Oscar-winner Russell Crowe's involvement in the current Rhinos and South Sydney training camps here and Saturday's Australia Day Challenge between the two teams has sparked significant interest in the sport.

Crowe – co-owner of Souths – has been getting plenty of media coverage, for example a four-page article in this month's edition of the prestigious Jacksonville magazine.

Much of the interview is devoted to rugby league (he says 'this game is rugby league, which is not commonly referred to as rugby...so when you talk about this game you need to call it league or rugby league').

Rhinos are mentioned twice in the interview. Explaining South's link up with Leeds, Crowe says: "We did a deal last year with Leeds Rhinos to become sister clubs.

"The reason we chose Leeds is because Leeds has a similar working class background to South Sydney. South Sydney is commonly known as the poorest club in the league because it comes from the poorest area.

"But, oddly, it's the most successful club in the league, it just hasn't been successful in the last three decades so we hooked up with Leeds in order to learn from them."

The article also includes a quick "primer for the untrained but curious", detailing some of the ins and outs of rugby league, which it claims is: "...generally simpler, quicker and more violent than rugby union."

Crowe called the magazine journalist personally from his farm in Australia to co-operate with the article, which shows how seriously he is taking promoting the game.

* RHINOS are training at the University of North Florida, about a 10-minute drive from their base at the Embassy Suites Hotel on bustling Baymeadows Road.

The club have hired five sports utility vehicles (SUVs) to transport the players to and from training and other events – with players and staff doing the driving themselves.

* THERE are some rugby league fans in the United States and they tend to be a dedicated bunch. At a social evening in Downtown Jacksonville, Rhinos' players met two fans from Texas – who had flown in specially to mingle with their heroes.

The duo flew back home the day after the social, then will jet back to Jacksonville on Saturday for the game against Souths.

They were shown a rugby league DVD by a work colleague, who is originally from Leeds, and were instantly hooked.

Two down, only 301,139,945 to go!