ED Sheeran and Harry Styles have made way for the footy posts at Accor Stadium, which has been rapidly transformed from Sydney’s biggest concert venue to NRL field in the countdown to the Rabbitohs’ first home game against the Sea Eagles on Saturday night.
Almost 500,000 music fans passed through the turnstiles at Accor Stadium for an unprecedented Summer of Concerts, featuring Guns N Roses, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Post Malone, plus the hugely popular Ed Sheeran and Harry Styles.
But it’s now back to winter sports at the Stadium, with the Rabbitohs ready for back-to-back home games against the Sea Eagles (Saturday 25 March) and the Storm (Friday 31 March) before rival home club the Bulldogs host games against the Cowboys (Sunday 2 April) and the Rabbitohs (Friday 7 April).
The Bulldogs v Rabbitohs game is the annual Good Friday classic (4pm kick-off) and part of a huge East Footy fest at Accor Stadium, with Wests Tigers hosting the Parramatta Eels at the Stadium on Easter Monday 10 April (4pm kick-off).
The Easter blockbusters are traditionally two of the biggest drawing NRL regular-season games of the season in Sydney.
In preparation for the season ahead, Accor Stadium Head Curator Graeme Logan has led the installation of a full pitch turf replacement and upgraded the arena irrigation system in the countdown to Rabbitohs v Sea Eagles this Saturday night.
“We have had this pitch growing in Western Sydney all summer in preparation for our winter footy and we are good to go for Rabbitohs v Sea Eagles on Saturday night,” Logan said.
On the back of the turf replacement, the Accor Stadium grounds crew led by Operations Manager Josh Edwards installed the NRL posts (See photos).
Accor Stadium is gearing up for a massive winter of sport, highlighted by a potentially series-deciding State of Origin Game 3 on Wednesday 12 July.
Following Origin is the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, with Accor Stadium hosting the CommBank Matildas’ opening night game against the Republic of Ireland on Thursday 20 July, along with four major finals games including the World Cup Final on Sunday 20 August.
See the full footy season schedule at Accor Stadium here.
