Russell Crowe has banned cheerleaders from the rugby league club he part owns in Australia.

Crowe feels scantily clad cheer leaders detract from the game and make spectators feel uncomfortable. The South Sydney Rabbitohs club announced it will be replacing the traditional cheer leading squad with a team of percussionist to cheer on the team.

The Gladiator star said the club was concerned the cheerleaders - whose uniform includes fishnet stockings and tasselled mini-skirts - were inappropriate entertainment. "It makes women uncomfortable and it makes blokes who take their son to the football also uncomfortable," Crowe told News Ltd newspapers. "We examined game day and wanted to contemporise and make the focus football."

The club website has invited drummers to audition to become part of the new cheer squad.

Crowe is a long-time Rabbitohs supporter and helped save the club from obscurity a few years ago before buying a major stake last year.