The friction at South Sydney
was evident at 6.30am yesterday outside Bar Coluzzi on Victoria Street, Darlinghurst. By day’s
end, Taylor
wasn’t the only one bruised at the struggling club. Crowe’s co-owner of the
Rabbitohs, the millionaire Peter Holmes a Court, would quit as executive
chairman – the apparent culmination of a frosting in the duo’s friendship.
Holmes a Court will remain on the board. But in his place
the board appointed Shane Richardson
as chief executive and Nicholas Pappas as chairman – the same posts they held
when Crowe and Holmes a Court bought their 75 per cent stake two years ago,
with the promise of taking the club to great heights. But Souths have had just
one win in 10 NRL games this season, and the club has lost $4 million in its
first year under the new owners.
As predicted in yesterday’s Herald, the board also appointed
the premiership-winning coach John
Lang as a consultant – a blow to Taylor,
who wasn’t taking the news well at Bar Coluzzi yesterday morning. One patron
observed that Taylor and Crowe had “faces like death”; another
suggested “faces like thunder”.
“They were super-grim. Not happy chappies. Rusty was
chain-smoking. He was fairly calm, smoking darts, while Taylor was really agitated saying things
like, ‘This bloke has let me down’ and ‘That bloke has let me down’. Taylor was also saying
things like, ‘What’s the time-frame for this?”‘
But with the announcement of the shake-out late in the day,
they all put on a brave face. “The reports of our demise have been greatly
exaggerated,” said Crowe.
“Today the board applauded Peter’s achievements in
lifting the South Sydney club and collectively
we thanked him for his gargantuan effort over the past two years,” Crowe
added. “Right now it’s my belief that what South
Sydney needs is the continuity, knowledge and experience that both
Nick Pappas and Shane Richardson
bring. Both men come from within the Souths family and both men understand
intimately how to take advantage of the progress the club has made.”
And Taylor
decalred himself happy with Lang, the former Penrith coach. “I think John Lang will add a great deal to the football
department here at Souths,” Taylor
said. “I’m really looking forward to working with him.”
Holmes a Court vowed his continiung support late yesterday,
despite his admission last week that he could not guarantee the survival of the
foundation club.
Crowe’s representative, Grant Vandenberg, said the actor did
not want to comment about the private meeting at the cafe. Taylor also declined to comment.
Meanwhile, Redfern residents fear they will be locked out of
the newly renovated Redfern Oval under a 20-year deal the Rabbitohs are about
to strike with the City of Sydney.
The council’s finance committee yesterday voted to support a
licensing agreement with the South Sydney Members Rugby League Club Limited
that would give the club priority use of the oval for up to 26 hours a week. It
would also get exclusive use of a quarter of the grandstand area and the right
to charge for entry to the publicly owned facility during exhibition matches.
The licensing agreement is for 10 years, after which there will be an option to
extend the deal for a further 10 years.
Ifeanna Tooth is one of 20 Redfern residents who objected to
the plan. “It’s public open space. It is community land. I think it’s fine
they play some games there and Souths Juniors play but I don’t think they
should lock the public out.”
The club will pay the council $125,000 a year under the
deal, a figure Ms Tooth said was well below market rent. “I don’t think
the ratepayers should be subsidising them,” she said. “And South Sydney is one area that has a low amount of open
space per person.”
However, a council report has told dissenting residents they
should use other parks instead.
“There are 16 parks within 500 metres of Redfern Park,
including Prince Alfred Park and Waterloo
Park,” the report
says.
A spokesman for the Rabbitohs, John
Richardson, yesterday told the
council: “The return to Redfern enables the club to continue its
relationship to the community.”
The
community will have access to an outer oval when the main playing field is
closed for use by the club.
Source: www.smh.com.au/news/news/souths-coach-berates-crowe/2008/05/26/1211653942411.html