Sideline Sid Sports correspondant & historian www.sunlive.co.nz

It was a very different world, when the South Sydney Rabbits met the Canterbury-Banksdown Bulldogs in the Sydney Rugby League Grand Final at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 1967.

A very much younger Sideline Sid, was part of the crowd of 56,368 that was at the Sydney Cricket Ground, to witness the Bunnies defeat the Doggies 12-10, on a wet Sydney Saturday afternoon.

This Sunday night South Sydney and Canterbury Banksdown will square off again in a NRL Grand Final, for just the second time, to decide the 2014 NRL Premiership.

Five decades ago the (then) Sydney Rugby League title decider, was always played at the games headquarters at the Sydney Cricket Ground, on a Saturday afternoon in mid September. Throughout the season, large crowds would make their way out of the central city to the cricket ground, to catch the match of the day on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. There were no night games in those days - with 1967 creating history with the first Grand Final telecast.

Having arrived in Sydney earlier in the year for his big OE - Sid quickly became a Canterbury Bankstown supporter to proudly wear the white and blue colours of his team. In making the grand final, Canterbury ended a record that is unlikely to be surpassed, when they beat St George by a solitary point in the preliminary final. St George won the Sydney premiership in 1956 and then went on to add a further ten titles, before they failed to make the final stanza in 1967.

While the Bulldogs headquarters are in Belmore, which is a fair way out from the Sydney CBD, the Rabbits are an old established inner-city club that had its origins in Redfern. For many years the Rabbitohs played and trained at the Redfern Oval. One of two of the original clubs that kicked off the Sydney Rugby League competitions in 1908 – the South Sydney Rabbitohs have had a chaequred time in the NRL. They won the first two premierships in 1908 and 1909 and hold the record of 20 championship titles. There darkest days came in 2000, when they were chucked out off the NRL competition before returning two years later. There recent revival, has been triggered by movie legend Russell Crowe taking a controlling stake in the club a few years ago.

Sidline Sid still has vivid memories of the 1967 NRL title decider, which kicked off for him mid morning, when he met a group of mates at an inner city pub to start the walk to the SCG. Stopping off a several watering holes on the way, a counter lunch at the half way stage of the walk provided substance for what turned out to be a long day (and night).

The match was up for grabs as the clock ticked down to half time with Canterbury leading 8-5 in a real arm-wrestle. Then there were groans of despair from the thousands Canterbury supporters, as Souths second rower Bob McCarthy intercepted the ball and ran nearly the length of the field to score, to give the Rabbits a 10-8 advantage at the break. A kick apiece in the second half, resulted in the inner-city side winning the grand final by just two points.

In the intervening years, Sid has switched his NRL allegiance from the Bulldogs to the New Zealand Warriors, but he still has a soft spot for South Sydney.

Go the Rabbits on Sunday.