Text message exposes Russell Crowe’s demise at South Sydney

Russell Crowe and Wayne Bennett.

The Rabbitohs are a club that has fallen off a cliff. Details from its coaching crisis show Russell Crowe is at the centre of it.

Russell Crowe’s time as South Sydney’s all-conquering gladiator is over.

The Hollywood star’s demise at his football club has been exposed by the bloody termination of former coach Jason Demetriou on Tuesday.

It emerged late on Tuesday night Crowe, who owns a recently-diluted 25 per cent stake of the NRL club, had sent a text to Demetriou hours before a second extraordinary board meeting that ended with Demetriou being sacked and assistant coach Ben Hornby taking over in a caretaking role.

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According to the SMH, Crowe told Demetriou: “I’ve got your back”. Hours later the senior coach was unemployed.

According to widespread reports, the farcical scenes that unfolded on Tuesday — where the club needed two board meetings to eventually drop the guillotine on Demetriou — are symbolic of the power struggle that has erupted at the club.

Crowe is now far from the dominant figure at the club, which finds itself rudderless while being ripped in different directions by factions at boardroom level.

It has been rumoured for weeks that Crowe was Demetriou’s biggest supporter and wanted to give the 48-year-old every opportunity possible to turn the club around.

However, after slumping to a 1-6 start to the season at the very bottom of the NRL ladder, there was no saving the embattled coach.

South Sydney’s glory days at the 2014 NRL grand final.

Russell Crowe is a big Wayne Bennett fan. AAP Image/Joel Carrett.

It has been a staggering capitulation for a football club that sat on top of the NRL ladder after Round 11 last year — only to fall apart and miss the finals.

Hand in hand with that carnage was the scandal of favourite son Sam Burgess handing in his resignation after sharing concerns star players, including Latrell Mitchell and Cody Walker, received preferential treatment when it came to training duties. Burgess and Crowe reportedly had a falling out over the muddy exit when his concerns fell on deaf ears. Burgess has denied this.

The battle being fought at board room level again surrounds Crowe with rumours the 60-year-old is leading the push for supercoach Wayne Bennett to return to the club.

According to reports, a reunion with Bennett has been Crowe’s plans all along — if the club was to ultimately sack Demetriou.

It is only seven months since the club internally tussled over the decision to hand Demetriou a three-year contract extension through to the end of the 2026 season.

Now the board is set for another power struggle surrounding which coach will be appointed head coach to take over from Hornby at the end of 2024.

According to The Daily Telegraph, Wayne Bennett is at the top of the list despite some sections of the board pushing back at the idea.

The board is made up of representatives for James Packer (who purchased a 25 per cent stake in the club in 2014) and tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes (who bought a 25 per cent stake in the club in 2021) and the club membership base (which still controls 25 per cent of the club).

It is clear they are not all on the same page.

Rabbitohs coach, Jason Demetriou, is gone. Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images.

Leading journalist Andrew Webster wrote on Wednesday “factions within Souths are standing up to Crowe like never before”.

He also reported “Cannon-Brookes is having a greater say”.

Crowe’s diminished sway was also noted on Fox League’s NRL 360 on Tuesday.

“It’s symbolic of what’s happening off the field at that club at the moment,” The Australian’s Brent Read said about the fact it took the club two board meetings to reach a so-called “unanimous decision”.

“They’re not on the same page, and that’s the board room, the owners. I just don’t think they’re on the same page. It makes it hard to make a decision in cases like this.

“Russell used to make the call. But now Russell’s only a part-owner with Cannon-Brooks and James Packer. I don’t think Russell wields as much power as he used to.

“Nick Pappas, the chairman, is the other one. I just think at the moment they’re all pushing in different directions.”

Rabbitohs chief executive Blake Solly on Wednesday fronted the press and denied the club has a “dysfunctional” board room.

The CEO said the robust debate at board level is a sign of a healthy administration and insisted the decisions reached were unanimous across the board.

The rumoured push against Bennett comes after the seven-time premiership-winning coach set up Demetriou to take over from him in a succession plan at the end of the 2021 season.

Despite this Bennett is clearly the front runner.

Russell Crowe and Wayne Bennett.

The Daily Telegraph’s Phil Rothfield said no deal has yet been done with Bennett.

The 74-year-old is off-contract with the Dolphins at the end of this season and does not have a job lined up for 2025. However, he has always been Demetriou’s mentor and the wily old fox has never liked the idea of discussing jobs opportunities with clubs that still have a head coach in place.

“I don’t think Souths would have done something as drastic as sacked their coach, eight rounds into the season, or the fact they have flown so poorly,” Rothfield said.

“I don’t have confirmation at this stage that a deal has been done with Wayne Bennett.

“But rest assured, he’s their number one target. They will do everything they possibly can in the very near future to get him back on board at the Rabbitohs next year.”

Hornby, who has the job as interim coach, has also been a disciple of Bennett’s. The pair won a premiership together at the Dragons.

NRL great Braith Anasta summed it all up.

“South Sydney have come such a long way, right, they’re actually one of the big powerhouses of the competition and they’ve done a lot of hard work to get there,” he said.

“They also got rid of Madge (former coach Michael Maguire) and Anthony Seibold swiftly. They were the best decisions at the time for the club and they’ve made those big calls. But all of a sudden over the last 12-18 months they’re hesitant to make these calls and it’s got them in a position where they’re not better for it.

“They look lost. They look on a different page. I’m not just talking the coach. I’m talking selections, the players and with recruitment. Here they are, a club that’s worked so hard to be a powerhouse and now it looks like it’s amateur hour.”