Rugby College: He"s a real-life Robin Hood! Russell Crowe"s "secret" $20000 donation to rugby ...

Sunday, 27 April 2014

He"s a real-life Robin Hood! Russell Crowe"s "secret" $20000 donation to rugby ...

By

Maria Lewis

Published:

02:17, 27 April 2014

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Updated:

02:17, 27 April 2014

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Russell Crowe famously starred in Robin Hood, where he played the forest-dwelling British folk hero who steals from the rich and gives to the poor.Â

Now it has been revealed that the Hollywood star made a secret donation of $20,000 to the Men Of League foundation – to help a rugby league player who broke his leg during a match Crowe organised.

The revelation comes after Triple M radio host and former rugby league player Mark Geyer hit out at Crowe, who he said abandoned him 10 years ago after he broke his leg playing in a sevens tournament on the 50-year-old’s rural NSW property.

Real-life Robin Hood: Russell Crowe made a donation of $20,000 in secret, pictured at the London Noah premiere in March

He steals from… himself, and gives to the poor: Russell Crowe in the 2010 film Robin Hood. He is well known for donating to charitable organisations and individuals down on their luck

But it turns out that the New Zealand-born actor paid Geyer’s medical bills – and more to other affected footballers – through a secret donation to the Men Of League Foundation.

The gesture – while no doubt admirable – had its shine tarnished ever so slightly by the fact that it was Crowe himself who revealed the secret.

In a personally signed letter to the organisation, printed by The Sunday Telegraph, Crowe said: ‘Given that your organisation can make ex gratia payments to ex-players in financial difficulty, I would ask that you put some of this money towards helping Mark Geyer fill the gap between his medical bills and insurance for the broken leg he suffered while playing in the Orara Valley Sevens tournament.

‘The remainder, please apply to your ongoing good works on behalf of former players. Not too many Manly players though. Only joking.’

When he learned of the Oscar-winner’s contribution, Geyer, 46, told the newspaper that he refused to back down.

Generous man: The 50-year-old has a history of discreetly giving to charity

Bitter feud: Triple M radio host Mark Geyer said Crowe abandoned him when he broke his leg playing in a rugby league tournament on the Robin Hood star

Bitter feud: Triple M radio host Mark Geyer said Crowe abandoned him when he broke his leg playing in a rugby league tournament on the Robin Hood star’s property 10 years ago

He said: ‘Iâ€™ve tried to contact him many times but heâ€™s just brushed me.

‘He said heâ€™d look after me when it happened. Then he tried to drive a wedge between me and my life-long friend Spudd Carroll.

‘At the time I was a father of four on $45,000-a-year. I suffered depression. He wouldnâ€™t even take my calls.’

It’s not unusual for Crowe to make a generous donation and not make a big fuss about it, in fact, he’s well-known for his behind-the-scenes work.

Footy fan: The Men Of League donation comes as no surprise, with Crowe a massive rugby league fan and owner of the South Sydney Rabbitohs football club

In December last year the Gladiator star donated $40,000 to the Coffs Harbour War Memorial Pool so it could buy a disability hoist for those in a wheelchair.

Just three months earlier he was listening to the Kyle and Jackie O from Singapore and asked his manager to call in and donate $10,000 to a family who lost their home in a bushfire.

Back in 2004 when he was filming Cinderella Man in Toronto, he gave $250,000 to rebuild Jewish school United Talmud Torahs, which was fire-bombed in an anti-Semitic crime.