[ad_1]
He shook hands with the Russian mob, carried $ 30,000 in a gym bag not knowing if his body would be dumped for the money, and missed a nightclub shooting for minutes. However, cult hero Marty Banks has no regrets and would be back in no time.
Considered one of the most colorful characters in New Zealand rugby, Banks has revealed all about his five-month stay in Russia, which he says was like being in a gangster movie.
Telling his story through After the whistle digital sports media platform Banks wrote: “I don’t know how much of this I should share.” He said goodbye saying: “I hope they don’t knock on the door.”
Dianne Manson / Getty Images
Marty Banks described his time in Russia as the craziest five months of his life.
Banks joined the Krasny Yar rugby club in Siberia’s third-largest city, Krasnoyarsk, in 2011 on a short-term contract that he describes as “the craziest five months of my life.”
READ MORE:
* Former Highlanders First-Five Marty Banks joins the Japanese club
* Marty Banks, bound for Treviso, has unfinished business with Tasman Makos
Lions Tour: Highlanders coach Tony Brown is very proud of the team after beating the Lions.
* Treviso awaits news from Marty Banks as the Highlanders confirm their opening to sign him
* Marty Banks training with Highlanders while the Italian club waits
Banks, then 20, and his Krasny Yar teammates, including former Southland No. 8 Tom Fleming and several other unnamed Kiwis, once fired AK-47s from cannabis fields on a team trip.
Dianne Manson / Getty Images
Marty Banks was 20 years old when he headed to Russia.
“Looking back, it’s pretty funny because most rugby teams are taken on school visits or community work, and here we are shooting AK-47s in a river surrounded by bearskins and marijuana fields,” wrote Banks in After the whistle.
Expecting freezing conditions, Banks arrived in Moscow at 40 degrees Celsius. It would be two more weeks on the road before she finally made it to Krasnoyarsk, apparently known as the modeling capital of the world.
“I had been told about the beautiful girls and it was said that they all wanted whatever ticket they could find out of there,” wrote Banks.
He soon learned that his club had ties to Russian organized crime, with one of its best men watching from a private box and others regularly passing the changing sheds.
Anthony Au-Yeung / Getty Images
Marty Banks feared for his life in a Russian taxi while carrying $ 30,000 in cash in a gym bag.
“They told us that our wages were paid by selling firewood. I think it would be pretty stupid if I thought firewood is keeping the business afloat, so read a bit between the lines, “wrote Banks in After the whistle.
When he left Krasny Yar through an awkward meeting, in which only he and the translator spoke English, it became clear that the club did not want him to be on the eve of the final. Later, he was handed $ 30,000 in a gym bag and found himself “sweating with gunshots” in a taxi on the way to a bank.
“All of that was going through my head and all the ‘what ifs’ like: What if they’re just going to drop me off somewhere and take this cash?”
A Krasny Yar player had spent just six months in jail after committing a felony (of which Banks does not reveal details) before being released to join the mob.
