5th Mar 2025
A New Hope
A week off and time to start with a new hope for success. The practice games are now over and now its time for the team to come together and perform. Its been a long 230 days since our last first grade victory and the club has put all of its eggs in one basket in appointing experianced coach Wayne Bennett to turn things around. Mental toughness will be difficult to improve on, but we have the right man for the job. So let the season begin.
Crazy 24 hours - Cyclone Alfred
It has been a crazy 24 hours. For the first time in 50 years a cyclone has come down towards South East Queensland and as I write the cyclone is bearing down on Brisbane. Everyone was monitoring where is was going to go as it was 500km out to sea. But right on que it turned last night and is making a bee-line for the Queensland capital. As such major events were cancelled and the area, including the northern NSW coast are battening down the hatches, with strong winds and then major floods predicted after the heavy rains. A number of fans had holidays booked as many of us were looking forward to the new season ahead. These are all being cancelled today, with the game shifted to Parramatta. In what now becomes a rare season opener in Sydney for us. For many of us diehard fans we are in a mad scramble to re-arrange things today.
Welcome Back Troops
Its been so long many of us had forgotten we have a numbe of big name players still in our squad. This week we welcome back Campbell Graham (broken hand and sterum), Junior Tatola (broken foot), Jai Arrow (sshoulder injury) and Cody Walker (calf and back injuries). They will be very welcome additions to our team. As they havn't had a trial todate, they will be short of a gallop, so I do not expect them to play big minutes. But the precence will lift the team.
New players
Round 1 will see a few new faces in South Sydney colours. Jamie HUmphreys who impressed in the trials will get his chance at half. Jayden Sullivan will start on the bench covering for Cody Walker and Lachlan Hubner gets a early opportunity. Looking forward to a new look South Sydney in 2025.
Keung double
Our U19 is really setting the platform for their success in 2025 and one stand out off the bench is Elijah Keung. His powerful running is great to watch as he causes damage on the back of the early work done by Fui and Logan. This week he was rewarded with two strong tries up the middle. A player to watch in 2025.
Tarau in again
Our U17 fiveighth is making a bit of a name for himself with his carefully timed runs and kicking game. This week he opened the scoring with a nice step and saw score another try from short range. A player with a good future.
Dowling and Lyons show
U18s and U16s are playing a series of development games in recent years allowing the main age squads to be U19 and U17 rather than a 50-50 mix of lower age players. While the strategy is paying off in the main grade. In the development grade it is giving these younger players vital game time while they wait thier turn for next year and stay fit in case they need to be called up. This week in the U18s game it was the Levi Dowling and Dwayne Lyons show as both players scored two tries a peice with some quality running. While other clubs are using their country afiliations to play U16 and U18 games in the regional competitions the metro clubs are using this series of games to achieve the same results.
Girls struggling
Without a NRLW team our girls continue to struggle, with results now similar to our men juniors during the 2000-2001 fightback period. While the juniors are doing their part, as a parent you make a choice on where to play your kids, and you align their development with where NRLW clubs are located And its worse when a better player then leaves to purse a NRLW career too. Its been 7 seasons of exclusion to date for our women.
Stadium Australia March lockout
As a fan we are really getting fed up with the March Sydney lockout by Venue NSW from Stadium Australia. March is seen as a period to hold major events at Stadium Australia with a care recing event in 2025 and Soccer in 2026. This continues to impact our crowds as a slow start on the road will turn off fans. We are locked into this arrangement until 2030 and with no stadium upgrade as agreed. This won't change for a while. It has taken a cyclone to allow us to finally have a Sydney based fixture in 2025 and show it can be arraged.
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Pre01 Manly Gosf L 24-34 Pre02 St Geo-Ill Mudg L 26-46
Pre01 Nth Qld Crns W 50-8 Pre02 Gold Coast Redc L 18-26
2023 Rd07 LngS W 36-14 23,280 A.Klein 2024 Rd19 Redc L 28-36 10,023 G.Sutton
First Grade Pe 6A SB OR SO
2024 Rd09 Penrith StAu L 12-42 8,155 Referee 5-8 5-4 2 1 - :
2024 Rd15 Brisbane StAu W 22-12 12,202 Referee 6-2 4-5 2 1 - :
2025 Pre02 St Geo-Ill Mudg L 26-46 8,417 Referee 0-6 2-0 1 1 - :
M W D L : PeW PeD PeL PeF PeA : 6AW 6AD 6AL 6AF 6AA : SB OR SO
v Dolphins never
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