Readmission into the competition in 2002 kept our main jersey intact with TV Week as our major sponsor and Arrive Alive on our sleeves. For the first time ever, the Club issued an away jersey which was predominantly a white jersey with red and green striped chevron from the shoulders. In the Charity Shield match against the Dragons, the Rabbitohs promoted the Sydney Children’s Hospital on the front of their jersey.
In 2003 and 2004, Allight became our major sponsor with Arrive Alive on our sleeves, and the Club issued another alternate jersey which was also predominantly white with cardinal red and myrtle green stripes on top.
The following season Real Insurance was our major sponsor with Arrive Alive on our sleeves, and our advertising campaign referred to our Club as “The Real Rabbitohs!” The predominantly white alternate jersey was the same as in 2003-04 seasons, with the new sponsors on the front.
During the year the Rabbitohs were again the first ever club in Australian sport to get a unique sponsorship deal where we won the rights to display our Oscar-winning investor’s, Russell Crowe’s, latest film on our famous jersey. That film was Cinderella Man, which our players wore for part of 2005. It came in two styles, one with a black background and white writing of ‘Cinderella Man’, and the other with opposite colours.
The 2006 away jersey was one of the most distinct alterations to the away strip, but this was short lived as in 2007 a return to tradition had South Sydney back playing in the Cardinal and Myrtle stripes.
The implementation of the black rabbit on the away jersey in 2007 was a progressive move. It was the first time a logo had ever been used to highlight the difference between home and away jerseys, which also coincided with sponsorship variations for both strips. Firepower was our major sponsor on our home jerseys and High Concept on our away jerseys.
In 2008-10, nab became our main sponsor on home jerseys and DeLonghi on our away jerseys with Trivest on the sleeves, and as part of the 2008 Centenary celebrations of the League in Australia the Club issued our first Heritage jersey, which included even cardinal red and myrtle green bars with a torn rabbit and a specially designed heritage logo on the sleeves.
In 2009, the black and white strips and rabbit logos were reversed, with the black stripe being our home jersey and white as away jerseys. Russell Crowe’s new film ‘State of Play’ was displayed on our sleeves in 2009. Major sponsor NAB donated the front of the jersey against the Dragons in round 25 to display the silver ribbon, raising awareness for the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation (OCRF).
