Themis
27-05-08, 05:23 AM
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,23762623-5001021,00.html
By Josh Massoud
May 27, 2008
HIS Rabbitohs were being lapped 26-0 and Russell Crowe was not pleased.
Flashback to Australia Day this year - halftime in the USA exhibition match between South Sydney and Great Britain's Leeds Rhinos at a chilly football field in Jacksonville, Florida.
Crowe, the Oscar-winning megastar, had just hopped off a trans-continental red-eye flight to attend in person.
But he had invested much more than a lack of sleep to be there. He and co-owner Peter Holmes a Court had outlaid an estimated $350,000 to take the entire playing squad to America.
Thanks mainly to Crowe's celebrity aura, the Rabbitohs managed to convince a capacity crowd of 12,000 befuddled Americans to take a punt on something new.
But the team's global credibility was heading south big time after five unanswered tries in the first half.
Unhappy, Crowe had just two words of advice for Souths coach Jason Taylor as they crossed paths in the grandstand at the break.
"Fix it," he muttered.
Taylor did just that. Souths responded with four tries and the crowd enjoyed a spectacle worthy of the hype rather than a lop-sided letdown.
Just four months later, Crowe has a more serious fix-it job on his hands. The difference this time is that he is doing the job himself.
Figuratively and literally, Souths are once again broke. Under the watch of executive chairman Holmes a Court, the Rabbitohs lost a whopping $4.2 million last financial year. It was a sobering result given the largesse that accompanied Crowe and Holmes a Court's takeover in June 2006.
The pair's reign was stamped with espresso machines and Armani suits. The team's run-down training base at Erskineville Oval was given a picket fence and theatrette. Staff were piled on in droves - both in the front office and the football department.
But most significantly the wins mounted as well - to the point where battling Souths did the unthinkable and made the finals for the first time in 18 years.
Souths were booming. Unfortunately, so was the expense sheet.
One insider put it this way: "It was like they were building a castle out of sand. It had to fall over."
The sands started shifting after the team returned form Jacksonville. Without notice, the front office headcount began to shrink.
The Daily Telegraph understands at least half a dozen staff have been let go since February. The most gobsmacking was long-serving operations manager Brandon Punter.
The 12-year Rabbitohs devotee was told to prepare for a new role with Holmes a Court's new media company, the Passionate Group. At 5.10pm on the Friday before Punter was supposed to start, an email arrived telling him not to bother turning up.
Rationalisation was biting hard. Instead of celebrating birthdays individually, one cake was bought every month. Phone bills were questioned more frequently. A request from coaches for a $10,000 Eagle Cam installed at Erskineville was rejected.
But the thing that really irked the more football-oriented staff was the lack of rugby league knowledge some of their colleagues possessed.
After Souths signed former NSW Origin star Luke Lewis recently, a marketing employee had to ask: "Who is he?"
On top of the team's woeful 1-9 start to this year, it was all too much for a Rabbitohs tragic like Crowe to take.
In the end, Crowe has done what he thought was best for Souths. His beloved Rabbitohs are once again broke, and Crowe saw no option but to fix it. Himself.
By Josh Massoud
May 27, 2008
HIS Rabbitohs were being lapped 26-0 and Russell Crowe was not pleased.
Flashback to Australia Day this year - halftime in the USA exhibition match between South Sydney and Great Britain's Leeds Rhinos at a chilly football field in Jacksonville, Florida.
Crowe, the Oscar-winning megastar, had just hopped off a trans-continental red-eye flight to attend in person.
But he had invested much more than a lack of sleep to be there. He and co-owner Peter Holmes a Court had outlaid an estimated $350,000 to take the entire playing squad to America.
Thanks mainly to Crowe's celebrity aura, the Rabbitohs managed to convince a capacity crowd of 12,000 befuddled Americans to take a punt on something new.
But the team's global credibility was heading south big time after five unanswered tries in the first half.
Unhappy, Crowe had just two words of advice for Souths coach Jason Taylor as they crossed paths in the grandstand at the break.
"Fix it," he muttered.
Taylor did just that. Souths responded with four tries and the crowd enjoyed a spectacle worthy of the hype rather than a lop-sided letdown.
Just four months later, Crowe has a more serious fix-it job on his hands. The difference this time is that he is doing the job himself.
Figuratively and literally, Souths are once again broke. Under the watch of executive chairman Holmes a Court, the Rabbitohs lost a whopping $4.2 million last financial year. It was a sobering result given the largesse that accompanied Crowe and Holmes a Court's takeover in June 2006.
The pair's reign was stamped with espresso machines and Armani suits. The team's run-down training base at Erskineville Oval was given a picket fence and theatrette. Staff were piled on in droves - both in the front office and the football department.
But most significantly the wins mounted as well - to the point where battling Souths did the unthinkable and made the finals for the first time in 18 years.
Souths were booming. Unfortunately, so was the expense sheet.
One insider put it this way: "It was like they were building a castle out of sand. It had to fall over."
The sands started shifting after the team returned form Jacksonville. Without notice, the front office headcount began to shrink.
The Daily Telegraph understands at least half a dozen staff have been let go since February. The most gobsmacking was long-serving operations manager Brandon Punter.
The 12-year Rabbitohs devotee was told to prepare for a new role with Holmes a Court's new media company, the Passionate Group. At 5.10pm on the Friday before Punter was supposed to start, an email arrived telling him not to bother turning up.
Rationalisation was biting hard. Instead of celebrating birthdays individually, one cake was bought every month. Phone bills were questioned more frequently. A request from coaches for a $10,000 Eagle Cam installed at Erskineville was rejected.
But the thing that really irked the more football-oriented staff was the lack of rugby league knowledge some of their colleagues possessed.
After Souths signed former NSW Origin star Luke Lewis recently, a marketing employee had to ask: "Who is he?"
On top of the team's woeful 1-9 start to this year, it was all too much for a Rabbitohs tragic like Crowe to take.
In the end, Crowe has done what he thought was best for Souths. His beloved Rabbitohs are once again broke, and Crowe saw no option but to fix it. Himself.