‘I’m gonna stop’: Russell Crowe lifts lid over his secret Rabbitohs shift

Russell Crowe has spilled the beans on the Rabbitohs co-owner’s recent move behind the scenes at the NRL club.

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The Hollywood star has been spotted cheering his team on less and less in recent seasons and his new comments explain exactly why.

The 60-year-old’s famously animated reactions when watching his team play live became part of the fabric of South Sydney games. Until recently.

The “Gladiator” star has told Nova 96.9’s Fitzy and Wippa with Kate Ritchie show, he put a self-imposed ban to restrain himself from having any emotional outbursts for the sake of the players.

The veteran actor said he no longer finds it difficult to control his emotions watching his team in action.

“It is what it is. I can’t affect that outcome so you sort of just have to accept what’s going on,” he said on Monday.

“A long time ago when I’d be going to Rabbitohs games when my kids were little and stuff, and I realised that by showing my passion in the grandstands was potentially giving the media outlets a way of mentally affecting the team.

“There was all these photos of me strangling the imaginary referee.

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“So, I thought, ‘I’m gonna stop doing that’. I’d go to a game and see what happens then I’d go backstage and you can swear. But when I’m watching the game, I try and keep my cool because, you know, I think about it from the players’ perspective.

“They don’t want to see the boss looking like he’s pissed off in the Monday newspaper. So you’ve got to be cool about it.”

Crowe’s declining appearances at games has not gone unnoticed — particularly after two seasons of hell for the club.

The Rabbitohs finished 16th on the NRL ladder in 2024 and spectacularly fell apart in 2023 after sitting on top of the ladder half-way through the season.

The club was also in crisis off the field with Crowe reported to have had a falling out with Bunnies cult hero Sam Burgess before the Englishman quit from his assistant coach role.

More recently, Crowe was also right in the middle of the discussions that preceded the decision to axe former coach Jason Demetriou.

A messy ownership squabble appeared to show the diminished power the “Romper Stomper” star wields at the club.

Crowe, who owns a recently-diluted 25 per cent stake of the NRL club, was reported to have sent a text to Demetriou in the hours leading up to a second extraordinary board meeting, typing: “I’ve got your back”.

Hours later the senior coach was unemployed.

According to widespread reports at the time, the decision to drop the guillotine on Demetriou was symbolic of the power shift at the club.

Crowe is now far from the dominant figure he once was. However, he did reportedly get his way as he led the push to have veteran coach Wayne Bennett replace Demetriou.

Bennett has one of the toughest jobs in the sport heading into 2025.

The 74-year-old has returned to the Bunnies after he led them to the 2021 Grand Final before taking charge of the Dolphins for the expansion side’s first two seasons in the NRL.

The biggest talking point for the club’s 2025 campaign surrounds English signing Lewis Dodd and whether the Super League star will get first go playing in the No. 7 jumper.

The Rabbitohs signed Dodd, 22, on a three-year deal reportedly worth around $600,000 a season.

Young halfback Lachlan Ilias broke his leg playing reserve grade in April, the Rabbitohs were desperate to recruit a replacement playmaker and settled on Dodd, who was playing for St Helens in the Super League.

Time will tell if Dodd will start at halfback for the season opener against the Dolphins, or if Bennett will favour a halves pairing of Cody Walker and Jack Wighton.

Centre Campbell Graham is set to return from a broken sternum but captain Cameron Murray could miss a chunk of time at the start of the year with a nasty scapholunate (wrist) injury sustained in Kangaroos training camp for the Pacific Championships.