South Sydney Rabbitohs: Big Bunnies have Bigger Hearts

My eyes light up with the same amount of wonder that a child could only muster on Christmas morning.  Or Easter or their birthday.  My knees go weak.  I practically levitate down the stairs from the top of the bay inside Allianz Stadium.  Although I was deep in the seedy underbelly of the Roosters home stadium, there was a very bright spot in the ugly swath of red and blue flags.  That bright spot came in the form of a gigantic rabbit dressed in red and green with a cap and jumper.  That rabbit was Reggie.

There are many reasons why I keep coming back to see the South Sydney Rabbitohs.  Sure, the team is awesome, rugby league is a marvelous spectacle, the fans are sort of my second family away from home, almost every fan buys me a beer, and even some members of the team know me!  But one thing that draws me back like a beacon is the teams biggest member: Reggie!  Why?  Is it because I have a soft spot for rabbits?  Is it because Reggie reminds me so much of Bunnymund?  Mmmmm, a giant rabbit from Australia that has a soft spot for children and is so beloved?!  Or perhaps that he is so unique in the fact that he is a giant rabbit that represents a team of rugby league players, a most brutal lot who play a savage ballet.  Not the most accurate animal for such a competition, but not if you’re a Souths fan!

One of the highlights of the night for me during the 2015 round 26 match at Allianz for me was reuniting with South Sydney’s biggest bunny.  I had already had a rather fortunate encounter last year in 2014; this year, however, I had bigger plans.  I had brought with me my newest Rabbitohs fan poster for 2015 along with a trading card from Peter Wynn’s with his likeness on it.  Not only was he was kind enough to pose for photos with me, but he signed both poster and trading card for me!  And just like that, I had in my possession one of Australia’s biggest stars!  I wasn’t the only lucky Souths fan in The Burrow that night.  My eyes caught in the corner this adorable, little girl getting a hug from Reggie; a gentle nuzzle followed.

For us Rabbitohs fans, meeting him is a rite of passage and a crucial part of any Souths game.  Well, that plus a win and NOT seeing one of our players limp off with an injury.  Never before in professional sports has a mascot been so beloved and does so much good will on and off the field.  On Easter, he along with the good people at Souths Care and members of the team will visit sick children in the hospital and hand out Easter eggs and and candies.  As if that wasn’t enough, a friend of mine from The Burrow showed me a photo on his phone of Reggie paying a visit to a dying old man in the hospital.  He was nearing the end of his life and grew up a South Sydney fan for decades.  One of his last, dying wishes was to have Reggie by his side.  Just seeing that image reminded me why I am proud to wear the colors of the Rabbitohs.  We are more than just an amazing team with a storied history, the most Premiership wins, and a list of some of the greatest footy players in history.  We are a family that looks out for one another and treats all fans in red and green like one of our own.  And we have the greatest, kindest, and coolest mascot in professional sports, nay, the world!  If I was an official member of the South Sydney Rabbitohs lineup, I’d be their eighteenth man.  That’s one with the big ears.

God Bless Ya, Charlie!