Peachey, David 2. Simmonds, Reece 3. Paulson, Germaine 4. Hegarty, Shannon 5. Boston, Troy 6. Champion, Beau 7. Paea, Eddie 8. Geddes, Scott 9. Irvine, Daniel 10. Lowe, Jamien 11. McPherson, Shannon 12. Pettybourne, Eddy 13. Lowe, Ben 14. Bobongie, Jardine 15. Ta'akimoeaka, Conrad 16. Verlinden, Ryan 17. Nasio, Valu 18. Wynyard, Dave 19. Gordon, Issac Coach - Wayne Lambkin
The South Sydney Rabbitohs U20 Jersey Flegg side will play the Sydney Roosters at Telstra Stadium starting at 5:05pm The South Sydney Rabbitohs U20 team is
1. Nathan, BJ 2. Maafu, Kuki 3. Tafokitau, Ray 4. Moli, Anga 5. North, Chad 6. Clark, Jason 7. Trotter, Trent 8. Douglas, Jarrett 9. McKay, David 10. Browne, Tim 11. Powell, Andy 12. Fale, Fanua 13. Seelin, Troy 14. Coleman, Steve 15. Barrett, Richard 16. Matapuku, Joseph 17. Tovo, Sione 18. Iosefo, Joseph Coach - John Amatto