20 Years of Souths Cares: When Snoop Dogg Visited The Block
This year marks 20 years of Souths Cares, a charity built on the South Sydney Rabbitohs’ long and proud history of supporting the community. Since its establishment in 2006, Souths Cares has supported disadvantaged and marginalised young people and their families, with a strong focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Today, the charity engages more than 35,000 individuals each year through programs focused on education, training, health, and employment needs; empowering young people to achieve their dreams and aspirations.
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As part of our Souths Cares: 20 Stories for 20 Years series, we’re looking back at the moments, people and programs that have shaped Souths Cares.
Among the many programs and partnerships delivered over the past 20 years, there have also been some unforgettable moments. One of the most surreal came in 2008, when global rap icon Snoop Dogg paid a visit to The Block in Redfern.
Over the past two decades, Souths Cares has delivered programs across schools, communities and regions around the country. Among those thousands of program days, one more unique moment in 2008 still stands out.
This moment arrived on 30 October, 2008, when rap icon Snoop Dogg rolled into Redfern.
Snoop was in Australia promoting community initiatives connected to his Snoop Youth Football League in the United States, a program designed to support young people from disadvantaged backgrounds through sport.
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While in Sydney, he visited Redfern to speak with local young people about staying active, making good choices and finding positive pathways through sport. It was a message that aligned closely with Souths Cares’ work in the community.
Former Souths Cares General Manager John Hutchinson remembers receiving the call that set the visit in motion. Rabbitohs co-owner Russell Crowe rang to say a friend of his was coming to Sydney and asked if Hutchinson could help organise a visit to The Block.
That friend turned out to be Snoop Dogg.
Hutchinson began making arrangements at the Redfern Community Centre, hoping to keep the visit relatively low‑key. But in Redfern, word travels fast.
By the time Snoop’s car arrived, hundreds of people had gathered around the community centre hoping to catch a glimpse of the global superstar.
Rabbitohs Media Manager Jeremy Monahan recalls the scene vividly. Snoop arrived in a large black SUV, accompanied by an entourage and security guards who Monahan still describes as the biggest people he had ever seen.
Inside the centre, the crowd packed tightly into the room as Snoop spoke with young people about his work in the United States and the importance of staying on the right path.
“He was talking about making good choices, staying healthy and playing sport,” Monahan said. “That’s the sort of message he pushes through his youth football league.”
The visit also created a special moment for Rabbitohs winger Nathan Merritt.
A proud Redfern local who grew up on The Block, Merritt had long admired the rap superstar. Months earlier he had joked with Russell Crowe about the possibility of meeting him one day.
When Snoop’s visit was confirmed, Merritt was invited down to the community centre to present him with a Rabbitohs jersey.
For those in attendance, the moment carried extra significance. Merritt had grown up in the same community as many of the young people gathered in the room that day.
Standing beside one of the world’s biggest music stas, Merritt presented Snoop with a Rabbitohs jersey bearing his name across the back.
The day itself quickly turned chaotic.
Hutchinson remembers the crowd swelling well beyond what anyone had anticipated, with people squeezing into the small community centre hoping to see Snoop up close. At one stage Rabbitohs CEO Shane Richardson found himself caught in the middle of the crowd as security tried to move the rapper through the room.
“I thought Richo was going to go crowd surfing,” Hutchinson later joked.
Despite the mayhem, the visit left a lasting impression.
For the young people in attendance, it was a rare chance to hear directly from one of the biggest names in global music about making positive choices and staying focused on the future.
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For the Rabbitohs, it was another reminder of the unique role the Club plays in the community, and the scope for future high-impact initiatives that could be achieved through Souths Cares.
Hutchinson said it remains one of the more surreal moments from his time working with Souths Cares.
Moments like that don’t happen every day. But over 20 years of Souths Cares, they’ve become part of a bigger story about opportunity, role models and the power of community in Redfern and beyond.
