Rugby league star George Burgess has been handed a boost in a rather unusual way by Russell Crowe after landing a film role alongside Hollywood superstar Liam Hemsworth.
The English prop's NRL career in Australia appears to be over after he was released by the St George Illawarra Dragons following a breakdown in relationship with the club's head coach Anthony Griffin. But out-of-contract Burgess is making the most of his time out and has linked up with acting royalty in Crowe and Hemsworth for 2023 film 'Land of Bad' - according to the Sydney Morning Herald .
South Sydney Rabbitohs owner Crowe is a close friend of the Burgess family from when the four brothers left the Super League to join his side Down Under. And George has now been given a cameo role by Crowe in the upcoming military film that is being shot in Queensland.
Burgess is said to play Private Cooper in the film, which details a mission of a Delta Force team in the Philippines. He will star alongside Hollywood favourite Hemsworth after previously making ventures into an acting career with recent cameos in thriller Locusts in 2019 and sci-fi thriller Ascendant in 2021.
The 30-year-old appears to have set his sights on a film career and has the perfect mentor in Gladiator Crowe. And his latest film role comes after an acrimonious exit from his NRL club St George Illawarra.
"I just didn’t get along with Hook (Griffin) and he made it pretty clear to me, he pretty much wrote me off,” Burgess said when discussing the reason for his exit. “So I wasn’t too keen to go back to train under him to be honest.
"At the end of the day all you want is a coach to believe in you. There is no point me going back there if the coach doesn’t believe in me.”
While Burgess is eyeing a potential career on the big screen, his brother Tom is firmly focused on securing glory in England's home Rugby League World Cup. Tom Burgess has been one of the standout stars for Shaun Wane's side, who take on Samoa in the semi-finals at the Emirates Stadium in the semi-finals on Sunday.
And brother George will be watching keenly as England aim to repeat their hammering of the Samoans in the group stage to set up a potential World Cup final against Australia.
