Rabbitohs calling ANZ Stadium home for next two years
The South Sydney Rabbitohs will play a majority of their home games at ANZ Stadium for seasons 2021 and 2022.
The NRL club made the announcement on Thursday, following member feedback that the stadium was a preferred home ground.
It leaves the option open for the Rabbitohs to return to Moore Park once the ongoing construction of the new Sydney Football Stadium is completed in 2022 or 2023.
Club CEO Blake Solly said there was "very strong" feedback favouring both ANZ Stadium and the future ground at the Moore Park site.
"It is a no-brainer for us as a club to listen to our Members and lock in ANZ Stadium as our home stadium for at least the next two seasons."
The agreement will also see the Rabbitohs continue to take three of their home games to regional locations.
The Rabbitohs and the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, ANZ Stadium's other tenant, had been weighing up their future at the venue earlier in the year after plans to redevelop it into a 70,000 seat rectangular stadium were scrapped because of COVID.
The redevelopment was expected when both clubs signed long-term contracts with the stadium's management.
Recent intentions from the NRL to focus funding on suburban venues could eventually see the Bulldogs serviced by a new stadium in Liverpool or southern Sydney.
The old Sydney Football Stadium served as a home to the Rabbitohs from its construction in 1988 to 1999, and again between 2002 and 2005.
If they were to return to Moore Park in 2023, which is geographically much closer to the traditional Rabbitohs territory, they would be sharing it with major rivals the Sydney Roosters who recently signed a 25-year agreement to continue playing in the precinct.
