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Nightmare for Anthony Albanese as his beloved Sydney Swans and South Sydney Rabbitohs BOTH capitulate in crucial daytime matches to FORGET for Australian Prime Minister
- It was a day to forget quickly for Anthony Albanese as both his teams lost big games
- The Prime Minister was in Melbourne to watch the Swans lose the AFL grand final
- He then flew to Sydney when Souths capitulated to lose their NRL Preliminary Final
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It’s been a tough day for Sydney sportingly, 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 began to build for Sydney’s clash with Geelong in the MCG.
Albanian wore a red and white scarf – the Swans’ club colors – and joked that his Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles will be blamed if the Swans fall short.
‘You never forget your first big final. Mine was way back in 1989 when I rode down to see one of the biggest grand finals ever held between Hawthorn and Geelong,” he said.
“I was on the edge of my seat. Hopefully I’m better today than I was then.
“If Geelong wins, I’m really worried that Richard Marles was the Acting Prime Minister when I was away in London last week, so I’m afraid he’s also sworn in himself as Minister of the Cats.”
Coincidentally, the Swans were absolutely dominated by the Cats and fell to an 81 point defeat of which Buddy Franklin & Co. will take some time to recover.
Albanian then flew 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, the Prime Minister looked on in a red and green scarf and looked despondent as his side capitulated, throwing away a 12-point lead to suffer a 32-12 defeat and crash out of the final.
Before taking the country’s highest office, Albanian was a regular Souths fan, taking to the streets alongside thousands of fans over 20 years ago to protest their expulsion from the newly formed NRL league.
He also famously stood in the Federal Parliament in 1999, filing a series of motions, including an appeal for the NRL to include South Sydney in the 2000 competition.
“Like the working class people who support them, South Sydney has always made their money,” he said.
“Unlike teams like Melbourne and Cronulla, who would be insolvent without News Limited.
“And people of this proud tradition know how to fight, in parliament, on the street and in court.”
History tells us that South Sydney won that fight. Albanian still regularly wears his weathered scarf and battered vintage Rabbitohs jersey.