Roosters supremo Nick Politis has issued a blunt message to the club’s cross-town rivals ahead of Allianz Stadium’s grand opening on Friday — “it’s our home, not their home”.
The Rabbitohs are reportedly eager to ditch Accor Stadium at Sydney Olympic Park next season and share the new $850 million stadium with the Tricolours according to The Daily Telegraph.
Jason Demetriou’s side were blocked from using Allianz Stadium ahead of their grudge-match with the Roosters, while Trent Robinson’s men trained on it on Tuesday and will have a captain’s run on Thursday.
Stream every game of every round of the 2022 NRL Telstra Premiership Season Live & Ad-Break Free During Play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
LISTEN TO THE LATEST EPISODE OF THE FOX LEAGUE PODCAST WITH SPECIAL GUEST SCOTT SATTLER
Speaking on the Roosters’ podcast, Politis explained the Tricolours should have exclusive access to the new state-of-the-art ground.
“I’ve heard other people say they want to play there because it’s their home,” Politis said.
“The point is we’ve been there since 1928. We started with the old sports ground and then 30 years with the old Allianz Stadium.
“Nobody else has played there. For another club to say we want to go there because it’s our home, it’s not their home.
“The Roosters are the only people that belong there. It’s our true home and it’s very sacred.”
The Roosters’ high-performance centre and football offices are situated inside Allianz Stadium and Politis made sure a sign was erected which read “home of the Sydney Roosters” when signing a 25-year deal.
“I think we all have known for some time that the Roosters regard it as their home ground and no one elses,” The Daily Telegraph’s Buzz Rothfield said on NRL360.
“Their name is on the side of the stadium, it says ‘home of the Sydney Roosters’.
“It wouldn’t be a build up to this game without some sort of drama and shots fired.”
NRL360 co-host Paul Kent also explained the backstory surrounding the “kerfuffle” which saw Souths blocked from using the ground prior to the clash.
“The whole kerfuffle over them not being able to train on the stadium, the backstory to that is they didn’t want to train on the stadium, they just did it to ruffle the Roosters feathers,” Kent said.
MORE NRL NEWS
TEAMS ANALYSIS: Souths star out for crunch clash as Cowboys name shock No. 6
TEAMS: Latrell named despite odd absence; Kevvie swings axe as Penrith stars rested
RESERVES: How $750k Dogs star responded to axe as Roosters’ next gen wreak havoc
WHISPERS: Knights sign Bronco after missing Milford; rivals circling Cowboy
“It was basically a charade to piss off the Roosters.”
“It is fantastic Kenty, we should embrace it because it is one of the great rivalries in rugby league,” The Australian’s Brent Read said.
Rothfield also questioned whether the stadium drama will have any influence on the game’s outcome.
Kent conceded, in isolation, being blocked from training on a stadium will not effect a team.
But he believes the “accumulation” of incidents throughout the history of the Rabbitohs and Roosters’ rivalry creates “animosity”.
“The animosity between these two teams, which leads to the superhuman efforts we see in these games, is generated by the accumulation of all of these incidents,” Kent said.
“They sit there, and they stack on and stack on and it turns into something that becomes real.”
Get all the latest NRL news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!!
The Rabbitohs have reportedly attempted to back out of their contract with the state government and Venues NSW after funding was pulled which was set to refurbish Accor Stadium.
“We signed a long-term deal back in 2016 with Accor Stadium management at the time based on a significant redevelopment of Accor, which at that time, was a knockdown rebuild,” Rabbitohs chief executive Blake Solly said.
“Now the Government has confirmed Accor Stadium won’t be redeveloped, it’s our view that we should be able to move to Allianz Stadium, where the Government has invested $800m.
“We’re just asking for a fair and reasonable outcome for our members and fans.”
