Collingwood buy AFL medal to aid bushfire appeal
Dayne Beams' premiership medal has been bought by his AFL club while snooker's Neil Robertson has also pledged financial support to aid bushfire relief efforts. Photo: Getty
Collingwood have purchased midfielder Dayne Beams’ 2010 AFL premiership medal for $27,500 in aid of those affected by the bushfires.
Beams put his medal up for auction in a bid to raise money and was surprised when his own AFL club won the auction – to keep the piece close to home.
“Just got off the phone to (Eddie McGuire) and turns out he and the footy club purchased my medal,” Beams posted on Instagram.
“Little funny but at the end of the day 27500 will be going towards people that have lost everything so thanks heaps to the Ed and Collingwood for the donation.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7DOdEipW9f/
Meanwhile, 2010 snooker world champion Neil Robertson joined the growing list of sports stars to pledge financial support.
The Victorian announced he will make a donation to the NSW wildlife charity WIRES, which rescues and cares for stricken animals.
Robertson has pledged £5,000 ($A9,500) plus additional funds that depend on the performance of all players at this month’s Masters tournaments in London.
The 37-year-old tweeted: “Heart broken with all the bush fires back home.
“So during the masters next week I’ll be donating £100 ($A190) per century made by ALL players as well as donating £5000 on top to @WIRES_NSW”.
Heart broken with all the bush fires back home. So during the masters next week I’ll be donating £100 per century made by ALL players as well as donating £5000 on top to @WIRES_NSW would be awesome to get other players to chip in😃 @judd147t @markjesterselby @BarryHearn @Dafabet pic.twitter.com/tthwMI93qp
— Neil Robertson🌱 (@nr147) January 8, 2020
Robertson’s gesture follows that of his compatriot, former cricketer Shane Warne, who put his famous baggy green cap up for auction to help boost rescue efforts with the top bid now in excess of $500,000.
A number of tennis players, including Nick Kyrgios and Ashleigh Barty, and sports stars from home and abroad have also pledged financial support.
Melbourne-born Robertson regularly speaks out about animal rights issues on his social media accounts and is a committed vegan.
A University of Sydney professor has estimated that more than 800 million animals have been killed in NSW alone.
Last year’s Masters, in which Judd Trump defeated Ronnie O’Sullivan to take the title, yielded a total of 24 century breaks.
-AAP
