Every football club has a home ground. At Redfern Oval, spiritual home to the South Sydney Rabbitohs until this week, old timers called theirs “The Holy Land”. It was more than a place where rugby league was played, it was the community’s heartland, a playground for kids, a nursery for local talent, a theatre of dreams and a sanctuary for anyone who wanted to believe in, and belong to, something bigger.
So when the time came to move the 115-year-old club’s most precious artefacts into a new headquarters, the club decided to carry its history with them – literally. Players and coaches met at Redfern Oval at dawn. At the club’s offices over the road, they unscrewed old team photos and honour rolls from walls and gently laid them in boxes. Then, with the precious cargo on their shoulders, they began a 26km overnight pilgrimage from The Holy Lands, visiting sacred sites on the way.
