South Sydney co-owner Peter Holmes a Court says the club's future in the National Rugby League could be in doubt.

"I can't guarantee Souths will survive," Holmes a Court said in The Daily Telegraph newspaper on Friday.

NRL boss David Gallop this week predicted Sydney clubs would fall because of a funding crisis in the game.

Holmes a Court has become the first club boss to admit his team is vulnerable, just seven years after the Rabbitohs rejoined the NRL.

"Not at all. There are no guarantees. People looking for guarantees need to get behind the club," Holmes a Court said.

Poker machine taxes and smoking bans are crippling rugby league clubs, the newspaper states.

"David Gallop has said nine (Sydney) teams can't survive. I can't guarantee we won't be one of them but we are working hard to make sure we aren't," Holmes a Court said.

Two years after paying $3 million to take ownership of the club, "the fairytale partnership between Holmes a Court and Hollywood actor Russell Crowe is showing signs of strain", the newspaper reported.

"Adding to the Rabbitohs' financial troubles, Holmes a Court has also confirmed he and Crowe have already begun scaling back their own personal investment in the club," the newspaper said.

"Rumours of a high-powered rift have surfaced as the Rabbitohs languish on the bottom of the table with just one win."

Holmes a Court says the way forward for Souths is to focus on membership as the No.1 goal and sponsorship as the club's No.1 revenue.

"We will record a loss this year," he said.

"I am not going to say how much that is. We are hoping to break even over the next couple of years but to do that we will need another 4000 members."

Multi-millionaire businessman Holmes a Court admits he has "frequent disagreements" with Crowe over club issues.

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