South Sydney
Real club history, premierships, Grand Final appearances, and ladder finishes, aggregated from our sourced rugby league archive.
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
South Sydney — 21 premierships on record (1908, 1909, 1914, 1918, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1931, 1932, 1950, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1971, 2014).
Club Background
Formed on 17 January 1908 at a meeting in Redfern Town Hall, South Sydney is one of the nine foundation clubs of the New South Wales Rugby League and now competes in the NRL, playing home games at Stadium Australia since 2006 after decades at Redfern Oval. The "Rabbitohs" nickname's exact origin remains disputed among rival club folklore.
Honours
League history
Final ladder position each season on record (1908–2025) — 1st at the top. Hover a point for the exact position and field size that season.
Full table
| Season | Final position |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 14 of 17 |
| 2024 | 16 of 17 |
| 2023 | 9 of 17 |
| 2022 | 7 of 16 |
| 2021 | 3 of 16 |
| 2020 | 6 of 16 |
| 2019 | 3 of 16 |
| 2018 | 3 of 16 |
| 2017 | 12 of 16 |
| 2016 | 12 of 16 |
| 2015 | 7 of 16 |
| 2014 | 3 of 16 |
| 2013 | 2 of 16 |
| 2012 | 3 of 16 |
| 2011 | 10 of 16 |
| 2010 | 9 of 16 |
| 2009 | 10 of 16 |
| 2008 | 14 of 16 |
| 2007 | 7 of 16 |
| 2006 | 15 of 15 |
| 2005 | 13 of 15 |
| 2004 | 15 of 15 |
| 2003 | 15 of 15 |
| 2002 | 14 of 15 |
| 1999 | 12 of 17 |
| 1998 | 18 of 20 |
| 1997 ARL | 11 of 12 |
| 1996 | 19 of 20 |
| 1995 | 18 of 20 |
| 1994 | 9 of 16 |
| 1993 | 14 of 16 |
| 1992 | 14 of 16 |
| 1991 | 14 of 16 |
| 1990 | 16 of 16 |
| 1989 | 1 of 16 |
| 1988 | 8 of 16 |
| 1987 | 5 of 13 |
| 1986 | 2 of 13 |
| 1985 | 9 of 13 |
| 1984 | 5 of 13 |
| 1983 | 8 of 14 |
| 1982 | 6 of 14 |
| 1981 | 9 of 12 |
| 1980 | 5 of 12 |
| 1979 | 9 of 12 |
| 1978 | 7 of 12 |
| 1977 | 11 of 12 |
| 1976 | 10 of 12 |
| 1975 | 12 of 12 |
| 1974 | 4 of 12 |
| 1973 | 7 of 12 |
| 1972 | 4 of 12 |
| 1971 | 2 of 12 |
| 1970 | 1 of 12 |
| 1969 | 1 of 12 |
| 1968 | 1 of 12 |
| 1967 | 2 of 12 |
| 1966 | 6 of 10 |
| 1965 | 4 of 10 |
| 1964 | 5 of 10 |
| 1963 | 9 of 10 |
| 1962 | 10 of 10 |
| 1961 | 7 of 10 |
| 1960 | 9 of 10 |
| 1959 | 5 of 10 |
| 1958 | 8 of 10 |
| 1957 | 3 of 10 |
| 1956 | 3 of 10 |
| 1955 | 4 of 10 |
| 1954 | 2 of 10 |
| 1953 | 1 of 10 |
| 1952 | 3 of 10 |
| 1951 | 1 of 10 |
| 1950 | 1 of 10 |
| 1949 | 1 of 10 |
| 1948 | 7 of 10 |
| 1947 | 7 of 10 |
| 1946 | 8 of 8 |
| 1945 | 8 of 8 |
| 1944 | 4 of 8 |
| 1943 | 5 of 8 |
| 1942 | 5 of 8 |
| 1941 | 7 of 8 |
| 1940 | 6 of 8 |
| 1939 | 4 of 8 |
| 1938 | 2 of 8 |
| 1937 | 2 of 9 |
| 1936 | 7 of 9 |
| 1935 | 2 of 9 |
| 1934 | 4 of 8 |
| 1933 | 2 of 8 |
| 1932 | 1 of 8 |
| 1931 | 2 of 8 |
| 1930 | 3 of 8 |
| 1929 | 1 of 9 |
| 1928 | 3 of 9 |
| 1927 | 1 of 9 |
| 1926 | 1 of 9 |
| 1925 | 1 of 9 |
| 1924 | 2 of 9 |
| 1923 | 2 of 9 |
| 1922 | 4 of 9 |
| 1921 | 5 of 9 |
| 1920 | 2 of 9 |
| 1919 | 6 of 8 |
| 1918 | 1 of 8 |
| 1917 | 2 of 8 |
