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22 May 2002 Former South Sydney player Phil Blake has rejoined the club in an official capacity. He will be welcomed back to the fold as the team attempt to continue their climb up the NRL ladder. Blake has accepted the position as the club's sprint trainer as well as taking on the role of club talent scout. "Phil had all the skills as a player and we're certain that in his current role, he'll be a great asset to the Rabbitohs" said CEO Paul Dunn. "It's fantastic to be part of the Rabbitohs again, especially after what this wonderful club has been through recently. I am greatly honoured to have been offered this job" said a delighted Blake. Phil Blake was a scintillating five-eighth, beginning his career at Manly in 1982 where he stayed until he came to Souths in 1987. He had a total of 4 years at Souths where he formed a great combination with current coach, Craig Coleman. "I played with Blakey and I know what a brilliant player he was. He was great for Souths then and he'll be great for Souths again", says Coleman. http://www.souths.com.au/news/news.php?ID=60 21 May 2002 The 1980's version of Andrew Johns, Phil Blake, has joined the South Sydney Rabbitohs as part of their coaching staff. Blake will be the club's sprint trainer as well as scouting and identifying rugby league talent at underage carnivals in New South Wales and Queensland. As a player Blake was well known for his speed off the mark and his exceptional ball skills. Blake was one of the forerunners of the now in-vogue banana kick and he could also goal kick with both feet. "Phil had all the skills as a player and we're certain that his current role, he'll be a great asset to the Rabbitohs," said Souths CEO Paul Dunn. Blake played four seasons for Souths from 1987 after five years at Manly. http://www.ozleague.com/news_article.asp?id=44493 20 May 2002 South Sydney secured their third win of the season with a 26-20 victory over Canberra at the Sydney Football Stadium yesterday. Clearly the better team, Souths dominated 70 minutes of the match. But they did more butchering than a meatworker in the first half, and let the Raiders rack up 18 points in eight minutes either side of the break. So, instead of leading comfortably, Souths had to come from 20-12 behind in the last 30 minutes, needing a late try from a probable forward pass to secure the two points. Coach Craig Coleman paid tribute to his forwards' spirit, particularly that of prop Paul Stringer. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/05/20/1021801643347.html The Rabbitohs had fans in palpatations before finally proving too strong for the Raiders at the SFS in Round 10. The win now takes the lads onto 8 points, level with three other sides, and renews confidence within the side with three tough away matches coming up. Next week the boys travel to Newcastle to take on the Knights, then it is on to the Sydney Showground for a match against the ib-form Bulldogs, before returning to Aussie Stadium for an away game against the Sydney Roosters. Yesterday there were glimpses from the team to suggest that there are alot more wins left in the side yet. The halftime score was 12 - 8 but it was in no way a reflection of the way the match was being played. On at least three occasions tryscoring opportunities went begging due to poor finishing. An encouraging sign was the play of the forwards. Paul Stringer led from the front after earlier being ruled out with a groin injury. He defied the doctors orders and took the field after learning of the withdrawal of Anthony Colella who was in hospital with a severe dose of the flu. Stringer took out all major awards, including Player's Player and Supporters Club Player of the Day. http://www.souths.com.au/news/news.php?ID=59 BIG Paul Stringer ploughed fearlessly into Canberra's pack yesterday but he saved his real courage for the home front. Stringer defied his wife's opinion, based on medical advice, that he should not play. On Saturday he was ruled out of Souths' side with a hip problem. By 10.30am yesterday he was back in the side of his own volition after learning another forward, Anthony Colella, had been ruled out with a virus. Last night Stringer headed home with the players' player award and the game ball, which hopefully will get him a pardon. "My wife didn't want me to play because she knows I whinge about my injuries when I come home," he said. "But she was just looking out for my interests. I might have been out for three games instead of one if I had been hurt again today." http://sport.