Weekend Read: Why rival clubs should be taking note rather than celebrating Penrith’s stance on James Fisher-Harris; Russell Crowe returns to South Sydney

Souths co-owner Russell Crowe is back in the country as the club heads for showdown talks over its future.

Souths co-owner Russell Crowe has seemingly moved from shooting a movie in Budapest to sharing high tea with musical superstar Ed Sheeran in London, celebrating the success of the spirits company they own a slice of with fellow investors Ronan Keating and Jimmy Carr.

Muff Liquors is going gangbusters apparently. Just signed a mega-distributions deal to invade the US markets. It’s a far cry from back home in Sydney, where the club he helped save is trying to pick itself up off there floor.

The Rabbitohs have had a quiet week by recent standards – the most noteworthy news out of South Sydney this week was the return of David Furner to the coaching staff – but the bye will be over soon and the spotlight will return.

Crowe is believed to be on his way home – he may already be on his farm – and that’s when the real fun will begin as Souths get to the bottom of who is really running the show at Herron Park.

Crowe owns 25 per cent of the club and plenty of people will tell you he is the man with his hand on the tiller. Hence the rumours about Shane Richardson making a return to the club as head of football.

Russell Crowe is returning to Australia and will be seen around Souths.

Crowe is a noted fan of Richardson, the pair having been in lock-step when Souths won the grand final a decade ago. If Crowe has his way, Richardson would be back in the fold.

But before there can be any movement off the field, the club needs to decide how it wants to be run and who it wants pulling the strings. From the outside looking in, a power struggle is unfolding at Souths and it needs to be resolved.

Some big names are involved. Crowe aside, chief executive Blake Solly is regarded as one of the best in the business. Chair Nick Pappas is a South Sydney icon after he led their legal fight to win back their place in the competition.

Mike Cannon-Brookes has more money than you can poke a stick at. James Packer likewise. When all is said and done, they will all have their opinion on the way forward.

It used to be that the only opinion that matters was Russell’s. The sense is that times have changed. We’re about to find out whether that is still true.

The outcome may lead to seismic shake-up at the Rabbitohs.

The lesson NRL clubs should take from Penrith

Penrith haven’t been everyone’s kettle of fish during their golden run in recent years but they deserve a pat on the back this week. A healthy dollop of praise.

The Panthers have led the way when it comes to developing players and now they have set the standard when it comes to dealing with them.

Penrith could have stood in James Fisher-Harris’ way when he asked the club to release him on compassionate grounds to return to New Zealand.

James Fisher-Harris arrived at the Panthers as a teen. Picture: Jenny Evans

They could have demanded a player in return. They could have insisted on a transfer fee. They could have held him to his contract rather than weaken their own team.

That, however, would have been the unconscionable thing to do. They owed Fisher-Harris more than that. They owed him the opportunity to return to New Zealand and end his career on his terms.

It was the least they could do because as good as they have been for him, he has been for them. They have helped him win premierships and he has done the same in return.

He arrived at Penrith as a teenager from a small country town on the north island of NZ, so naive he had to be taught how to catch a bus and a train.

He had barely a cent to his name and lived above a stables on a farm on Mulgoa Road with former teammate Corey Harawira-Naera.

They had no airconditioning, no blankets and worked the horses to make some cash and finance their dream. Fisher-Harris once laughingly referred to the horses as his roommates.

Fisher-Harris is one of the most feared props in the game. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

He toiled away on the farm but was even more relentless in his pursuit of his rugby league career as he became one of the premier enforcers in the NRL.

He had grown up wanting to pull on an All Black jersey but ended up playing for the Kiwis, where he has become a reverential figure among his teammates.

He has made it big. Not many have made it bigger than the brooding Panthers prop but he has been dealing with inner turmoil in recent times, separated from his family and an ill grandfather.

So Fisher-Harris worked up the courage to ask the Panthers for the chance to head home. It all happened in the blink of an eye. Within days, he had requested a release, reached out to the Warriors and inked a deal that will make him the cornerstone of their forward pack.

The time had come and Fisher-Harris will leave Penrith at the end of the season as arguably the best prop in the game, with at least three and potentially four titles to his name.

He has run roughshod at times over his opponents, his intimidating stare winning most battles before they began. He has ripped in with little respect for himself or his body. His poor games you could count on one hand.

They have been few and far between. Nathan Cleary has provided the brilliance for Penrith in recent years. Fisher-Harris has chimed in with the brutality. Great teams have equal parts both.

He will be sorely missed at the foot of the mountains when he departs not just for what he does on the field but for the impact he has off it.

Penrith will be armed with plenty of salary cap space – a pleasant change for a club that has consistently lost players due to the cap squeeze in recent years – but ask them and they would prefer to have Fisher-Harris in their ranks.

His presence at Penrith demands respect and the Panthers recognised that this week when they agreed to let him leave with two years remaining on his contract.

A few years back, Fisher-Harris insisted there was nothing for him back home for him.

“Only family,” he said.

They now need him and Penrith were right not to stand in his way. The rest of the competition will no doubt be celebrating a decision that weakens a dynasty,

What they should be doing is taking note.

Originally published as Weekend Read: Why rival clubs should be taking note rather than celebrating Penrith’s stance on James Fisher-Harris; Russell Crowe returns to South Sydney