Russell Crowe has gotten a bit of a reputation as a hard-drinkin' pugilistic ladies' man. It should be no surprise that he's a fan of rugby; in fact, he's such a fan that he went out and bought a share of the South Sydney Rabbitohs, a Sydney Rugby League team. In an effort to make the game more appealing to female spectators, and fans with kids, Crowe has announced that he's permanently benching the team's cheerleaders. (What a coincidence! There's also a Kathryn Bunny! Two gals with the last name of "Bunny", and they're cheerleaders for a team called the Rabbitohs - that's just weird.)
According to this article, Crowe's team is concerned that parading a bunch of scantily-clad women around the pitch sends the wrong message. "It makes women uncomfortable and it makes blokes who take their son to the football also uncomfortable", says Crowe. (They call it "football" Down Under. There's also Australian Rules Football, but that's referred to as "footy". Actually, they also call Rugby League rugby - which differs from Rugby Union rugby in a couple of ways: the number of players per side (league has 13, union 15), the scoring
system, and the means of securing and retaining ball possession - in
union rules, both teams may contest possession at a tackle or set piece; in
league one team retains possession for six tackles, and the use of contested scrums and lineouts in rugby union adds dramatically to the tactical variety of the modern game. I'm a big Rugby Union fan. I actually played, you know - took it up a couple of years ago, and did a workman-like job at inside centre (sic) until a knee injury ended my blossoming career. What was I talking about? Oh - the Aussies also call Rugby League "footy". No, I didn't suffer any head injuries while playing; why do you ask?) So impressionable young lads will no longer be treated to the sight of scantily clad Sheilas bouncing around the stadium.
To replace the cheerleaders, the club is putting together a team of percussionists, part of Crowe's attempt to "contemporize" the game. Rugby is immensely popular around the world, and for the most part has resisted attempts to add the show biz factor seen in the NFL. Rugby has been called "a hooligan's game played by gentlemen" (a nice description, if not 100% true); it'll be interesting to see how the fans react to the club's decision.
