Sydney’s Olympic Park cops a bad rap a lot of the time.
When it’s a cold, wet, midwinter night and 90 per cent of the stadium’s 83,500 seats are unoccupied, it bears an uncanny resemblance to a low joint, any atmosphere generated by the diehards in attendance dissipating into the cavernous surrounds.
On nights like those, the venue originally known as Stadium Australia is one of the last places people want to pay good money to watch a sporting event that they could be watching from the comfort of their own sofa.
Every now and again, however, when it’s packed to the nosebleed rows, what is now called Accor Stadium is a special place, Sydney’s very own theatre of dreams.
From Cathy Freeman’s gold-medal triumph, to John Aloisi’s historic penalty, to myriad State of Origins and NRL grand finals and Bledisloe Cup showdowns, there have been plenty of iconic moments.
Good Friday, 2025, will go down as one such occasion, when Canterbury and South Sydney battled it out in front of a crowd of 65,305, the largest attendance at a regular-season rugby league match in the code’s 117-year history, beating the previous benchmark by 5597.
The huge crowd at Accor Stadium for the Good Friday clash between Canterbury and South Sydney.Credit: Getty Images
Canterbury and Souths fans have endured their fair share of dismal nights at Homebush, where their clubs have been co-tenants for years.
Before last season, the Bulldogs spent eight years as finals spectators. Souths haven’t featured in the play-offs in their past three campaigns and last year finished above only wooden spooners Wests Tigers on the ladder.
Neither Canterbury nor Souths were the hottest ticket in town during their lean years. But that didn’t mean their supporters had found a new team, or sport, to follow. They’ve just been waiting for an excuse to emerge from the woodwork.
And on Friday, the planets aligned.
Five consecutive wins had the Bulldogs on top of the table. Souths, meanwhile, had won four of their first six since the return of master coach Wayne Bennett.
With ticket sales already tracking towards a bumper turnout, the Bulldogs produced a masterstroke by releasing $10 seats in the top tier, with no booking fee.
What better way to spend Good Friday than by helping to create rugby league history for less than the cost of a Big Mac and fries?
While it was the Bulldogs’ home game, Souths were entitled to hope and believe their supporters would be well represented, too.
But as seats filled in the final few minutes before kick-off, it became obvious that the scarlet-and-myrtle jerseys in the crowd had been swamped by a sea of blue and white.
And given their fans had upheld their end of the bargain, the onus was on Canterbury’s players to do likewise.
Quid pro quo. No problem.
The Bulldogs capitalised on their home-ground advantage, racing to a 20-0 lead by half-time. Each try elevated their supporters to the next level of euphoria.
Deafening roars encouraged the Bulldogs to muscle up defensively on their own goal line in the early exchanges, and soon enough they were applying pressure at the other end of the field.
Tries from props Josh Curran and Max King, and another from back-rower Sitili Tupouniua, were ample evidence of the Bulldogs’ modus operandi.
Bulldogs supporter Ahmed Barnzy arrives at Olympic Park on Friday.Credit: Sitthixay Ditthavong
Souths might have fielded a star-studded back line featuring Latrell Mitchell, Cody Walker and Campbell Graham, but Canterbury’s forwards simply kicked the front door down.
When second-rower Jacob Preston extended their lead by crashing over early the second half, the Rabbitohs were facing a 26-0 deficit and 35 minutes of catch-up football.
Upstairs in the coaches box, Cameron Ciraldo was entitled to be thrilled with his team’s eventual 32-0 victory.
Less than two years ago, in Ciraldo’s debut year as an NRL head coach, his team was slaughtered 66-0 by Newcastle at the same venue.
Last year, he steered them into the finals and, on Thursday, 24 hours before the biggest game of the season, he declared: “It’s been part of the vision of this club to become the biggest club in rugby league. And certainly, we’re not there yet, but we’re on the right trajectory.”
That would have seemed laughable not so long ago, but Ciraldo now has 65,305 reasons to support the theory that the Bulldogs are on their way to becoming a juggernaut, on and off the field.
And to think it’s only round seven. Imagine if they make it to the grand final.
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