SYDNEY Lord Mayor Clover Moore has declared open season on the Rabbitohs.

Only months after handing the premiership-winning South Sydney the keys to the city, the council is blocking the NRL team from parking inside their Redfern borough.

Council officers have started cracking down on Rabbitohs coaches and players who park inside the Redfern Oval precinct — where parking has been banned since 2006 — with a council spokesman saying residents had filed complaints.

“We can’t understand why the council is now punishing the South Sydney footy team in this way,’’ Rabbitohs chief executive John Lee said. “It is as if council would prefer that there be no team here at all.”

A Sydney City parking ranger left the Bunnies hopping mad last Friday when he threatened to issue a fine when the club’s van was parked inside the venue while picking up gear for a training session.

When it was explained to the ranger that the vehicle was a Souths service van, he said “Who cares mate? I will book the groundsman next’’, a Rabbitohs source said.

media_camera Lord Mayor of Sydney Clover Moore with victorious Rabbitohs head coach Michael Maguire / Picture: Supplied

The club cannot train at Redfern while the oval is being returfed, so the club van must pick up balls, tackling pads and water coolers several times a week to take to another oval.

Mr Lee said Souths players Jason Clarke and Ben Lowe met council officers last month to explain the parking crackdown was disrupting the club’s operations.

“The Lord Mayor and council were all over us when we won the premiership, offering special events and even the keys to the city,’’ Mr Lee said. “But now they seem intent on removing access for vehicles to our own training facility.

“How do you run a professional football club when players have to move their cars every two hours due to inflexible council rules?’’

Council staff said up to 40 vehicles were recently counted parked unlawfully and reports had been received of cars narrowly missing children and dogs. The spokesman said the council could not grant special permits to “one section of the community”.

Ms Moore, who lives at Redfern, spent about $19 million in 2009 redeveloping the council-managed facility, long regarded as Souths’ spiritual home. The club is now building a $22.6 million high-performance centre at Maroubra’s Heffron Park, which will become its new home when it is completed in about two years.