ABC signs Russell’s Rabbitohs

The ABC is making a six part series on struggling South Sydney Football Club, to be called South Side Story.

The team has overcome its woes to carve out success under its new directors, Russell Crowe and Peter Holmes a Court, who sank $3.8m into the team.

Airing later this year, the show will give “an insider’s glimpse into the club – from dressing sheds to the boardrooms, the terraces to the public bars – it is an in-depth look at the staggering change of fortune in this the club’s 100th season.”

Press Release:

The intimate goings-on of the South Sydney Football Club, which has overcome extinction to fight for survival under new high-profile owners Russell Crowe and Peter Holmes a Court, will be captured in a documentary series, the South Side Story, for ABC TV.

Beyond Productions started filming last week at the beginning of the 2007 football year and will continue to follow the team throughout the season. The 6 x 30 min series will screen on ABC TV later this year.

South Sydney Rabbitohs are one of the most well-publicised rugby league clubs in the country, having been financially overwhelmed by the juggernaut super-clubs and fighting every inch of the way to survive.

With three wooden spoons in the last four years, 2007 was shaping up to be another bad year.

But all that changed when the club’s new owners, Crowe and Holmes a Court, invested $3.8m this season to bolster its ranks with a new coach and five star recruits. Crowe and Holmes a Court have staked their reputations and their money on the team’s performance.

Mikael Borglund, Beyond Production’s Managing Director said “This series follows the club through all of these crises and shows how a football club can define a community, provide a heart and a pulse, and give a community a sense of identity.”

Stuart Menzies, Head of ABC TV Documentaries said ” The South Side Story is an insider’s glimpse into the club – from dressing sheds to the boardrooms, the terraces to the public bars – it is an in-depth look at the staggering change of fortune in this the club’s 100th season.”