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,4351537%255E5927,00.html CONFIDENT South Sydney coach Craig Coleman issued a warning to premiers Newcastle after his side's courageous win over Canberra at Aussie Stadium yesterday. "We're not far from claiming a big scalp," said Coleman, whose side plays the Knights next Sunday at EnergyAustralia Stadium. Coleman had just watched a bizarre game of football. His side scored 12 straight points early before watching Canberra post 20 successive points. The Rabbitohs then ran in 14 unanswered points to finally settle the tug-of-war and claim their first victory in five games. "We showed plenty of spirit," Coleman said. "We were down 20-12 and a lesser team would have crumbled. http://foxsports.com.au/common/story_page/0,5000,4351536%255E5927%255E%255Enbv,00.html 19 May 2002 South Sydney have stormed home in the second-half to secure only their third win of the season by defeating Canberra 26-20 at Aussie Stadium. Not since round 3 against the Northern Eagles had the Rabbitohs tasted success, making this win all the more sweet for long suffering fans and coach Craig Coleman. Souths started the stronger and were odds-on to go into half-time with a 12-2 lead, but a spilt ball from prop Scott Geddes in his own half was swooped upon by Raiders half Brett Finch who ran 60 metres to reduce the deficit to four. This seemed to spark the Raiders into action for the second-half and they posted two quick tries via Alan Tongue in the 45th minute and Phil Graham in the 49th to gain an eight-point lead. But in true Rabbitoh spirit, the game wasn’t going to end there and the home side produced a magic 15 minutes to post three tries. http://www.playtheball.com/news/news.asp?newsid=5861 The South Sydney Rabbitohs have won their first match since round three of the Telstra NRL premiership by defeating Canberra 26-20 at Aussie Stadium. The Rabbitohs led 12-2 early before a burst of three converted tries by Canberra gave them a 20-12 lead with 20 minutes remaining. South Sydney though held their nerve and evened the scores through Owen Craigie, before Andrew King scored the matchwinner ten minutes from full time. The narrow victory is Souths second over the Raiders this season, and stretches the Raiders losing streak at Aussie Stadium to 11 matches since 1995. http://www.ozleague.com/matchreport.asp?matchid=106771 SOUTH Sydney snapped a five-game losing streak with a 26-20 win over Canberra in their National Rugby League game at Aussie Stadium. Centre Andrew King produced the decisive moment in tight match with ten minutes remaining when he ran off a suspicious pass from fullback Wade McKinnon and scored beside the posts to break a 20-20 deadlock. Halfback Blaine Stanley converted the try to give the Rabbitohs a six point edge. King's centre partner Russell Richardson had the chance to seal the two points with two minutes remaining when he won the race to a Stanley kick, but the former Test centre bounced the ball over the try line. In the end it didn't matter as the Raiders threw away possession on the Rabbitohs quarter, handing Souths its first win since round three. http://www.dailytelegraph.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,4347999%255E9787,00.html 17 May 2002 It is no understatement to say that this Sunday’s match against the Raiders at Aussie Stadium is a “must win” game. After a couple of losses, which could easily have been wins, a win against the Raiders will go a long way to setting up the rest of the season for Souths. Recent history is on the side of the Rabbitohs. Canberra needs to break a hoodoo at Aussie Stadium or the SFS, as it was once known. The Raiders haven’t won there since 1995 and their losing run at the ground stands at 10 consecutive matches. Ironically, the last team Canberra defeated at the ground was Souths, winning 46 – 12 in 1995. In the head-to-head battle, the Raiders come out on top having played 31 matches, winning 19 with Souths winning 12. http://www.souths.com.au/news/news.php?ID=58 14 May 2002 Two of our Coogee Beach Palace Bunnies have made their way into a final of the Cougar Bourbon Cheerleader of the Year competition this Friday night. Simone Robinson and Margot Campbell were both successful last week in their heats and have qualified for the final that will take place this Friday night at the Beach Palace Hotel at Coogee. The competition is judged on the routines the girls perform whilst on stage. This is done to a soundtrack of a popular song. It is a rocking good time for the punters and the girls are really enjoying it. "None of the other cheergirls wanted to do it but after Simone and I said we would, they all wanted to go in the competition" said an excited Margot. "There is some really good cheerleaders but we think we'll go O.K." http://www.souths.com.au/news/news.php?ID=56 13 May 2002 In what is becoming a worrying trend, the boys went down to the Warriors after matching the opposition in both intensity and desire. Following the loss of Stacey Jones in the 14th minute with a serious knee injury, the Warriors appeared vulnerable and a boilover was on the cards. They were able toskip away to a 12 nil lead with tries to skipper Kevin Campion and replacement Awen Guttenbeil. Souths enjoyed good field postion in this half, with the tactic of turning around the big Warriors forwards with early kicks working well. Unfortunately, Brett Sheehan's radar was a little out, with a number of kicks going dead in goal, giving the Warriors an aesy 20 metre restart. Souths finally capitalised on their large quantity of possesion and after a good offload from Anthony Colella whilst being attended to by 3 Warrior defenders, Luke Stuart crossed