IT is fair to say a few eyebrows were raised when it was revealed Russell Crowe would be heading to Warrington this summer.

Thoughts may naturally turn to filming a new blockbuster in the area, or even for some rugby league related reason.

So perhaps a few more eyebrows were raised due to the fact his visit is for a music gig at Parr Hall.

He will play his ‘Indoor Garden Party’, featuring band The Gentleman Barbers, singer Lorraine O’Reilly and special guests, on Thursday, July 4 – back in the UK for the first time since 2017.

This is part of a mini-tour of Britain, Europe and Ireland, with gigs also scheduled for Dublin, London, Inverness, Leeds and Paris, and it will cover a range of genres – folk, pop, soul and rock.

With tickets already selling well, the Warrington Guardian caught up with the 59-year-old, with part one of the interview running yesterday.

This covered his love of music and what people can expect from the gig.

But in part two, Crowe reveals why of all places he picked Warrington and talks about his other great passion – rugby league.

Warrington Guardian:

When asked ‘why Warrington’, he said: “My very good friend Simon Moran is also my tour promoter, and he has a great connection to the town of Warrington.

“But also, there's a young fellow by the name of Sam Burgess working in Warrington at the moment.

Russell Crowe visiting St Helens with his South Sydney side in 2015. Picture: PA

Russell Crowe visiting St Helens with his South Sydney side in 2015. Picture: PA

“I've already caught up with him in Rome a couple of weeks ago to check his temperature, see how he's going.

“He's doing very well at the moment and he's really got your rugby league team – Warrington Wolves, The Wire – believing in themselves.

“So I just want to pop in.

It looks set to be a busy weekend for events planners in Warrington that weekend, with Wire playing at home against Huddersfield Giants the day after the gig.

A keen rugby league fan, Crowe has been the co-owner of NRL team South Sydney Rabbitohs since 2006.

He is a good friend of Warrington Wolves coach Burgess, with the pair enjoying success in Australia during the Englishman’s talismanic and legendary playing career at the Rabbitohs for the best part of a decade.

So surely he couldn’t resist popping over to the Halliwell Jones Stadium to take in a match.

“I'm going to do the gig the night before, and if the schedule stays true to the way it is at the moment, I'll probably try and catch a game while I'm there as well,” Crowe confirmed.

“We've got to be in Paris the day after, so it is a bit of a logistical nightmare of how to get from Warrington to Paris at the end of the game on a Friday night, but we'll see.”

This will not be his first time to Warrington either, with Crowe confirming that he visited the town in 2011.

Russell Crowe will bring his Indoor Garden Party to Parr Hall in July

Russell Crowe will bring his Indoor Garden Party to Parr Hall in July

“I've been to Warrington before, to have a meeting with a coach that I ended up attracting back down to Australia at one point,” he said.

The following year, Michael McGuire traded Wigan for six years in Sydney at the Rabbitohs.

He also famously opted against attending the Oscars to spend an evening in neighbouring St Helens in 2015 to see his Rabbitohs take on St Helens in that year’s World Club Challenge.

Tickets for Crowe’s Indoor Garden Party at Parr Hall on July 4 are on sale now, and for more information, visit tix.to/RussellCroweUK

Crowe says his friendship with Burgess means he is ‘very interested’ in how his players in primrose and blue are getting on.

“Warrington are working really well for each other at the moment, and that's a credit to Sam and the coaching staff, the way they've adjusted the belief in the team,” he added.

“I think they're travelling really well, but there's some big, big games ahead though, and the bottom line is there's no such thing as an easy game in rugby league.

“So it's early days in the season, there's a long way to go, but it's impressive to see.

“I think they're overachieving at the moment, starting to understand what they can do if they work together and believe in each other.

“I've got an eye on it and I'm very interested.”

Tickets for Crowe’s Indoor Garden Party at Parr Hall on July 4 are on sale now, and for more information, visit tix.to/RussellCroweUK