Atlassian billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes buys into South Sydney Rabbitohs

The greatest comeback in Australian sporting history just had its second coming, with tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes becoming a co-owner of the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

The greatest comeback in Australian sporting history just had its second coming, with tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes becoming a co-owner of the South Sydney Rabbitohs after a year of secret talks with Russell Crowe.

The incredible move takes Souths from being broke and kicked out of the comp just two decades ago to arguably the most powerful football club of any code in the country.

The Bunnies are now owned by two billionaires, a Hollywood megastar and the members themselves.

The move is also the latest wave in a tsunami of big money that has poured into rugby league, once regarded solely as a working-class game — and nowhere moreso than Souths itself.

Technology titan Mike Cannon-Brookes has joined the ownership group of the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

The Rabbits’ arch rivals the Sydney Roosters are headed by businessman Nick Politis, estimated to be worth $2bn, the St George-Illawarra Dragons are part-owned by billionaire media baron Bruce Gordon and the Brisbane Broncos are owned by the Murdoch family’s News Corp (publisher of this newspaper).

Souths’ other co-owner is casino titan James Packer, estimated to be worth more than $5 billion.

Crowe – who called it “a very strong move” – has been in secret talks with the Atlassian co-founder for more than a year about taking a stake in Souths, which would see the Gladiator star and Mr Packer hand over a portion of their holdings to him.

The final result will be the three men each owning a quarter of the foundation club while the remaining 25 per cent will continue to be held by the members.

In an exclusive interview with The Daily Telegraph – while wearing his trademark Bunnies cap – Mr Cannon-Brookes said he was both thrilled and daunted by having stewardship of such a an iconic club.

Mr Cannon-Brookes says he feels daunted by the sense of responsibility in running such an iconic club.

“It feels awesome. I feel super-excited, super-pumped,” he said.

“And a sense of responsibility – it’s a bit daunting. The responsibility to keep growing the legacy. It’s such a famous legacy club, it’s such an amazing story, it’s about continuing to write the next couple of chapters – or help write the next couple of chapters.”

Mr Cannon-Brookes, who a year ago became the first ever Australian owner of an NBA team when he took a minority stake in the Utah Jazz, said he would be using his American connections to make sure the experience for Souths members and fans was world class.

“Obviously through the Jazz and having connections with the US sports scene hopefully I can bridge some connections there to see how other clubs and leagues run and there’s probably lessons to be learned on how that can help to bring better experiences to the members,” he said.

“It’s one thing to have a really great legacy culture – ‘the oldest, proudest, loudest’ is written pretty deeply in people’s psyches – but it also comes with a sense of that culture of continuing to improve.

Mr Cannon-Brookes had been in secret talks with Rabbitohs co-owner Russell Crowe for a year. Picture: Getty Images

“We don’t sort of rest on: ‘Oh, look how well we’ve done over the last 100 years, that’s so great.’ No, we want to do better and better and better.”

Mr Cannon-Brookes is also expected to bring new tech-economy thinking and sponsorship opportunities to the club as well as a renewed focus on philanthropy, including the already strong Souths Cares program that works with young people and the indigenous community.

Crowe joked that Mr Cannon-Brookes’ commitment to the club was literally on his face. “I’m sure it hasn’t gone unnoticed to South Sydney members and supporters that Mike wears a white Rabbitohs hat for special occasions,” he said.

“This is a very strong move for the club. It connects us to the front edge of emerging technologies and business, and underlines the importance of our efforts in the community.

“Mike understands the resonance of sport in Australia, and James and I welcome his input going forward in keeping South Sydney ahead of the curve, and a game leading organisation, on and off the field.”

South Sydney chairman Nick Pappas has welcomed Mr Cannon-Brookes’ arrival.

Mr Packer said the move capped off an almost fairytale year for Souths, who defied expectations to book a grand final berth and almost pulled off a miracle win.

‘’Souths have had an outstanding year as a football club, with an even brighter future ahead,” he said.

“I am really pleased that Mike is joining us, because I know how committed he is to the community, he will be a big asset and supporter of Souths Cares and all the important work they do.”

Souths chairman Nick Pappas specifically marked the arrival of Mr Cannon-Brookes as the latest move in the club’s incredible journey back from the brink of oblivion in the early 2000s.

“This is the big end of town we spoke about when our original investors first made their contributions in this form in 2006,” he said.

“Couple this with the passion and unwavering support of our 30,000-plus members, it’s there for all to see that we are in great hands for the long term.”