National Rugby League South Sydney Rabbitohs members will be given the first option to buy actor Russell Crowe's stake in the club as the actor's decision to sell out of the club "casts doubts over privatisation in the NRL," according to Brad Walter of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. The provision for the actor and Peter Holmes a Court to offer their 75% shareholding in Souths to the club's members if they ever decided to sell is "detailed in the terms of the deal negotiated by the Rabbitohs board in '06." Under the contract, two independent valuations of the club's worth will be obtained and the members "will be offered the chance to buy back the club at the median price." The members -- through a company called Member Group -- already hold the other 25% stake and a ''golden share'' preventing any owner from "changing the club's name, colours, logo or moving Souths from Sydney." However, if the members cannot afford the price, the stake will be offered to the South Sydney Juniors, whose leagues club is one of the wealthiest in New South Wales. It remains unclear whether it is the full 75% stake that Crowe and Holmes a Court "purchased for through a company known as BlackCourt Holdings, or merely Crowe's shareholding" (SMH, 11/19).
