By Joe Aston
Hollywood actor Russell Crowe called for the sacking of Crown Resorts CEO Rowen Craigie early on Monday morning because he wrongly believed the gaming executive had been barracking for the Canterbury Bulldogs in the NRL Grand Final over Crowe's beloved South Sydney Rabbitohs.
Crown is South Sydney's shirt sponsor and Crowe is a close friend of Mr Craigie's chairman James Packer.
"Rowen Craigie needs to start looking for another job. You pelican", Crowe posted on Twitter.
Mr Craigie claims his comments to a Daily Telegraph journalist at the Grand Final - in which Rabbitohs won its first premiership in 43 years - were taken out of context, The Australian Financial Review reports.
Russell Crowe celebrates grand final glory on Sunday.Credit: Getty Images
Craigie denies backing Canterbury, or even tipping them to win. He says that at the NRL function room on Sunday evening he spoke to UBS investment banker Matthew Grounds and a Daily Telegraph journalist about the betting odds for both NRL teams - the mathematics of which he believed favoured the Bulldogs.
"I was barracking for South on the night and all of us at Crown are delighted about the Grand Final result," Craigie said. "Comments I made before the match about a Canterbury upset were just a reference to a possible upset given Hawthorn's victory over the Swans last week in the AFL."
Witnesses have confirmed this version of events to Fairfax Media.
Presumably, Crowe was reading Monday's newspapers after a big night of well-deserved celebrations with his players, and went berserk.
Rowen Craigie, Crown chief executive.Credit: Getty Images
Shortly before 2pm on Monday, Crowe deleted his original tweet and posted: "I'm pretty sure I'm not the only South Sydney supporter with a sore head today."
Mr Packer isn't wildly happy about the unnecessary blue but Mr Craigie will certainly not need to start looking for a new job.
Crowe's original tweet, subsequently deleted.
The Rabbitohs has been a hugely successful and symbolic sponsorship for Mr Packer's integrated resorts business. Crown replaced arch-enemy The Star casino as major sponsor this season just as the club broke a four-decade drought between grand finals and Mr Packer defeated The Star's owners Echo Entertainment in a bid to build a second Sydney casino at Barangaroo.
Mr Packer was expected to attend the match on Sunday but was called away to China on business.