Mark 'Piggy' Riddell retires
Rugby league legend Rex ‘Moose’ Mossop sadly passed away on the weekend, and Mark ‘Piggy’ Riddell announced his immediate retirement from the game. Whilst you cannot compare a loss of life with a mere retirement, both pieces of news are connected by the fact that each individual was a true character of the game.
In an age of sanitised athletes who are scared to say anything controversial, ‘Moose’ and ‘Piggy’ were throwbacks to a different time. To be fair, Mossop actually was from a different time, while Riddell’s love of a beer and a good time seemed out of place with the professionalism of today’s game.
Mossop was a dual international, representing Australia in both rugby union and rugby league, but it was league that he will be forever be linked to, playing 136 games for the Manly Sea Eagles, 8 games for New South Wales, and 9 Tests for Australia.
After he retired in 1963, he became a successful rugby league commentator for over 20 years, famous for his honest, blunt and uncompromising style. He never held back on his harsh criticism of referees, players and coaches, much to enjoyment of his viewers. He was also notorious for being parochially one-eyed when it came to his beloved Manly club.
Mossop was the king of tautologies, and could always be counted on delivering gems such as ”the referee’s giving him a verbal tongue lashing” and ”he is running sideways across the field, without making forward progress”.
He was also never far from controversy, and his attitude could best be summed up by the man himself: ”I’ve got an opinion on every conceivable thing. Like it or lump it.”
More recently, Mossop decried the state of the modern Australian male: ”Too many Australian men are pathetic specimens: short of wind, flabby, beer-gutted and most of them, too weak to knock a sick girl off a toilet.”
Personally, I’ll always remember Mossop by his iconic catchphrase: “I’m flabbergastered!”
It was sad day for rugby league on Saturday, as Mossop passed away, aged 83.
Meanwhile, Sydney Roosters forward Mark Riddell announced his immediate retirement from the game on the weekend. The popular hooker, nicknamed ‘Piggy’, is leaving the game mid-season, but will stay on with the Roosters in an official capacity, helping out coach Brian Smith.
Whilst a good player, Riddell gained notoriety for his laid back approach to the game, which manifested itself in his humour and his fitness.
He never took himself, or the gym, too seriously and this earned him many fans.
The following excerpt from one of Piggy’s weekly Sun Herald columns does more justice in describing the man than I ever could:
“My weight has been a constant talking point, so it wasn’t a total shock when Laurie Daley sat me down for a serious chat about my diet. It was early in my career at St George Illawarra and Loz, then the assistant coach, wasn’t impressed after I rocked up to pre-season training after a particularly festive Christmas.
“It didn’t take long to work out that the amount I was drinking – rather than eating – was the cause of the problem.
“I can still remember Loz’s reaction when I told him that I regularly put away 20 or so schooners in an average week. I could see the concern written all over his face, but I thought he took the news pretty well. ”Well, Piggy,” he said. ”At least you’re being honest.”
We danced around the issue for a bit and, just as I was about to walk out the door, I decided to come clean. ‘Well, if we’re being totally honest,’ I mumbled before scurrying away, ‘I probably put away about 20 or 30 bourbon-and-Cokes as well’.”
Piggy certainly was, and will remain, a character.
Both Moose and Piggy were fantastic for rugby league. Fans could connect with both individuals because they weren’t robots churning out the same tired clichés of other rugby league personalities.
They were unique, engaging and interesting.
You may not have always agreed with Moose, and you may not have approved of Piggy’s physical conditioning, but you certainly knew their name and you talked about them with friends.
Personalities of their ilk are suspiciously absent from today’s game.
Where have all the rugby league personalities gone? Professionalism, the rise of political correctness, and an administration that’s heavy handed with individuals that don’t toe the company line, have all ensured that true characters are very rare in the modern era.
It’s why many fans were disappointed by the news that Phil ‘Gus’ Gould had signed on with the Penrith Panthers, as they feared it would spell the end of Gould’s outspoken ways and passionate rants.
Rugby league would be well served by remembering that personalities can be just as important to the sport as physical talent.
Vale Moose and Farewell Piggy.
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