Book of Feuds
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The ''Book of Feuds'' is a book commissioned by South Sydney Rabbitohs co-owner
Russell Crowe Russell Ira Crowe (born 7 April 1964) is an actor. He was born in New Zealand, spent ten years of his childhood in Australia, and moved there permanently at age twenty one. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maxi ...
to chronicle the rivalries of the rugby club and to be used as a motivational tool. A chapter is dedicated to each of their 15 National Rugby League competitors."Bitter feud to get public airing"
, Adrian Proszenko, ''League HQ'', 2 September 2007
It was written by Mark Courtney. Originally, the book's contents were a secret but later extracts were seen being read by Crowe to the team in the television documentary '' South Side Story''.


Origins and Themes

The ''Book of Feuds'' began as a detailed account of Souths' history against their rivals – but a shorter version was created specifically to be read to the players before matches. The ''Book of Feuds'' doubles as both an educational document and a motivational tool. Shortly after the Rabbitohs were readmitted to the competition for the 2002 season the players were asked by Crowe which club had won the most premierships. Of the answers given none of the players knew the correct answer, that it was Souths."Book of feuds"
, Adrian Proszenko, ''League HQ'', 9 March 2008
The book's author, Courtney stated that, "It's not done from a bitter perspective, it's done from an envy perspective", when interviewed, "''The Book of Feuds'' is not a bitter book – well, there is occasional bitterness and hatred".


Readings

Crowe and other Souths identities, such as co-captain
David Kidwell David Kidwell (born 23 April 1977) is a professional rugby football, rugby coach (sport), coach who is the defence coach at Los Pumas, the national rugby union team of Argentina, and a former rugby league player. As a player, he represented New ...
, who has been out injured, coach Jason Taylor and Courtney have all read excerpts of the book to the players to fire them up before matches. Crowe has delivered the majority of the readings.


Release

The rivalry between the Sydney Roosters and the Souths is the longest surviving in the current
NRL The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...
competition. Leading up to a 2008 match, the ''Book'' was released by the South Sydney Rabbitohs to the public. Inside, the author claims "the Roosters lost their soul" and that "they simply don't have the tradition, the stories or the romance that is South Sydney", an erroneous claim from a club that itself had recently privatized; something the Roosters club has not done. Both Roosters coach Brad Fittler and player Willie Mason added their own views, stating they "hate Souths"."Willie fires up old feud"
Steve Mascord, ''Herald Sun'', 11 March 2008


See also


References


External links

{{South Sydney Rabbitohs National Rugby League South Sydney Rabbitohs 2008 non-fiction books Rugby football books Rugby league mass media Australian books