War of words ... Rabbitoh heavyweights Russell Crowe and George Piggins. / The Daily Telegraph

In a state-of-the-union style address from his rented Hollywood mansion - emailed to South Sydney football club members - Crowe appealed to fans to chip in and financially support the Rabbitohs.

Warning the money he had ploughed into the club would not last forever, Crowe urged fans to dig deep, buy merchandise and continue their memberships. "I'll tell you this. I won't continue to put in the type of cash I've had to (put) into Souths, so far, forever," Crowe said.

"The business has to stand on its own feet.

"We have to be what we've always been.

"Self reliant."

Last night, Piggins said Crowe's threat to reduce his financial commitment to Souths brought an unwanted air of instability and uncertainty to the club.

"Obviously he's finding the football club is more of a financial drain than he expected," Piggins said.

"I could have told him that. No one makes money from a football club."

Piggins said the potential unpredictability of Crowe's acquiring of Souths always worried him. "I worried about what would happen if the novelty wore off," he said.

"If you let someone in with money to help your football club and they eventually walk away, you still have the football club.

"But if the new owners walk away I don't know what will be left."

Crowe and his partner Peter Holmes a Court triumphantly took control of Souths in 2006 after a bitter battle with then president Piggins.

The projected generosity and professionalism of the new owners appeared to end Souths' decades of financial problems.

Yesterday, some of that expectation evaporated after Souths members each received a six-minute video tape from Crowe saying his financial support had limitations. Crowe's message was simple. He wants more Souths supporters to join the football club - with an eventual target of 15,000 members, up from the current enrolment of 5855.

The movie star made no mention of where the finance would come from if he made good on his threat to reduce his contribution, but spoke of the need for more members.

"Here's a reality check," he said.

"We need 15,000 paid-up members, preferably season ticket holders, renewing year after year to keep us heading in the right direction, to fill the hole between major sponsors, an NRL grant and the true cost of doing business."

On the video, Crowe used the word "progress" as a repeated theme.

He stressed Souths had been making progress as a club even though they slipped from seventh in 2007 to 14th in this year's premiership.

Speaking directly to camera, seemingly without a script but not missing a beat, Crowe was seated in a luxurious setting resembling a private library, which he implied was a rented home being paid for by someone else.

He said money committed to the revamping of Redfern Oval as the club's new training facility would be paid on schedule with the help of sponsors and his own wallet.

"Next week someone will need to find a couple of hundred grand for gym equipment, $50,000 or $60,000 more for an interior design and fit-out costs at Redfern Oval, individually named lockers and built-in ice baths," Crowe said. "Don't worry about the bill. Between generous sponsors and myself we'll get it done this time."

But it is the future that will now worry many Souths supporters.

Redfern Oval is no longer available for first- grade games and Souths Leagues Club is still closed since the new owners took over.