- Crowe owns 25 per cent of Rabbitohs NRL team
- Refuted ‘bulls**t’ claim that he wants out
Russell Crowe has been accused of slamming a shock report that he wants to sell his stake in the South Sydney NRL team not because it was inaccurate, but due to the fact it took the focus off the side’s first day back at training.
The Hollywood star is trying to offload his 25 per cent of the club and is seeking investors who are prepared to pay up to $20million to take over from him, according to News Corp.
Crowe bought into the side in 2006, when he and businessman Peter Holmes à Court won control in dramatic fashion, with Crowe delivering a stirring speech to members to convince them to vote for the club to go private.
On Monday, Crowe bluntly shot down the claim, telling Australian Associated Press, ‘Just tell them [Aussies] it’s all bulls**t, and advise them to enjoy the summer sun.’
He later posted the following message on X: ‘Re SSFC [South Sydney Football Club]. What would January in Australia be without desperate legacy media conspiracy theories?
‘Enjoy the summer sun while it’s there and ignore the trolls. WB [coach Wayne Bennett] back onboard. A fresh energy about the place. An arrowhead on our intentions.’
However, News Corp is now quoting an unnamed ‘Souths insider’ who maintains Crowe made the declaration out of anger because the report took attention away from the Rabbitohs’ first training session of 2025.
‘He didn’t want anything to take the focus off the preparation for the season, not after the drama of the last couple of seasons,’ the insider told the publication.
‘He’s notoriously private with his business dealings, always has been.’
The ‘drama’ being referred to includes the club failing to make the finals in 2023 after crashing down the ladder in the second half of the year, followed by the Bunnies finishing second-last in 2024.
That dramatic drop-off in form got coach Jason Demetriou sacked, and the team’s best and most high-profile player, Latrell Mitchell, had his year ruined by injury and a headline-making scandal.
The representative fullback was photographed bending over a mystery white powder on a table during a trip to Dubbo, resulting in him being hit with a breach notice and suspension by the NRL in addition to being fined $100,000 by the Bunnies.
Souths turned the corner very soon after Crowe took over, making their first finals series for 18 seasons when they broke into the top eight in 2007.
Crowe (pictured bottom centre) has brought the Hollywood touch to the Rabbitohs, convincing fellow movie stars like Taika Waititi (top left), Chris Hemsworth (second from left), Elsa Pataky (left, middle row) and Isla Fischer (second from left, middle row) to come to matches
Holmes à Court resigned as executive chairman and CEO in May 2008, and Crowe currently holds an equal share in the club with businessmen Mike Cannon-Brookes, James Packer, and the team’s members.
An American investor is interested in buying the stake and is having South Sydney’s operations examined, according to the report, which also states that Packer and Cannon-Brookes have the option of purchasing Crowe’s shares.
Crowe brought Hollywood glitz and glamour to the club almost straight away, famously having the players kitted out in clothing by Armani, and getting fellow megastars like Tom Cruise and Chris Hemsworth along to games.
After winning the minor premiership in 1989, the club fell on extremely hard times financially and competitively, leading to their exclusion from the NRL in 1999.
The Bunnies won reinstatement in 2002 after a lengthy court battle, but their struggles continued until the change of ownership.
From the 2007 season, the team got on a roll that culminated in them winning the 2014 grand final to record a record 21st premiership victory.
