Crowe and business partner Peter Holmes a Court have tabled
a $13.5 million takeover plan for the historic South Sydney rugby league club,
which has been in financial strife since winning a legal battle to rejoin the
NRL six years ago.
Crowe, in Melbourne
preparing to host the AFI film awards this weekend, said he had his doubts the
plan would come to fruition.
He was disturbed to hear that unions planned to blockade the
site to prevent it being turned into a training facility with a grant from
Sydney City Council.
“Before that gets too far out of control, I really
wouldn’t mind having a discussion
with those fellas as well as to what actually benefits the area and what
benefits your members,” Crowe said.
His buyout plan includes a proposal to unite the three arms
of South Sydney – the football club, Souths
Leagues Club and Souths Juniors Leagues Club.
Club members would retain 25 per cent ownership and control
over things like club colours and logo.
“I am still far from convinced that is actually
possible, no matter how much we desire it, but we will just take that one step
at a time,” Crowe told reporters.
“Our principal reasoning is about making South Sydney
Rugby League Club an inspiration to the people that live in the district.
“That should be I think anybody’s
motivation when they are dealing with a rugby league team from such a poor area
as Souths.
“If [we get] any kind of agreement or movement from the
various parties involved, at that stage then we will start talking about what
it actually means.”
Club stalwart George Piggins is leading the campaign against
the council redevelopment, favouring an upgrade of the field and grandstand.
“I have a great deal of respect for George and I have
been on George’s side in many a
battle,” Crowe said.
“So I think the only question I might have would be,
after years of neglecting Redfern Oval, I can’t
really understand why he would stand in the way of a $19 million refurbishment
paid for by the city council.
“Because his plan to have a professional football
stadium there … the type of stadium he is talking about is not big enough to
satisfy NRL criteria so I don’t know
why we are going round in circles with it.”
Crowe said he believed Rabbitohs supporters knew where he
was coming from.
“I think they understand where my loyalty and my
passion lies. I am not about moving Souths outside of the geographic region of South Sydney, I am not about changing the colours and I
am not about changing the logo.
“What I would be about is changing the way the football
club actually does business and how it relates to its leagues club and how it
relates to its juniors club.
“Because there isn’t
any reason why Souths can’t be
financially independent and a strong football club if those three elements work
together.”