South Sydney deny speculation that football boss Shane Richardson’s future is under threat
South Sydney have moved to quash rumours that Rabbitohs football manager Shane Richardson is on the outer at Redfern after the expensive retirements of Greg Inglis and Sam Burgess.
Paul Crawley, The Daily Telegraph
December 12, 2019 5:34pm
South Sydney chief executive Blake Solly has shot down speculation that general manager of football Shane Richardson is on the outer at the Rabbitohs.
There has been talk within the game for some weeks that Richardson’s relationship with some board members has deteriorated to the point that it could all come to a head in the countdown to Christmas.
The issues were said to relate to the payout of superstars Greg Inglis and Sam Burgess, who were forced to retire with years to run on their contracts.
It is believed to have cost the club several million dollars to pay them out and just as much to replace them, although on both occasions Richardson successfully negotiated with the NRL so their wages did not become a salary cap burden.
It must be said that when the deals were done Inglis and Burgess were two of the biggest stars in the game and would have commanded top dollar at just about every rival club.
But that apparently hasn’t stopped some tough conversations at the highest levels within the club.
Richardson is said to be the game’s highest paid football general manager following Phil Gould’s exit from Penrith and Richardson’s current contract does not expire until February 2022.
It would cost Souths upwards of $1.5 million to pay Richardson out.
While these rumours have also become a topic of conversation within the club until now no one has spoken publicly about it.
But when the question was put to Solly on Thursday he did not waste a second to make the club’s position clear.
“I don’t want to give it too much credibility but I am happy to go on the record and say from the club’s point of view they are just rumours and Richo has a contract and he is staying with the club,” Solly said.
“That is all we need to say.”
Richardson has had a close relationship with Russell Crowe and was instrumental in Souths’ incredible resurgence over the last decade.
Richardson is one of the game’s most experienced and successful administrators having had premiership success at both Souths and previously Penrith, while he was also boss at Cronulla with considerable success after his previous days in the Brisbane comp working with John Lang.
He had a brief stint working at the NRL before returning to Souths to take on the general manager role.
Under Richardson’s watch Souths have become the envy of the NRL with success on and off the field, while also building huge support with the second most members behind only Brisbane.