South Sydney owner Russell Crowe has been boasting about the “gigantic” signing of Greg Inglis on Jay Leno’s The Tonight Show in the US.
The Hollywood star appeared on the late-night talk show this week, and was eager to draw attention to his work with the Rabbitohs and the club’s latest star signing.
“In order to put it into perspective for you guys, it’s like we just got LeBron James … In the rugby league world it’s just gigantic,” Crowe said of former Melbourne Storm star Inglis.
Crowe confirmed the 23-year-old’s three-year deal was worth $1.8 million, saying the club had put aside money that had been planned to go towards a new coach in 2012.
“It’s nothing compared to American money but he’s got a three-year deal that’s worth roughly about $1.8 million,” Crowe said.
“We have a coach … John Lang, who is going to finish out the year then we bring in the new coach the next season. We had a plan that we were going to put a little bit of extra money aside for that new coach so he had some flexibility under the salary cap. That’s all gone now.”
Rumours have circulated this week that premiership-winning St George Illawarra Dragons coach Wayne Bennett was a target of the Rabbitohs to succeed John Lang.
Crowe said the club had made huge steps since he stepped in four years ago.
“It’s starting to come together,” he said. “I took the team over in 2006, as you know. We’ve gone from being an absolute basket case to being competitive and the next step is to go from competitive to dominant.”
Buford Balony says: The only person who could be called the LeBron James of the NRL is Benji Marshall.Didn’t you watch the 4 nations Russell? If you did you would know that Benji is the best player in Rugby League & the most exciting.
