AUSTRALIA: Actor Russell Crowe says pom-poms are out and drums are in at a rugby league club he part-owns in Sydney.

Crowe says scantily-clad cheerleaders detract from the game and make women spectators uncomfortable.

The South Sydney Rabbitohs club said it would be replacing its cheerleading squad with a team of percussionists to gee-up supporters.

Oscar-winning Crowe helped save the club from obscurity a few years ago before buying a major stake in it last year.