Anthony Albanese has day to FORGET as Sydney Swans and South Sydney Rabbitohs lose

It’s been a tough day for Sydney on a sporting level, and Anthony Albanese – a fan of the Swans and Rabbitohs – will certainly be reeling after a day to forget for the Prime Minister.

The 59-year-old spent Saturday morning in Melbourne and was a guest at the AFL grand final breakfast where anticipation was building ahead of Sydney’s clash with Geelong at the MCG.

Wearing a red and white scarf – the Swans’ club colours – Albanese joked that his deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles will be at fault if the Swans fell short.  

‘You never forget your first Grand Final. Mine was way back in 1989 when I drove down to see one of the greatest Grand Finals that had ever been held between Hawthorn and Geelong,’ he said.

‘I was on the edge of my seat. Hopefully I’ll be in a better seat today than I was back then.

‘If Geelong win, I’m really worried that when I was away last week in London, Richard Marles was the acting Prime Minister, so I’m worried that he’s also sworn himself in as the minister for the Cats.’

As it happened, the Swans were absolutely dominated by the Cats, falling to an 81-point defeat that will take some time to recover from for Buddy Franklin & Co. 

Albanese then jetted from the MCG to Accor Stadium to watch his beloved South Sydney Rabbitohs take on reigning NRL premiers Penrith Panthers in this season’s preliminary final.

This time watching on with a red and green scarf, the Prime Minister looked despondent as his side capitulated and threw away a 12-point lead to suffer a 32-12 defeat and crash out of the finals.  

Before his rise to the highest office in the country, Albanese was a regular Souths fan and took the streets alongside thousands of fans over 20 years ago to protest their expulsion from the newly formed NRL competition.

He also famously stood in federal parliament in 1999 and tabled a range of motions including calling upon the NRL to include South Sydney in the 2000 competition. 

‘Like the working-class people who support them, South Sydney have always paid their way,’ he said.

‘Unlike teams such as Melbourne and Cronulla who would be insolvent were it not for News Limited.

‘And people from this proud tradition know how to fight, in parliament, in the streets and in the court.’

History shows that South Sydney won that fight. Albanese still wears his weathered scarf and battered, vintage Rabbitohs jersey on regular occasions.