| 1916 | 2 of 8 |
| 1915 | 4 of 8 |
| 1914 | 1 of 8 |
| 1913 | 3 of 8 |
| 1912 | 4 of 8 |
| 1911 | 3 of 8 |
| 1910 | 2 of 8 |
| 1909 | 1 of 8 |
| 1908 | 1 of 9 |
Club history
South Sydney was formed on 17 January 1908 at a meeting in Redfern Town Hall, one of the nine founding clubs of the New South Wales Rugby League, and won the inaugural 1908 premiership before backing it up in 1909. The "Rabbitohs" nickname's exact origin is genuinely disputed: the most common story holds that players or supporters worked as rabbit sellers and turned up to matches in blood-stained clothes; other accounts trace it to the club's home ground being riddled with rabbit holes. No single version is definitively confirmed. Souths played at Redfern Oval from 1948 to 1988, and at Stadium Australia since 2006.
Souths dominated the game's first decades, winning seven of eight premierships between 1925 and 1932. The club's central modern trauma came when the NRL cut the competition to 14 teams for 2000 and excluded South Sydney for failing to meet selection criteria. Souths refused proposed mergers, fought the decision through the courts, and became a genuine social movement — tens of thousands of supporters marched through Sydney in 2000-2001, with board member Anthony Albanese, later Australian Prime Minister, a prominent campaigner. In 2001 the Full Federal Court found the exclusion breached the Trade Practices Act, and South Sydney was readmitted for 2002. Russell Crowe and Peter Holmes a Court bought the club in 2006, rebuilding it into a premiership winner in 2014 — their first title in 43 years, with Sam Burgess earning the Clive Churchill Medal while playing much of the match with a fractured cheekbone.
Grand Final appearances (1908-2021)
| Year | Result | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Lost | Penrith Panthers | 12-14 |
| 2014 | Won | Canterbury-Bankstown | 30-6 |
| 1971 | Won | St. George | 16-10 |
| 1970 | Won | Manly-Warringah | 23-12 |
| 1969 | Lost | Balmain | 2-11 |
| 1968 | Won | Manly-Warringah | 13-9 |
| 1967 | Won | Canterbury-Bankstown | 12-10 |
| 1965 | Lost | St. George | 8-12 |
| 1955 | Won | Newtown | 12-11 |
| 1954 | Won | Newtown | 23-15 |
| 1953 | Won | St. George | 31-12 |
| 1952 | Lost | Western Suburbs | 12-22 |
| 1951 | Won | Manly-Warringah | 42-14 |
| 1950 | Won | Western Suburbs | 21-15 |
| 1949 | Lost | St. George | 12-19 |
| 1939 | Lost | Balmain | 4-33 |
| 1935 | Lost | Eastern Suburbs | 3-19 |
| 1932 | Won | Western Suburbs | 19-12 |
| 1931 | Won | Eastern Suburbs | 12-7 |
| 1929 | Won | Newtown | 30-10 |
| 1928 | Won | Eastern Suburbs | 26-5 |
| 1927 | Won | St. George | 20-11 |
| 1926 | Won | University | 11-5 |
| 1924 | Lost | Balmain | 0-3 |
| 1923 | Lost | Eastern Suburbs | 12-15 |
| 1916 | Lost | Balmain | 3-5 |
| 1910 | Lost | Newtown | 4-4 |
| 1909 | Won | Balmain | 0-0 |
| 1908 | Won | Eastern Suburbs | 14-12 |
Sources
← Rugby League · Champions list · All-time records · Grand Final results · World Cup · All competitions · Venues · Players