Being a die-hard South Sydney Rabbitohs fan from New York in Sydney, I am indeed a rare sight to behold. Whenever I walk the streets in Australia’s largest city, I definitely turn heads. But I would I perk up their ears? Being on the radio works! On a partly sunny day in Chatswood, a lovely suburb of North Sydney, a pair of lifelong Rabbitohs fans, Brad...
Our tinnie coasted up the Hawkesbury River towards the pier at Dangar Island. The last time I saw this part of the Hawkesbury River was back in 2013 when I rode the ferry around the river. Suffice it to say, I was really excited to explore more of the Hawkesbury on foot. With the exception of Wondabyne and Brooklyn, I hadn’t seen much of the region other...
If there are two things that I always make time for whenever I am in Sydney, one is the Hawkesbury River and the other are the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Of course, the former exists up north between Manly and Newcastle while the latter sits below downtown Sydney near Mascot, Coogee, and Redfern. Where the twain shall meet is on Dangar Island, a small residential...
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...
As I walk uphill from Darling Harbour on Druitt Street towards Town Hall and the Queen Victoria Building, I take in every little bit of my familiar surroundings. The cool, morning wind blows in from Hyde Park towards Cockle Bay and refreshingly hits my face. The smell of that mid-morning breeze on a Sunday just takes me back. They say that smell is the sense that...
I passed through the gates of Langtree Park through a giant turnstile door that looked like something out of a New York City subway station. On the other side, bright florescent lights and rivers of beer. It had finally happened: my first sporting match in Europe. But I wasn’t here to see the Red Devils at Old Trafford or a tennis match at Wimbledon. I was...
My afternoon in St. Helens would finally culminate with my entrance into Langtree Park for the World Club Challenge between the St. Helens Saints of the Super League and my visiting South Sydney Rabbitohs. I was so excited, and yet, I was also so nervous! I mean, I may have been one of the few fans inside The Glass House pub who was looking so cool and aloof. I...
The weather was cold and clammy. The sky was grey with just a tinge of blue. Rain gently drizzled down touching every last blade of grass. The February air emitted a wet chill that blew through the countryside in Merseyside. Perfect weather for footy! The day had finally come in the form of the last day of the 2015 World Club Challenge. A day that would pit the...
A brisk, balmy night in Liverpool beckons me as I head out of my hotel. I am still new to this English port and I am hungry for action. But right now, I am just plain hungry. My stomach draws me to the closest place: the Crown Royal Hotel, which is conveniently located right across the street from my hotel on Lime Street. Just like in Australia...
My early grey tea is still piping hot; my sausage bap is starting to lose its warmth. I am still trying to shake off the stiffness of a six-hour flight from New York to Manchester, England. Truthfully, I’d be a little more excited if I was landing in London, as I consider it to be one of my favorite places in Europe, if not the world. But what has brought me...