in the corner. http://www.souths.com.au/news/news.php?ID=55 11 May 2002 The Central Coast turf war turned literal this week when South Sydney players and the Bears' first-division team trained at opposite ends of NorthPower Stadium, with instructions not to cross the halfway line. Two Country Rugby League officials sat in an otherwise empty grandstand to ensure there was no fraternisation between the teams, and a TV crew filming the Rabbitohs was ordered to direct cameras away from the Bears. Souths chief executive Paul Dunn admits he received a phone call from a CRL official last Friday threatening to jeopardise a lucrative Rabbitoh sponsorship with the Motor Accident Authority if the two teams trained together. Souths have a 17-week commitment with the MAA to send two players to rural NSW to promote road safety and the club requires CRL co-operation. However, Souths also have a formal agreement for the Bears to act as a feeder club. The CRL resents North Sydney's presence on the Central Coast, believing the Bears have invaded its territory in an attempt to re-constitute themselves as a National Rugby League club with the backing of Sydney businessman John Singleton. However, Souths did not see any association between the Bears and their MAA sponsorship when they travelled to Gosford on Monday to promote a home game they are playing against Penrith at NorthPower in August. Dunn said: ''I got a phone call from the CRL saying that if we trained with the Bears, they would brush our Bunnies in the Bush-MAA campaign. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/05/10/1021002391388.html The New Zealand Warriors will use the same formula as they did last weekend against the Wests Tigers to produce a similar result in Sunday's National Rugby League match against South Sydney in Auckland. The Warriors beat the Tigers 36-14 in Sydney last Sunday. They hope to execute the same plans to try to knock over the Rabbitohs, who have traditionally given them trouble. "We're not cocky, but there's a swagger about them, they're walking like a top-four team," Warriors coach Daniel Anderson said. http://www.stuff.co.nz/inl/index/0,1008,1197863a1823,FF.html 9 May 2002 The joint iniative between the South Sydney Rabbitohs, the Motor Accidents Authority and the Country Rugby League is off to a flying start. Titled Bunnies in the Bush, it will see two players from our elite squad travel to farflung country areas to spread the word of the Rabbitohs, rugby and league and the dangers to young drivers on our roads. The first two players to experince this were Jacin Sinclair and Adam Peek. They took a 6:30am flight to Grafton, in far North NSW, and spent the day talking to High School kids about rugby league, and delivering a powerfull message on the dangers that face young drivers on the raod. The programme will run until our last game in August of this year. In that time we will visit places as far away as Narrandera, Lismore, Bega, Tamworth and Lithgow. Next week Scott Mclean and Russell Richardson visit the hamlet of Tumbarumba, in the Snowy Mountains of NSW. http://www.souths.com.au/news/news.php?ID=53 7 May 2002 Central Coast boy Paul Stringer has been rewarded for his outstanding early season form with his inclusion in the Country Origin side. Stringer will start from the bench after Ben Kennedy withdrew from the side with a rib injury. They will play City Origin in Wagga Wagga this Friday night in what is a trial game for the NSW State of Origin side. With Jason Ryles looking like being ruled out of the first State of Origin game because of suspension, the door is open for Stringer to push strongly for a spot on the NSW bench. There was a real Central Coast theme to yesterday, with the Rabbitohs conducting a training session at Northpower Stadium to promote our clash with Penrith there in Round 24 of the NRL. A training session was conducted on the ground and fans were invited to come along after and meet the players. A good turn-out suggested that the game versus the Panthers should see a bumper crowd. http://www.souths.com.au/news/news.php?ID=52 Mark Tookey has earned a starting spot in the Vodafone Warriors front row for this Sunday's game against the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Richard Villasanti has been troubled in recent weeks with a minor shoulder injury and head coach Daniel Anderson has decided to give Villasanti time to regain full fitness. "We wanted to keep Richard playing and in front of the eyes of the NSW State of Origin selectors," said Anderson. "Now that the City and Country sides have been selected, Richard will take at least one week off to give a troublesome shoulder time to heal. http://www.nrl.com.au/s2002/news/static/article_3305.asp South Sydney Rabbitohs prop Paul Stringer has been called into the Country Origin squad in place of Knights second-rower Ben Kennedy. Kennedy is suffering from broken ribs and was ruled out of Friday night’s clash with City this morning. Eels forward Andrew Ryan will take Kennedy’s place in the starting lineup, with Stringer coming onto the bench. http://www.ozleague.com/news_article.asp?id=44371&rc=329 |
