The National Rugby League's Good Friday Game is held annually on the Good Friday holiday in Australia between the South Sydney Rabbitohs and Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. It is traditionally played at Stadium Australia.
In 2014, it took a Trent Hodkinson field goal in the 78th minute to gift the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs the win 15-14. In the 2015 match, dubbed 'Bad Friday', a controversial finish to the match ended with a penalty being awarded against James Graham of Canterbury-Bankstown, allowing South Sydney to score a winning penalty goal.
This led to arguments between Canterbury players and referee Gerard Sutton, with David Klemmer being sin binned for dissent. Canterbury-Bankstown supporters then threw objects at the referees as they were escorted swiftly of the field straight after full-time. In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, the NRL season was postponed meaning the match did not go ahead.
In round 4 of the 2021 NRL season, South Sydney recorded the biggest winning margin in the fixture defeating Canterbury-Bankstown 38-0. In round 6 of the 2023 NRL season, South Sydney recorded the most points scored by a winning team in the Good Friday game as they defeated Canterbury 50-16.
Head to head TeamPlayedGames wonDrawsGames lostPoints ForPoints AgainstPoint Difference Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs144010218301 -83 South Sydney Rabbitohs141004301218 +83
Results +DateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueCrowdReference6 April 2012 South Sydney Rabbitohs20–10 Canterbury-Bankstown BulldogsANZ Stadium, Sydney35,22129 March 2013 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs12–17 South Sydney RabbitohsANZ Stadium, Sydney51,68618 April 2014 South Sydney Rabbitohs14–15 Canterbury-Bankstown BulldogsANZ Stadium, Sydney43,2553 April 2015 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs17–18 South Sydney RabbitohsANZ Stadium, Sydney40,52325 March 2016 South Sydney Rabbitohs12–42 Canterbury-Bankstown BulldogsANZ Stadium, Sydney38,19214 April 2017 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs24–9 South Sydney RabbitohsANZ Stadium, Sydney35,98430 March 2018 South Sydney Rabbitohs20–16 Canterbury-Bankstown BulldogsANZ Stadium, Sydney32,47119 April 2019 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs6–14 South Sydney RabbitohsANZ Stadium, Sydney30,0402 April 2021 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs0–38 South Sydney RabbitohsStadium Australia, Sydney23,24015 April 2022 South Sydney Rabbitohs36–16 Canterbury-Bankstown BulldogsAccor Stadium, Sydney30,1947 April 2023 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs16–50 South Sydney RabbitohsAccor Stadium, Sydney35,21129 March 2024 South Sydney Rabbitohs20–16 Canterbury-Bankstown BulldogsAccor Stadium, Sydney35,27518 April 2025 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs32–0 South Sydney RabbitohsAccor Stadium, Sydney65,3053 April 2026 South Sydney Rabbitohs32–24 Canterbury-Bankstown BulldogsAccor Stadium, Sydney49,813
2020 NRL Good Friday Game cancelled due to COVID-19 lockdown
References