SOUTH SYDNEY coach Jason Taylor says his relationship with the club's high-profile co-owner Russell Crowe has become "stronger than ever" during the past two months and Crowe's support has helped give him the confidence to make the decisions that have contributed to the team's season turning around.

Taylor said he had always had a good relationship with Crowe, but it had gone to a new level after their early-morning meeting at a Darlinghurst cafe on May 26, the day on which the Herald revealed former premiership-winning coach John Lang was set to take up a consultancy role with the Rabbitohs.

"I just wanted to know exactly what the situation was, because it hadn't been talked about, and Russell understood that," Taylor said yesterday. "He likes it that way, when you're up-front with him. There has never been a problem with our relationship, but it's better than ever now.

"We've got a working relationship, but we've also got a friendship. We can sit down and have a beer and a chat and talk about what needs to happen if we're going to get things done at the club. The best thing, for me, is that Russell always wants to know what he can do to help. He gives me nothing but confidence."

South Sydney had won one game and lost nine at the time of his meeting with Crowe and the appointment of Lang, which was announced later that day. The Rabbitohs lost again in the following round, to St George Illawarra, but have since won five straight to not only ease wooden spoon fears but also raise hopes of making the finals.

Outsiders have pointed to the timing and suggested Lang's appointment must have had a lot do with the team's improvement, but after speaking to insiders the Herald has learned Lang's role is more managerial and Taylor's role has not been diluted.

Lang is there for Taylor to consult with - and he has done that on occasions - but the coaching and all of the big decisions, such as the relegation of senior players Dean Widders, Nigel Vagana and David Kidwell, and the promotion of talented rookies Chris Sandow, Jamie Simpson and Luke Capewell, come down to Taylor.

He is still very much in charge and when the team's poor run of form was continuing he reacted to suggestions by senior people at the club - including chief executive Shane Richardson - that rather than sit back and hope things turn around he needed to be proactive, which he did.

"It was a bit scary, when we were losing every week," Taylor said. "When you're nought and seven, you're under pressure. It would be the same if you were coaching the under-14s. You would be worried about what the parents were thinking. At this level, it obviously becomes much more magnified.

"But when I was saying every week that we would improve, and that we would come out the other side, I really believed it. I didn't know for sure when it would happen, but I knew it would. Personal pride becomes a very big factor when you're down, like we were, and we never lacked any of that.

"It was a bit frustrating at first, [when the Lang story broke], because it was reported like he was going to take my job. But once it was explained to me, how it was going to work with 'Langy' coming, I was comfortable after that. That was all I wanted to know.

"It isn't a coaching role, but he's had great experience and I'm interested in his thoughts on different things."

The thing a coach has to avoid, when it comes to promoting promising youngsters, is to not bring them up into first grade before they are ready. They might look ready, but if you turn out to be wrong it is only going to blow up in your face. Taylor said halfback Sandow left him in no doubt it was time.

"I was thinking about bringing Chris up, but I still had a tiny bit of a question mark over him," he said. "There were a few things in his game I thought he still needed to get right, so I talked to him about that. He went back to the under-20s and got them right straight away. I knew it was time to put him in after that."