Hollywood star and South Sydney part-owner Russell Crowe has been accused of being the spark that started the NRL’s latest cheerleading firestorm.

Crowe was on Saturday morning slammed by NRL commentator and Macquarie Sports Radio presenter Cam Reddin in a live discussion with rugby league reporter and former Canterbury cheerleader Darcie McDonald.

It comes after the Brisbane Broncos’ decision to cancel its cheerleader program and replace it with a dance squad first emerged earlier this month.

The Broncos became just one of many clubs to scrap its cheerleaders on the scrap heap, following the lead of the Melbourne Storm and Canberra in recently removing cheerleaders from its match day presentations.

The new Broncos’ dancing group was unveiled in the club’s first home game of the year against the Cowboys in round two at Suncorp Stadium, after the Storm unveiled its new urban dance group in the season-opener in Melbourne.

The plight of cheerleaders in the game has long been a point of friction in the game, but McDonald — a Bulldogs cheerleader for five seasons — told Macquarie Sports Radio she is “baffled” by the growing trend of cheerleaders becoming “demonised”.

The discussion then turned to Crowe’s role in leading the game’s push to eradicate cheerleaders after his Rabbitohs were the first Sydney club to ditch its cheerleaders, who were replaced originally by a marching band in 2007.

Crowe told The Daily Telegraph at the time he believes fans found it “uncomfortable” having cheerleaders perform during his team’s games.

“It makes women uncomfortable and it makes blokes who take their son to the football also uncomfortable,” he said at the time.

“But we are thankful for the time and effort the girls put in and some of them probably will be disappointed.”

“We feel they (cheerleaders) made a lot of people uncomfortable.”

McDonald, now a journalist with Big League Magazine, rubbished Crowe’s claims by declaring she never once felt uncomfortable in the game as both a spectator and as a cheerleader.

“I find that absolutely hilarious,” she said.

“I grew up going to the footy. I probably went for the first time as a newborn. I remember one game I went to when I was about eight years old and I didn’t really understand footy at that age. I went purely for the cheerleaders. So I can guarantee you it does not make children uncomfortable. In fact in my Year 6 yearbook when I was asked what I want to be when I grow up, I wrote ‘cheerleader’.

“I will never be ashamed of being a cheerleader. It’s catapulted me into so many other opportunities. I am just baffled about how people are offended by cheerleaders. What could be offensive about talented dancers?

“I am totally baffled. I can’t understand what is so negative about the word ‘cheerleader’. A cheerleader from my experience is so much more than just a dancer in a dance squad. When you’re a cheerleader, you’re a brand ambassador. You do charity visits, hospital visits, you help out at junior clinics, you greet fans, you represent a club. When you’re part of a dance squad, you’re purely being branded as just a dancer.”

I disagree, still can be a great addition of colour and spectacle. Let’s not generalise and use one badly timed photo of a young woman with a bigger bust... I thought you said earlier it should be inclusive of all shapes & sizes..

You too! 🙂 pic.twitter.com/Gf9r2EX0Qt — Darcie McDonald (@DarcieMcDonald) March 23, 2019

EXCLUSIVE | NRL clubs are quietly scrapping their cheerleaders as part of a politically-correct overhaul.



Former Bulldogs' cheer captain @DarcieMcDonald tells @CamReddin cheerleaders have been trailblazers for women in sport and belong in #NRL



Details: https://t.co/icN31i6iHO pic.twitter.com/f1EjKe218K — Macquarie Sports Radio (@MacquarieSport) March 29, 2019

Came across this blast from the past photo tonight. 2013- when the tan was dark, sit-ups were a necessity and cheerleading was life. How times have changed 😂 @NRL_Bulldogs pic.twitter.com/v4J7oAAZ3Z — Darcie McDonald (@DarcieMcDonald) August 28, 2018

She said she has always found it insulting when her former profession was criticised by commentators sticking up on her behalf. She said she was never put in an uncomfortable position and wants critics to back off.

Reddin said the whole saga all started with Crowe.

“It was the Rabbitohs that all really kicked this off with Russell Crowe,” he said.

“The word he used to describe the cheerleaders was ‘uncomfortable’.

“He said it made male, female and children in the stands feel uncomfortable. Well, I’m not so sure about that. I’m not sure how many complaints they got about that, not sure what consultation they had there.

“I think it’s just off, a little distasteful.”

What do you think of the @brisbanebroncos cheerleaders’ new look? 🏈



From tonight the young women spurring on the Broncos shall be known as dancers, moving "from a cheerleading look to an athletic look". pic.twitter.com/mcWNZptuJ5 — ABC Brisbane (@abcbrisbane) March 22, 2019

Broncos’ dance squad coach Jools Purchase told the ABC recently the decision was made for the group to step away from traditional cheerleading routines to focus more on an “athletic” look.

“We’ve actually been trying to change it for a while now, because life happens and we want to desexualise things,” she said.

“We’re still all-female, still cheery but without the cheerleading look, I guess you could say.

“Still got our pompoms and all that sort of stuff, we’ve got to keep a bit of tradition in there, I think.”