Another Brick in the Wall: Why Bunnies are getting the rock star treatment on tour

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The Rabbitohs will leave their $26 million, state-of-the-art training centre behind, but they’ll have a humble pile of house bricks front of mind across a season-defining, 13,000 km five-week tour.

South Sydney players and staff have been kitted out with AC/DC-inspired ‘Build the Wall’ tour t-shirts for this week’s trip to the Sunshine Coast trip for a marquee Friday night clash against Brisbane.

‘Build the Wall’ is a reference to Jason Demetriou’s season-long mantra and the casually constructed wall that holds pride of place in the Rabbitohs’ centre of excellence at Maroubra’s Heffron Park.

Bricks are awarded to players for individual achievements throughout the year and made the trip across Rabbitohs heartland earlier this year when the club moved from Redfern to the new training base.

South Sydney’s “build the wall” tour T-shirt.

Players taking the individual bricks in their luggage poses obvious logistical issues as they traverse three states in five weeks for trips to the Sunshine Coast, Tamworth, Perth, Cairns and Newcastle.

The bricks instead will be at the heart of South Sydney’s extended time on the road – with everything from a top-four berth to missing the finals altogether still possible.

“‘Build the Wall’ – it’s a team theme we’ve had this year, these next five weeks we’ll have a bit of fun with it going on tour,” veteran prop Tom Burgess said while modelling his band-themed tour shirt.

“We’ll wear these in camp and I’m really looking forward to it. I don’t want to give too much away but we get bricks, actual bricks for [achieving] things in games. For example, if someone makes a debut, that’s a brick and we’ll put it on the wall. Everyone decorates their own brick.

“Then there’s certain things in games, if we can achieve them, that’s another brick. I think it’s a good initiative from JD and we’ve bought into it.

“We’ve had it since the start of the year, we brought the bricks over from Redfern and set up the wall here too. It’s all intertwined with bringing the history and the passion from the area to here. We’ve got that spirit here.

“The boys have jumped on board with it and it’s a powerful thing when 13 or 17 blokes are all thinking the same thing.”

Latrell Mitchell headlines a trio of Souths’ biggest names returning from injury against the Broncos, with Jai Arrow (ankle) and Campbell Graham (sternum) also back for what is effectively a full-strength Rabbitohs 17.

Only Michael Chee Kam (calf) and 18-year-old speedster Tyrone Munro (quad) are unavailable for Demetriou, who described this week’s team list as the toughest he’s had to pick all year.

Mitchell’s return pushes Blake Taaffe out of the run-on side, where he has impressed during Mitchell’s absence and put himself on the radar of NRL rivals Canterbury – meeting with Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo and boss Phil Gould recently.

“I think Blake Taaffe did a great job coming in and he sort of showed to the NRL that he’s a great player now and into the future,” Burgess said.

Having sat as high as second on the ladder in mid-May, a hefty injury toll and the Origin drain has factored in four losses from the Rabbitohs’ last six games.

Souths begin round 22 in eighth place, ahead of North Queensland only on points differential, with Wests Tigers (in Tamworth), Cronulla (in Perth), St George Illawarra (in Cairns) and Newcastle (in Newcastle) on the horizon before a round 26 bye.

“We know what’s on the line, it’s such a tight comp this year,” Burgess said. “We’ve just got to back ourselves, and you’ve got to win those games.”

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