South Sydney’s billionaire part-owner Mike Cannon-Brookes was left spellbound by the scenes on Saturday night as the players quickly shot down any suggestions there would be a hangover from the emotional win over Manly.
Cannon-Brookes, the co-owner of software company Atlassian – whose fortune of around $28b puts him third on the country’s rich list behind Gina Rinehart and Andrew Forrest – joined fellow Souths owner Russell Crowe and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at Accor Stadium to watch Souths honour club legend John Sattler.
Albanese had to leave after just 20 minutes when Labor leader Chris Minns was declared the winner of the NSW election earlier than expected.
But Cannon-Brookes reminded the rest of the NRL why no other club could come close to Souths when it came to fan passion and owning their history when he declared to the Herald: “South Sydney isn’t a club, mate – it’s a religion.”
“This was beyond awesome; you couldn’t have scripted it, it was poetic,” Cannon-Brookes said. “There were a lot of tears in the sheds, and rightly so. The boys stuck it out. To win 13-12, on Satts’ night, it was beautiful.”
Souths skipper Cameron Murray understood Cannon-Brookes’s spiritual reference, and hoped the emotions felt before and after the weekend’s golden-point victory would now help propel his teammates to the NRL title.
Billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes soaks up the emotion in the South Sydney sheds on Saturday night.Credit:South Sydney Rabbitohs/Erick Lucero
Murray, who wore Sattler’s No. 13 jersey, said it was important there was no comedown from the tributes, with the 80-year-old legend to be farewelled on Friday just hours before Souths host Melbourne.
“I’m biased because I haven’t been at any other club, but the energy and soul of this club, and how much people live and breathe the results, it gives you an idea of how special it is,” Murray said.
“We want to create something special that lasts a long time. This will be another story that will be a part of what is hopefully a successful year for this club.
“There might be some chat about a hangover. Had we dropped to 1-3 in the first month, it wouldn’t have been a proper reflection of how hard we had worked this pre-season.
Cody Walker bagging a second try against Manly on Saturday night.Credit:Mark Metcalfe
“It wasn’t pretty against Manly, but it was important to get the two points and create that feeling in the sheds. It gets infectious, and it contributes to the boys wanting to dig deep every week and going to the lengths we are willing to go to get that winning feeling again.”
Murray said he had done it tough against the Sea Eagles, but he had been involved in more physically taxing games, and only hoped “my body language wasn’t too bad”.
Souths welcome the return of Hame Sele (concussion) for the Storm clash, but Jai Arrow (hamstring) will miss another week before returning on Good Friday or, more likely, round seven against the Dolphins.
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