Anthony Albanese backs Russell Crowe after Gladiator star denied he wanted to sell out of South Sydney

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has backed Russell Crowe after the Hollywood star shot down a report he wanted to sell his stake in the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

Hours after the report surfaced that Crowe, who has had a stake in the NRL club since 2006, the Oscar winner angrily rejected the claims on Monday saying the report was ”bullsh.t”.

On Tuesday diehard Souths supporter Albanese said while had not spoken to Rusty about the issue Crowe’s support for the club could never be questioned.

“Russell has rejected those reports. I take Russell at his word. Russell Crowe has made a great contribution to South Sydney,” he said.

Mr Albanese told Sunrise Crowe, who reportedly could ask for as much as $20 million for his 25 per cent share of the club which is now worth close to $70 million, had been the backbone of the club’s success which culminated in the 2014 title win.

“I haven’t spoken to Russell personally but I can say this, that there’s no more passionate South Sydney person in the world than Russell Crowe,” he said.

“He’s got a cardinal eye and a myrtle eye and he has been an enormous success and I’m looking forward to Wayne Bennett, we have the great man back coaching this year and I’m always positive.

“If you ask me, at any January since I came out of the womb in 1963 how Souths were going to go, I would tell you that we’ll win the comp.

“So, like every other January, I’m very confident at this stage of the season but we’ve got, we’ve got the cattle to put on the paddock. If only they can stay there this year.”

Crowe dubbed reports of his sale “conspiracy theories”.

“Re SSFC, what would January in Australia be without desperate legacy media conspiracy theories? Enjoy the summer sun while it’s there and ignore the trolls,” he wrote on Twitter.

The Gladiator star then intimated his confidence in the club’s direction as NRL guru Wayne Bennett resumes head coaching duties following last season’s 16th-placed finish.

“WB back onboard,” Crowe wrote.

“A fresh energy about the place. An arrowhead on our intentions.”

South Sydney finished the 2006 season in last place after Crowe and Peter Holmes A Court bought the team early that year for $3 million, but returned to finals in 2007 for the first time since 1989.

Holmes A Court sold his share in 2014, the same year Souths posted a fairytale grand-final victory over Canterbury - the Rabbitohs’ first premiership since 1971.

Today, Crowe owns a 25 per cent stake in the Rabbitohs, with James Packer, tech mogul Mike Cannon-Brookes and Souths members each owning a quarter.

Souths suffered a tumultuous 2024 season, firing coach Jason Demetrious following a horror start to the year before finishing second last under interim coach Ben Hornby.

with AAP