Souths Juniors: Signings tracker, pre-season latest ahead of the 2025 season

After a year on the sidelines one of South Sydney’s most iconic junior clubs will make a return to the A-grade competition - and they’ve got some big name players to make them a force again.

Jade Anderson is a marquee signing for La Perouse. Picture Warren Gannon Photography

The Alexandria Rovers come into the 2025 Souths Juniors season as the defending premiers, but there are a host of teams on their tail.

With some returning faces and personnel changes, we take a look at every club before the start of the new season, starting with the La Perouse Panthers.

LA PEROUSE PANTHERS

Major signings: Jade Anderson (Glebe), Aaron Grech (Mascot), Kayde King (Rabbitohs Jersey Flegg), Harrison Rooke (Moves up from U18s)

After missing last year’s A-grade for the first time in a long time, La Perouse is back where it belongs in the top grade.

The last time the Panthers were seen was in 2023 when they were one game away from a preliminary final.

There’s a quiet confidence they can get back to that level upon return, with a strong roster back to represent the community.

“We’re looking exceptional. We have two main sides this year after getting together an A-reserve at the last second last year,” president Anthony Cook said.

“With Aaron Grech as coach and Rob Longbottom as manager we’re in a strong position. We’ve had about 30-40 at training for the last month and it’s going to lift the community up again.

“Rob has experience with Guildford and he has a connection with the players. Aaron has that too, and it’s great to have him back.

“From a president’s point of view I’m very proud of what we’ve got this year.”

Yarra Oval will play host to A-grade footy once again. Picture: Sean Teuma

The hill at Yarra Oval will again be filled on Saturday and Sunday arvos, much to the delight of Cook who said the return would have a positive impact throughout the whole club.

“This is going to be fantastic for us. The community of La Perouse is stoked to have an A-grade team again and having a competitive side is going to make it so much better for us,” he said.

“The money generated from the canteen filters through to the juniors. We’re looking at a strong U14s as well.”

In terms of the talent they’ve got on board, they’re putting together a strong team with a mix of higher level players and quality juniors.

Jade Anderson will be one of the best players in the competition. He featured with La Perouse in last year’s Koori Knockout after starring for Glebe in the Ron Massey Cup and earning City representative honours in the process.

Grech is a Maltese international who has been a top-tier dummy half in the competition for a long time.

Kayde King and Harrison Rooke are two young guns that have spent time in the Rabbitohs pathways and add plenty to the forward pack.