Anthony Albanese tells Dominic Perrottet to tear down Sydney Roosters sign at new Allianz Stadium

A heated conversation between Anthony Albanese and Dom Perrottet has ended in the Prime Minister demanding that the Prime Minister of NSW tear down a sign in Sydney’s Allianz Stadium that reads ‘Home of the Sydney Roosters’.

The pair were filmed Thursday at a charity cricket match at Kirribilli House, where Mr. Albanese expressed anger at the rooster signage being allowed on the new $900 million property being developed by the liberal state government.

The Labor Prime Minister is a lifelong member of the Roosters’ rivals, the South Sydney Rabbitohs, who had planned to share the luxurious new 65,000 stadium with the Eastern Suburbs club when the project was under construction.

But after the Rooster’s and the NSW government reached a $12.5 million deal for a high-performance center at the site, South Sydney chose to remain at Homebush’s Accor Stadium.

However, many Souths fans still see the Moore Park site – located in South Sydney – as their spiritual home.

The benefit match in which the couple participated was organized by radio duo Fitzy and Wippa.

Fitzy & Wippa’s first XI Backyard Cricket match was hosted at Mr Albanese’s official residence, Kirribilli House.

Mr Albanese and Mr Perrottet were on opposite sides of the charity match when the talk turned to the board recently covered by A-League football team Sydney FC.

“There’s a sign Roosters on it, how did they do that?” Mr Albanian said in the conversation filmed by: The Daily Telegraph.

The Prime Minister and Fitzy laughed, but the Prime Minister seemed unamused to say, “No, break it off!”

Mr Perrottet realized Mr Albanian was deadly serious and said: ‘I don’t want it to become an exclusive ground… We can tear it down.’

Chairman of Venues NSW Tony Shepherd said he was “surprised and disappointed” by the conversation between the pair and said removing the sign would be a “serious breach of contract”.

“They pay land rent for those facilities…that helps us pay the running costs,” he said.

The Prime Minister was part of ‘Team Fitzy’ along with Mark Ferguson, Colin Fassnidge and Mel McLaughlin.

The NSW Premier who was part of ‘Team Wippa’ was joined by former NRL star Beau Ryan, Conrad Sewell, Richard Wilkins and Ben Fordham.

At one point during the cricket match, the Prime Minister was overheard talking to the NSW Prime Minister, calling his bowling ‘pretty average’.

Anthony Albanese ends embarrassing PM’s cricket tradition as he destroys a delivery of NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet from the park at Kirribilli House

By Kristy Williams

Anthony Albanese has taken to the lawns of Kirribilli House to play some backyard cricket – graciously breaking the record of Australian Prime Ministers embarrassing themselves with bat and ball in hand.

Mr Albanese took part in ‘Fitzy and Wippa’s Backyard Cricket game’ at the Prime Minister’s Official Residence in Kirribilli in the shadow of Sydney Harbor Bridge.

Hosted by Nova radio hosts Ryan ‘Fitzy’ Fitzgerald, a former AFL star, and Michael Wipfli, the game featured two star-studded teams led by the presenters.

The Prime Minister led one team with Fitzgerald, while NSW Prime Minister Dominic Perrottet captained the other alongside Wipfli.

Mr Albanese was faced with the prospect of self-humiliating like previous Australian Prime Ministers who fell very much into the ‘can’t throw, can’t throw’ category – as the late Shane Warne would say.

Former Prime Minister John Howard’s humiliating attempt to bowl in India remains a source of national disgrace, while Bob Hawke had his glasses shattered when he failed to catch a short ball in a political game.

The new prime minister feared he would follow in those footsteps.

“Let me say that as a cricketer I am a good politician,” Mr Albanese said in a pre-match interview.

He needn’t have worried. The Prime Minister knocked a double hopper of Mr Perrottet out of the park with a cross-batted swipe channeling David Warner — and no doubt he would have loved to have beaten the “six and out.”

Mr Albanese was even better with the ball in hand, with his slightly mechanical action producing good results.

His skills even trickled down to the Prime Minister’s “First Dog,” Toto.

Mr Albanese said on an Instagram story prior to the start of the match that he was confident she would be the ‘man of the match’, ‘because she is very good at chasing balls’.

He had to stop the game once, when the enthusiastic Cavoodle couldn’t resist sprinting onto the field as the ball was bowled.

Celebrities such as Lynne McGranger, Beau Ryan, Conrad Sewell, Richard Wilkins, Ben Fordham and Karl Stefanovic also entered the competition.

Australian cricketers Stella Campbell, Nathan Lyon and Brett Lee tried their best to improve the level of the game.

It wasn’t just a hit and a giggle. $15,000 was raised for Ronald McDonald House Charities in Sydney.