Nine years after Luke Keary stared down Russell Crowe, others at Souths are doing the same

There’s a hint of irony in Luke Keary announcing his retirement as South Sydney endure their most significant power play since Russell Crowe and George Piggins slugged it out for control of the club almost two decades ago.

In December 2015, Crowe invited the players to his farm at Nana Glen on the NSW mid north coast for a weekend of Christmas fun.

Then the night went tits-up. Late into the evening, the Hollywood actor offered some unsolicited views on hooker Cameron McInnes and his performance that season.

Keary stepped in, Crowe turned on Keary, Keary turned on some of his teammates for not defending him and McInnes, and soon enough Keary was looking for a taxi at 2.30am in the middle of the bush.

Staring down Crowe essentially saw Keary leave the club, but he was quickly snapped up by the Roosters and won premierships with them in 2018 and 2019. Keary announced on Monday this would be his last season.

Nine years later and factions within Souths are standing up to Crowe like never before.

South Sydney co-owner Russell Crowe.Credit: Getty

The departure of coach Jason Demetriou, who had to sit through two board meetings on Tuesday before learning his fate, threatens to destabilise a club once considered an unshakeable powerhouse.

Much of the angst is around who should replace Demetriou.

In simple terms, Crowe wants Wayne Bennett to return and pull them out of the muck. He never wanted him to leave and when it became clear earlier this season that Demetriou wasn’t up to the job started making noises about getting the band of Bennett and head of football Shane Richardson back together.

Others on the board, like chairman Nick Pappas, who represents the members’ 25 per cent stake, is pushing back on that idea. So, too, are other directors.

South Sydney coach Jason Demetriou arrives at club headquarters on Tuesday.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos

Bennett can coach a side into the middle of next week, but he leaves an almighty mess when he leaves. Remember, he anointed Demetriou as his successor.

He will also demand an enormous amount of money. He understands the market better than anyone and, given the dearth of big-name coaches who are available, could ask for as much as $1.5 million a season. At 74, his next contract is likely to be his last.

If not Bennett, then who? The options are limited, although expect a push for Catalans coach and former Roosters assistant Steve McNamara.

Souths head of football, Mark Ellison, is currently in the UK securing the signature of St Helens halfback Lewis Dodd, but it wouldn’t surprise if he jumped across the Channel and broke baguettes with the former England coach.

Wayne Bennett and Latrell Mitchell at Redfern Oval in 2020.Credit: Getty

From the moment Souths members voted for Crowe and businessman Peter Holmes a Court to buy a 75 per cent stake in the club, Crowe has been their Caesar.

Blackcourt League Investments is the company that holds the majority shareholding in the club.

Crowe’s friend, billionaire James Packer, bought out Holmes a Court in 2014 for a reported $12.5 million.

In 2021, he brought in another billionaire, Atlassian boss Mike Cannon-Brookes, who is rumoured to have paid even more than Packer.

Jason Demetriou at Heffron Park for the Rabbitohs’ training session on Tuesday.Credit: Nick Moir

Crowe might have divested some of his ownership but, until recently, he still held the whip hand.

As the club lurches from one crisis to another, however, it’s becoming harder to discern how much power he yields and who’s calling the shots.

According to sources within the club, speaking on the condition of anonymity because, well, this is rugby league and everything is done in the shadows, Cannon-Brookes is having a greater say.

His representative on the seven-member board, Kelly Morton of Skye Capital Advisory, is no puppet. She’s highly regarded and doesn’t suffer fools. She’s also a lifelong Rabbitohs fan.

Stuck in the middle of all this is chief executive Blake Solly, who many believe is aligned more to Pappas than Crowe. There’s been talk for weeks that Solly is about to be edged out the door, although that would be foolish, surely, with the club in such a fractured state.

Crowe has been desperate to bring Richardson back as head of football, but the veteran administrator shrewdly used those approaches to secure a four-year deal with Wests Tigers, for whom he has been interim chief executive since December.

Who’s to blame for this face-plant at South Sydney? Everyone.

Less than three seasons ago, they almost ran down Penrith in the 2021 grand final. They are presently anchored to the bottom of the ladder, 49 points behind the hapless Gold Coast Titans on for-and-against.

Pushing favourite son Adam Reynolds out the door with an insulting one-year offer will go down as the greatest recruitment blunder in the club’s history.

Solly and Ellison, with both Pappas and Crowe’s endorsement, were responsible for Reynolds’ departure, putting all their chips on Lachlan Ilias.

After telling all concerned that Ilias was part of Souths’ long-term plans, he’s now been given permission to negotiate with other clubs after being dropped after round two.

Crowe, too, has played a role in the demise of his own club.

He insisted former captain Sam Burgess was part of Demetriou’s coaching staff last year, desperate to prevent Burgess from joining Bennett at the Dolphins. Instead, it created the weirdest of dynamics for the head coach because the co-owner suddenly had eyes and ears in the dressing-room.

It ended in tears, of course, with Burgess departing late last year after accusing Demetriou of giving preferential treatment to star players Latrell Mitchell and Cody Walker. When Burgess left Souths in August last year, he told the board in no uncertain terms that the football team would go nowhere with Demetriou in charge.

But the problems at the club go deeper than that. Its protracted call on Demetriou while also failing to nail down a replacement points to a club in desperate need of someone who can make a decision so everyone can crack on.

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