The South Sydney Rabbitohs are pleased to announce their teams for round 11 of the 2016 NRL Premiership against the St George-Illawarra Dragons at ANZ Stadium this Thursday 19 May, with the NRL fixture scheduled to kick off at 7:50pm. Rabbitohs Head Coach Michael Maguire has made one change to his 17-man squad for this game against the Dragons, with Cody Walker named on the wing to replace the injured Michael Oldfield. Bryson Goodwin will play the 150th NRL match of his career this Thursday night, having made his debut for the Sharks against the Titans in 2007. Gates will open earlier than the usual time at ANZ Stadium on Thursday evening to accommodate for the Grand Final of the Bob McCarthy Cup, a primary schools, seven-a-side competition played amongst schools in the South Sydney district. St Therese Catholic Primary School and Mascot Public School will compete in the match to be played at 7pm, with the Holden Cup match between the Rabbitohs and Dragons to kick off at 5:20pm. Gates open at ANZ Stadium at 5:15pm. Sutton, Hymel Hunt, Tyrrell, Siolo, Musgrove, Oldfield, Aaron Gray, Crichton, Travers, Whitelaw, Langi and Goolagong were unavailable due to injury.
The Rabbitohs’ 2016 Indigenous Jersey is ‘more than just a jersey’ with the design of this special kit item setting it apart from other items we’ve seen released before. The Rabbitohs will be wearing this significant jersey in the Club’s home game against the St George Illawarra Dragons in round 11, to be played at ANZ Stadium on Thursday 19 May. The jersey, designed by Sydney-based Indigenous designer Nikita Ridgeway, tells the stories of six of the Club’s Indigenous players including captain Greg Inglis, Indigenous All Stars representatives Kyle Turner, Alex Johnston, Chris Grevsmuhl and Dane Nielsen, as well as Rabbitohs 2016 debutant Cody Walker. Two important Australian organisations with a focus on Indigenous people and causes, KARI Aboriginal Resources and Recognise, also feature on the jersey thanks to Rabbitohs co-major partner Crown Resorts. The players’ stories will be told, alongside the stories of other important people connected to the Rabbitohs, in a series of mini documentaries and interviews to be released on the Rabbitohs official website, www.rabbitohs.com.au, throughout the week leading up to the round 11 fixture. The NRL will be celebrating Indigenous Round in round ten this year, and the Rabbitohs will be extending those celebrations into round 11 at home in Thursday Night Football, which will have strong Indigenous themes incorporated into the game day activities.
The Indigenous jersey will be worn against the Dragons in what is a source of great pride not only for the Club’s Indigenous players – who influenced the strip’s design – but for the wider Rabbitohs Family. The jersey, designed by Sydney-based Indigenous designer, Nikita Ridgeway, tells the stories of six of the Club’s Indigenous players including captain Greg Inglis, Indigenous All Stars representatives Kyle Turner, Alex Johnston, Chris Grevsmuhl and Dane Nielsen, as well as Rabbitohs 2016 debutant Cody Walker. “Aboriginal art – it’s our way of passing down knowledge and culture, so I wanted to adapt that same knowledge to the jersey,” said Nikita. “So this year with the South Sydney Rabbitohs jersey we thought, why not tell the story of the players? And handprints are a very big thing in Aboriginal culture – it tells a story.” The unique strip also features the name of each of Rabbitohs’ tribe as well as their totem – a source of powerful symbolism that not only celebrates each player’s story, but in some cases, has helped those players to discover their heritage. “For an Aboriginal person, your tribe is a very big thing in terms of your identity,” said Nikita. “It was a lot of research for a lot of the players to try and find their community being that a lot of tribes have been impacted on greatly, and unfortunately, the sad fact is that a lot of Aboriginal people don’t know their tribal name. “It was a great thing to be able to put that on the jersey but also for the boys to actually find their tribe names as well – some of them were lucky and knew it straight away, and then to also discover their totems is another feature of this year’s jersey.”
The Rabbitohs’ team is:
1. Johnston, Alex 2. Nielssen, Dane 3. Auva'a, Kirisome 4. Goodwin, Bryson 5. Walker, Cody 6. Inglis, Greg (c) 7. Reynolds, Adam 8. Burgess, Tom 9. McInnes, Cameron 10. Brown, Nathan 11. Carter, Paul 12. Turner, Kyle 13. Burgess, Sam 14. Keary, Luke 15. Clark, Jason 16. Gosiewski, Jack 17. Burgess, George Coach – Michael Maguire
The North Sydney Bears will play the Wentworthville in the NSW Intrust Super Premiership this weekend on Sunday May 22 3:00pm at North Sydney Oval.
1. Schaumkel, Latrell 2. Cottrell, Tevita 3. Talakai, Siosifa 4. Murphy, Ed (c) 5. Gregorius, Bernard 6. Moceidreke, Sitiveni 7. Levido, Eli 8. Williams, Clayton 9. Cook, Damien 10. Dokinavalu, Jokatama 11. Tasi, Tautalatasi 12. Rogers, Piki 13. Greinke, Brett 14. Dietz, Brad 15. Mauala, Fred Jnr 16. Siekja, Jack 17. Saumamao, Tulsa Coach: Ben Gardiner
The South Sydney Rabbitohs U20 Holden Cup side will play the St George-Illawarra team starting at 5:20pm The South Sydney Rabbitohs Holden Cup team is
1. O'Connor, Dylan 2. Perrin, Tom 3. Butler (Alatipi), Tariquinn 4. Robinson, Latrell 5. Hiroti, Marwene 6. O'Donnell, Chad 7. Coleman, Liam (c) 8. Rudolf, Toby 9. Sands, Maia 10. Saunders, Josh 11. Murray, Cameron 12. Brennan, Jake 13. Koloamatangi, Keaon 14. Besgrove, Joe 15. Hamlin, Gabe 16. Ili, Kalani 17. Hunt, Jamel Coach - David Penna