REDFERN Oval isn't finished but a move to Gosford is.
Souths players John Sutton, left, Beau Champion, Chris Sandow and David Kidwell at Redfern Oval. Picture: Sam Mooy
That was the message from South Sydney yesterday following the announcement De'Longhi and Virgin Blue would remain as major sponsors in 2009.
The Rabbitohs delivered the good news at Redfern Oval, which is undergoing a $23million facelift scheduled for completion in November.
Since their readmission to the NRL competition in 2002, Souths have been forced on an almost yearly basis to deny speculation the club is considering a relocation to the NSW central coast.
Once home of the defunct Northern Eagles, Gosford has been crying out for a team and the NRL has been dangling a financial carrot of at least $8m for any club prepared to sell out its history.
South Sydney chief executive Shane Richardson used yesterday's occasion to state emphatically the club was, and always would be, tied to the Redfern area in inner-Sydney and had no intention of moving.
Richardson said the club was expanding its supporter base and used a projected target of 15,000 members within five years as further evidence that relocation was not an option.
"We've got a 20-year lease (at Redfern), we've got a 10-year lease at ANZ Stadium, we've got a $23m state-of-the-art stadium, we've got massive sponsorship, we've got a business plan to stay here and today's all about saying we're going nowhere," Richardson said.
"This is our home, this is where we're going to operate out of, this is where we're going to be based. This is our turf, so to speak."
The club chairman Nicholas Pappas backed Richardson's position. "We had a mandate given to us by members, not only in 2006 when Peter (Holmes a Court) and Russell (Crowe) stepped in but even before that ... our members and fans wanted the club rooted in Sydney," Pappas said.
"That was the strongest message given to us. We saw that as extremely important to deliver and the best way to deliver that is to plant your flag. You plant your flag by creating a home and we have a home here.
"There was a lot of rumours outside the club from so-called stakeholders. A lot of people were calling out about what should happen but they weren't really Rabbitohs people."
Coach Jason Taylor was also happy to end the constant speculation about relocation.
"I think the reason that Souths has always been linked to it is because they've always been on the bottom of the table and struggling a bit with sponsors, but that's no longer the case," Taylor said.
"I think anyone that is watching us closely can see we're a club heading in an upwards direction."
While some clubs continue to explore Gosford as an option, and some officials have bemoaned there are too many Sydney clubs given the economic forecast, Richardson said relocation should not be an option and the central coast deserved its own start-up.
"It's incredibly important for a club to be near its spiritual home otherwise you don't have a footy club," Richardson said.
"That's why the idea of relocating the Rabbitohs anywhere is a farce.
"You've got to become the North Queensland Cowboys or you've got to become something that is your own entity ... if we're not going to play here we may as well be dead."
