Yileen 'Buddy' Gordon has won the Bob McCarthy Clubperson of the Year award tonight (Friday), in recognition of their contributions to the South Sydney club throughout 2023, personifying the Club’s values of Brave, Unbreakable and Belonging.
Yileen has shown these traits on and off the field for the Rabbitohs and Souths Cares throughout 2023. Gordon is the male mentor in Souths Cares' Deadly Youth mentoring program which provides intensive mentoring and casework support for at-risk youth, focusing on education, positive social activities and building connections with Aboriginal culture and community. Gordon changes the lives of kids in this program each and every day and he does a brilliant job of engaging these participants and their families to provide positive outcomes for everyone.
On the field, Gordon played 24 out of a possible 27 NSW Cup games throughout 2023 at 36-years-of-age, 18 years after making his first grade debut for South Sydney. Now playing in the front row, Gordon played an integral role in the charge to the premiership this season, as well as helping mentor some of the young talent coming through the ranks at the Club on their way to their own NRL debut.
The Bob McCarthy Clubperson of the Year award was presented by Rabbitohs legend Bob McCarthy himself at the annual Red and Green Ball tonight in Alexandria.
McCarthy was part of the Rabbitohs' golden era in the 1960s and early 1970s, playing 211 first grade games in the cardinal and myrtle, scoring 100 tries. He is a multiple Premiership-winning legend of the South Sydney club and is a regular attendee at past players’ reunions and training sessions to this very day, offering his continued support to the current crop of Rabbitohs players.
Bob McCarthy Clubperson of the Year winners:
2023 Yileen Gordon
2022 Jacob Host
2021 Mark Nicholls
2020 Damien Cook
2019 Braidon Burns
2018 John Sutton
2017 Damien Cook
2016 Jason Clark
2015 Ben Lowe
2014 Sam Burgess
2013 Matt King
2012 Sam Burgess and Michael Crocker
2011 Michael Crocker
2010 Sam Burgess
2009 Scott Geddes
2008 Beau Champion
2007 Luke Stuart
2006 Peter Cusack
2005 Luke Stuart
2004 Ashley Harrison
2003 Jason Death
2002 Jason Death
